Stakeholder Engagement

Question 1

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Which types of stakeholders might have concerns about adopting agile that we need to address to gain support for the project?

Answer 1

• Executives and project sponsors
• Managers
• Development team
• User community
• Supporting groups

Question 2

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

How do short iterations help keep stakeholders engaged in the proiect?

Answer 2

They keep stakeholders continually involved in the project. (At the start of each iteration, we meet with them and agree upon what should be done. Then, one to four weeks later, we show them what we have developed.) This provides more visibility than long development phases, where
stakeholder interest tends to wane over time.

Question 3

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What are some of the reasons why it is beneficial to keep stakeholders engaged?

Answer 3

• We will hear about change requests as soon as possible.
• We will be able to identify potential risks, defects, and issues sooner.

Question 4

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What are some ways to incorporate stakeholder values into a proiect?

Answer 4

• Bring project priorities into alignment with stakeholder priorities.
• Don’t plan or initiate work that the stakeholders don’t support or value at this time.
• Engage the product owner in the prioritization of the backlog.
• Execute the work according to the customer’s priorities.
• Invite stakeholders to planning meetings and retrospectives.

Question 5

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

List a sampling of the agile tools and practices that help to bridge the gulf of evaluation.

Answer 5

• Frequent verification and validation
• User story workshops
• Participatory decision making
• Collaboration games
• Frequent discussions of the definition of done
[There are also many other agile tools and practices that you might have listed.]

Question 6

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

List the agile principles of stakeholder engagement.

Answer 6

• Get the right stakeholders involved in the project.
• Cement the stakeholders’ involvement in the project so they remain supportive and engaged.
• Actively manage stakeholder interest.
• Create a shared definition of “done” and frequently discuss it.
• Show the team’s progress and capabilities.
• Manage stakeholders’ expectations by candidly discussing estimates and projections.

Question 7

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What are some of the key tools that agile teams can use to establish a shared vision among all of the stakeholders?

Answer 7

• Agile charters
• The definition of done
• Workshops
• Modeling
• Wireframes
• Personas

Question 8

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

List the goals of an agile charter.

Answer 8

• To describe the project’s goal, purpose, composition, and approach at a high level
• To gain agreement about the project’s
W5H attributes (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How)
• To gain authorization to proceed

Question 9

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

How do charters for an agile project differ from traditional project charters?

Answer 9

• They are generally shorter and less detailed.
• They define the project scope less clearly, focusing instead on the goals for the project.
• They usually focus more on how the project will be run than on exactly what will be built.
• They are more flexible, to allow for mid-flight adjustments.
• They describe the iterative processes and approaches the team will use, as well as the acceptance criteria that will be used to verify the project outcomes.

Question 10

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What questions are likely to be addressed in an agile charter?
What tool is a popular format for agile charters?

Answer 10

• Who will be engaged?
• What is this project about?
• Where will it occur?
• When will it start and end?
• Why is it being undertaken?
• How will it be undertaken?

Elevator statements

Question 11

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Outline the common format for an elevator statement.

Answer 11

For… [Target customers]
Who… [Need (opportunity or problem)]
The… [Product/service name]
Is a… [Product category]
That… [Key benefits/reason to buy]
Unlike…(Primary competitive alternatives]
We….. [Primary differentiation]

Question 12

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What are the recommended characteristics of agile modeling tools?
What are some of the kinds of models that can be created?

Answer 12

Lightweight, barely sufficient to capture the design
• Use case diagrams
• Data models
• Screen designs

Question 13

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

List some of the ways agile models might be used.

Answer 13

• To capture and clarify a design for discussion
• To identify issues, risks, and elements that need to be tested
• To investigate problems and find solutions

Question 14

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Define “wireframes.”
Explain their purpose.

Answer 14

A quick mock-up of the product in a visual format that stakeholders can refer to and adjust until they achieve consensus

To get feedback from stakeholders and confirm that everyone has the same understanding of the product

Question 15

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Define “personas.”
Explain their purpose.

Answer 15

Brief profiles of the key users (real or composite) of the system being built

To help the team prioritize their work, stay focused on the users’ priorities, gain insight into who the users are, and empathize with their needs

Question 16

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What is the preferred way to communicate on agile projects?

List some of the reasons why this method is preferred.

Answer 16

Face-to-face (F2F) communication

• Has the highest bandwidth of all forms of communication (it transfers the most information)
• Is interactive (allows immediate questions and answers)
• Has the highest effectiveness and richness (emotional content)
• Conveys nonverbal communication such as emotions, gestures, and facial expressions

Question 17

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Define “two-way communication.”
Why is it so important on an agile project?

Answer 17

Two-way (bidirectional) sharing of information

• Knowledge workers tend to know more about their work than the people who lead and steward these projects.
• The team members may have valuable information that the business needs to know about.
• On agile projects, feedback is not only expected, it is necessary for the project to reach its goals.

Question 18

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What is the agile approach to knowledge sharing?

List some of the benefits of this approach.

Answer 18

Agile teams share information freely among the stakeholders, making it available to everyone who might want to consume it.

• Increases the number of people who can help solve a problem if the team gets stuck
• Helps balance the workload between team members
• Reduces the risk of taking a hit to team productivity if the one person with key knowledge leaves the team

Question 19

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

List several agile tools and practices that promote knowledge sharing.

Answer 19

• Product demonstrations
• Kanban boards
• Information radiators
• Personas
• Wireframes
• Retrospectives
• Collaborative planning and estimating
° Low-tech, high-touch tools
• Daily stand-ups
• Co-located teams

[There are also many other agile tools and practices that you might have listed.]

Question 20

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What is meant by “measuring up”?

Answer 20

Measuring a desired behavior or outcome one level above the normal span of control (e.g., rewarding people for their team’s performance, rather than their individual performance) to encourage cooperation and knowledge sharing.

Question 21

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Define an “information radiator.”

Answer 21

A highly visible display of information, which might consist of a chart, graph, or project data, that is placed in a high-traffic area to quickly convey information about the project to anyone who is interested

Question 22

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

List several examples of information commonly shown via information radiators.

Answer 22

• The features delivered to-date versus the features remaining to be delivered
• Who is working on what
• The features selected for the current iteration
• Velocity and defect metrics
• Retrospective findings
• List of threats and issues
• Story maps
• Burn charts

Question 23

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Define a “workshop.” Give some examples of agile workshops.

Answer 23

A meeting in which the participants get work done, based on a clear goal, plan, and schedule
• Retrospectives
• User story workshops
• Collaboration games

Question 24

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What is the goal of brainstorming?
List the names of three brainstorming techniques.

Answer 24

To maximize the number of suggestions generated
• Quiet Writing
• Round-Robin
• Free-for-All

Question 25

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What are agile collaboration games?
List the names of five collaboration games.

Answer 25

Facilitated workshops that agile stakeholders can use to get a better understanding of complex or ambiguous issues and reach consensus on options and solutions.
• Remember the future
• Prune the product tree
• Speedboat
• Buy a feature
• Bang-for-the-buck

Question 26

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

When does negotiation occur on an agile project?
Give some examples of negotiation on an agile project.

Answer 26

Throughout the project

• Determining requirements
• Establishing priorities
• Defining what “done” will look like
• Discussing trade-offs for change requests
• Using team-based estimation techniques, such as planning poker

Question 27

What is meant by emotional intelligence?

In what order is it recommended to develop the four aspects of emotional intelligence?

Answer 27

The ability to identify, assess, and influence the emotions of ourselves, other individuals, and groups
It is usually easiest to develop the four areas of our emotional intelligence in the following order:
1. Self-awareness
2. Self-management
3. Social awareness
4. Social skills

Question 28

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What is active listening?

What are the three levels of listening, from lowest to highest skill?

Answer 28

The ability to perceive what someone really means, instead of just understanding the words they are saying
1. Internal listening
2. Focused listening
3. Global listening

Question 29

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

List some of the methods that can be used to facilitate an effective meeting.

Answer 29

• Have a clear goal for the meeting.
• Set basic ground rules for the meeting.
• Establish the duration ahead of time, and designate someone as the timekeeper.
• Keep the session flowing smoothly by drawing out the quieter participants and managing the dominant participants.

Question 30

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What are the characteristics of effective negotiation on an agile project?

Answer 30

• It isn’t a zero-sum game with a winner and a loser.
• Each party investigates the options and trade-offs and presents alternative perspectives.
• Each viewpoint is fully described, noting the pros and cons of the different options.
• The interactions between participants are positive, and there is some room for give and take on each side.

Question 31

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What is the agile view of team conflict?
How should agile leaders deal with a team conflict?

Answer 31

Conflict is an inevitable and healthy part of working together, when not taken to extremes.

Leaders should allow team members to try to resolve their own conflicts and avoid becoming involved unless the conflict lingers or escalates.

Question 32

Stakeholder Engagement | Question
What are Leas’s five levels of conflict, in ascending order of severity?

Using this model, how can we determine the level of a conflict?

Answer 32

1. Problem to solve
2. Disagreement
3. Contest
4. Crusade
5. World War
   Focus on the language being used and compare it to the description of the five levels.

Question 33

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Explain why participatory decision making is so important for agile projects.

Answer 33

Commitment increases as involvement increases. When stakeholders aren’t involved in making decisions, it can reduce their commitment to and participation in the project; missing a stakeholder’s point of view can lead to problems later in the project.

Question 34

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What two elements are characteristic of agile decision making?

Answer 34

• Convergence (collective agreement on the best answer after investigating all the options)
• Shared collaboration (sharing the decision-making process fairly to reach a group consensus)

Question 35

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

What are participatory decision models?

List four of these methods.

Answer 35

Ways to engage stakeholders in a collaborative decision-making process
• Simple voting
• Thumbs up/down/sideways
• Fist-of-five voting
• Highsmith’s decision spectrum

Question 36

Stakeholder Engagement | Question

Define “fist-of-five voting.”

What two standards are used in fist-of-five voting?

Answer 36

A decision-making method in which each person votes by showing the number of fingers that indicates their degree of support
• The number of fingers shows the level of support; all five fingers means “full agreement.”
• The number of fingers shows the level of objection; all five fingers (a palm raised like a stop sign) means “Stop, I am against this.”