{"id":12726,"date":"2015-03-11T11:02:46","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T16:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/?p=12726"},"modified":"2020-03-02T11:10:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T17:10:59","slug":"3-reasons-it-ops-uses-lean-flow-kanban-for-devops-part-2-of-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/3-reasons-it-ops-uses-lean-flow-kanban-for-devops-part-2-of-3\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons IT Ops Uses Lean Flow (Kanban for DevOps part 2 of 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In this three-part series on Kanban for DevOps,\u00a0Dominica DeGrandis, Director of Training and Coaching at Planview AgilePlace, explains three key reasons why IT Ops teams and those implementing a\u00a0DevOps<\/a>\u00a0value chain use a lean flow approach to product development. If you\u2019re just jumping in, here\u2019s a link to\u00a0part one<\/a>; otherwise, read on for part two.<\/em><\/p>\n

Reason #2: Staying focused when flooded\u00a0with conflicting priorities.<\/h3>\n

Imagine a five-gallon bucket poured through a narrow funnel. The funnel can hold only so much before it overflows into a messy spill. For operations teams, the funnel is often overflowing, because they support a flood of multiple and competing requests, servicing a wide variety of customers.<\/p>\n

From configuration management to capacity expansion, and from security compliance to automation, operations teams work on so much more than new product development. Such broad usefulness can result in a barrage of interruptions that mess up a team\u2019s flow. In every workshop I facilitate, operations teams cite the constant \u201ccontext switching\u201d from interruptions as one of their top frustrations.<\/p>\n

Context switching occurs when priorities conflict. When today\u2019s number one priority routinely usurps yesterday\u2019s number one priority, the purpose becomes murky and frustration, endemic. To get back on track, it\u2019s necessary to clarify our prioritization processes (or lack thereof) and illuminate conflicting priorities.<\/p>\n

But before we do that, let\u2019s look at why the problem of conflicting priorities exists in the first place, why it\u2019s such a tough problem to solve, and what happens when it doesn\u2019t get solved \u2014 or at least improved.<\/p>\n

Why conflicting priorities exist and why they\u2019re a problem<\/h3>\n

Many priority conflicts arise from three common causes.<\/p>\n

1. Too much demand.<\/strong>\u00a0Conflicting priorities can occur when there is more demand than we can handle. Of course, we\u00a0desire<\/em>\u00a0demand, because if no one demands our product or services, we may be out of work soon.<\/p>\n

Demand is life, but when left unchecked, it overloads our capacities. Wanting to do the right thing, we attempt to do too much work too fast. Heroic efforts appear praiseworthy in the short term, but such efforts inevitably lead to expensive mistakes. Recall the adage: When we attempt to get everything done, nothing gets done.<\/p>\n

2. Shifts in business direction.<\/strong>\u00a0Conflicting priorities often seem to go hand in hand with uncertain market conditions. To stay competitive, business owners must hustle to change direction quickly. As a result, teams working on Project A may be asked to begin Project B before discovering that Project A may soon be abandoned.<\/p>\n

3. Unrealistic project timelines.<\/strong>\u00a0Conflicting priorities can also come from inappropriate deadlines and targets. For example, when a sales manager promises a new feature to a customer \u2013 without asking impacted teams \u2013 the new work can knock other committed projects off their timelines.<\/p>\n

Likewise, if a hopeful vendor naively says, \u201cSure, we can do that \u2013 no problem!\u201d \u2014 an overly optimistic target may land the work in the \u201cabandoned\u201d bin.<\/p>\n

Why the problem of conflicting priorities is tough to solve<\/h3>\n

People in other parts of the company who submit requests to operations teams are often unaware of all the other requests. Everyone just wants to get his or her job done. Urgently.<\/p>\n

When the roiling sea of requests hits the funnel, everything clearly cannot all be done at the same time. We need some form of prioritization to monitor the flow. But how does prioritization happen?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual to see the following methods:
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