Activities, manual or automated, that add no value to the organization or customers are considered waste. We utilize the 8 Wastes of Lean to categorize activities in the Lifecycle Sleuth deemed to add no value. The table below lists the waste categories in the Lifecycle Sleuth , a simple definition, as well as examples.
Waste
Context/Purpose
Examples
Not Categorized
Waste that has been systemically detected by the WORE but unable to definitively categorize it
Activity where one is relinquishing responsibility of something to another. It also causes risk because the more information is handed off the more we lose knowledge of it
Analyst gets a requirement who then gives it to a development lead, who then gives it to a developer who then provides it to a tester when complete.
Emailing of “things” that others should be pulling on demand, copying artifacts to other locations for packaging, etc.
Defects
Summary
Defects are waste because they increase the timeline for a customer to realize value and potentially reduces overall confidence in the service or system
Waste
(Impact of Defect) * (Duration the Defect goes Undetected)
Guiding Principle
Reduce the duration to from ideation (concept) to realization (deployment) by preventing defects from leaking to higher environments
Objective
Maintain less than a 10% defect ratio in production environments
Agile-Lean Engineering Guidelines
Utilize a Test-First Approach
Test-Driven-Development (TDD) for unit and integration testing
Behavior-Driven-Development (BDD) for functional testing
Emphasize prevention of defects over identification
Utilize ~80% unit test code coverage over new or refactored code
Utilize relevant integration testing
Employ xUnit Testing for unit and integration testing
Standardize on a relevant xUnit framework per technology stack
Identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses early in the development process
Utilize Static Code Analysis (SCA) when merging updates to the repository
Utilize Continuous Integration to provide fast feedback
Automatically trigger the process when attempting to merge or add contents to the repository
Automatically trigger unit tests and fail upon a single failure
Automatically trigger integration tests
Provide feedback as quickly as possible to the software engineers
~5 minutes for extra-small and small systems
~10 minutes for medium sized systems
~15 minutes for large systems
~30 minutes for extra-large systems
Agile-Lean Testing Guidelines
Test only when truly needed and use trust where possible (e.g. cosmetic changes, very minor defects, etc.)
Time spent performing non-value added activities delays development and deployment of value
Waste
Time and cost spent on non-value added processes
Guiding Principle
Reduce the timeline for customers and stakeholders to realize value
Objective
Eliminate non-value added processes
Anti-Patterns to Think About
Meetings without defined value-added outcomes
Use of a process to “make sure” something occurs
Creating documentation because someone “maywant it later“
Creating features because the users will “just ask for it later anyway“
Agile-Lean Engineering Guidelines
Develop only the minimal required code, scripts, data, etc. to satisfy a user
Create code / scripts / data for reuse
Emphasize on low-complexity code
Agile-Lean Testing Guidelines
Collaborate with users to determine the minimal testing needed
Ensure the outcome of each test adds value to the process
Test only when truly needed and use trust where possible (e.g. cosmetic changes, very minor defects, etc.)
Declare what the “right” amount of testing is before coding
Eliminate / reduce manual testing processes to include actual testing, oversight, management, etc. via the utilization of automated regression testing (integration, functional, accessibility, security, etc.)
Control the amount of manual processes by establishing baselines for testing coverage (e.g. ~80% for unit testing, ~50% for integration testing, ~100% for smoke testing, etc.)
Agile-Lean Architectural Guidelines
Incorporate the -ilities (security, stability, functionality, maintainability, etc.) upfront in order to prevent mass rework later
Utilize spikes before committing to architectural / design decisions that may prove to be poor decisions later
Wastes of this type indicate activities and artifacts that provide no value to the process and organization. While the other types of wastes are critiques on how "things" are done, Over Production unequivocally means that there is no value and we can and should eliminate all associated activities.
Waste
Time and cost to create non-value added artifacts.
Guiding Principle
Only produce what is minimally needed.
Objective
Eliminate activities identified as over production.
Anti-Patterns to Think About
Creating documentation because someone “maywant it later“
Creating features because the users will “just ask for it later anyway“
Unused logs
Unused artifacts / wikis / documents / etc.
Agile-Lean Engineering Guidelines
Develop only the minimal required code, scripts, data, etc. to satisfy a user
Create code / scripts / data for reuse
Create just the right amount of documentation to convey design and usage
Utilize a centralized logging approach to eliminate the creation of essentially duplicate code, data, scripts, etc.
Utilize pre-production environments that truly add value to the quality assurance of a product
Utilize short feedback cycles to ensure just value added minimal features are being developed
Agile-Lean Testing Guidelines
Collaborate with users to determine the minimal testing needed
Test only what is agreed to
Ensure the outcome of each test adds value to the process
Test only when truly needed and use trust where possible (e.g. cosmetic changes, very minor defects, etc.)
Declare what the “right” amount of testing is before coding
Utilize automated test harnesses / scripts in lieu of test cases and test plans
Agile-Lean Architectural Guidelines
Only incorporate efforts to meet NFRs that matter (AKA the -ilities like security, stability, functionality, maintainability, etc.)
Continually utilize spikes for feedback to determine what architectural matters that need to be addressed
Interruptions degrade the effectiveness of efforts that require concentration.
Waste
Time and cost spent due to task switching (Shifting away from what you were doing, engaging to understand the new conversation, shifting away from the new conversation, and re-engaging in what you were doing).
Guiding Principle
Maintain an environment where team members can concentrate with very minimal interruptions.
Objective
Establish a culture that discourages task switching.
Anti-Patterns to Think About
Team members attend a lot of meetings
Too much collaboration
Meetings scattered throughout the day
Too many people with direct access to the team
Teams and individuals are continually interrupted to perform non-delivery activities (management oversight, reporting, etc.)
Overcoming Anti-Patterns
Reduce meetings to those that teams and individuals consider vital
Reduce collaboration to level that teams and individuals consider optimal
Conduct events, scrums, meetings, etc. at beginning of day vice throughout the day
Limit access to individuals and team from external resources (leadership, stakeholders, managers, etc.)
Limit managerial actives for teams and individuals
Eliminate individual from meetings who are not providing constructive feedback / input
Eliminate individuals from meetings who are there for information purposes and find other mechanisms for knowledge transfer (wiki, recording, etc.)
Have teams collaborate on at least a generic Definition of Ready for work items to reduce clarifying questions on what to do
Have teams collaborate on at least a generic Definition of Done for work items to reduce clarifying questions on the level of quality the business and stakeholders need
Have delivery teams participate in creation of acceptance criteria on work items to reduce clarifying questions on what to build, test, and demonstrate
Require team confirms understanding of work items before committing to them
Establish “In-the-Zone” hours to prevent the team from any interruptions unless of an emergency nature
Frequently review the purpose and outcome of meetings to ensure they still provide value
Agile-Lean Engineering Guidelines
Conduct planning and refinement events with the entire delivery team so they have shared understanding to reduce future clarifying questions
Utilize tools for feedback so others can provide input
Utilize visual cues to indicate individual current-level of concentration
Only work on one thing at a time
If need to perform work on multiple products focus on just one at a time
Attain all the information you need before starting the test process
Remove yourself from meetings where you do not provide constructive feedback
Agile-Lean Testing Guidelines
Conduct planning and refinement events with testers so they have shared understanding to reduce future clarifying questions
Limit Work-in-Progress for testing activities in order to complete something vice having conversations about starting and stopping on activities
Actively participate in planning and refinement events in order to reduce the need for clarifying questions
Agile-Lean Architectural Guidelines
Provide secure remote access to systems logs, architectural artifacts, etc. so as to not interrupt others for them
Movement of people or artifacts (code, scripts, data, documents, etc.) that does not add value
Waste
* Time for people to move to and from their work area * Time to post artifacts that do not add value
Guiding Principle
* Go to where the work is * If the artifacts do not support the software factory then it's probably waste
Objective
* Identify and eliminate / reduce unnecessary movement of people * Eliminate the producing, retention, and movement of artifacts that add no value to the software factory
Anti-Patterns to Think About
Movement of people to meet with a single person or fewer people
Movement of team meetings away from where they work
Manual activities to build, test, package, and deliver solutions
Long-running automated activities to build, test, package, and deliver solutions
Team members are asking for information like ticket numbers, data, web links, scripts, etc.
Dispersed team members meet in person for all / most reviews, demos, etc.
Team members complain they are doing useless work (over production; processes or artifacts)
Overcoming Anti-Patterns
Have leadership go to where the people are
Have team meetings where they work
When efficient, connect people and teams virtually
Continually evaluate forums and logistics for meetings, events, ceremonies, etc. for elimination or improvement
Physically arrange office spaces to provide easy quick opportunities to collaborate
Invest time to identify and eliminate overproduction in the software factories
Invest time to quantify fiscal cost of transportation for leadership to allow time for improvement
Identify and eliminate non-value added activities (what the customer would not want to pay)
Invest time to identify online collaboration tools for activities like code reviews, peer review, design reviews, etc.
“Feed the Need” – establish working agreements to provide necessary information, data, web links, etc. so individuals do not have to go search for it
disruptiveOps can support your organization with training, workshops, and consulting services to better understand how to identify waste, how to handle it, and continue to lean your processes. Please Bother Us or go to the services page of our website to learn more on how we can assist.
Access via RESTful Services
If your organization wishes to dynamically pull wastes outside of the Lifecycle Sleuth application, we have the secured RESTful microservices to do so.