The furniture organized by the new

About 400 employees of the furniture have gone to this dull winter morning, on the exhibition grounds of the Bern Expo. Primarily Software developers and othe

The furniture organized by the new

About 400 employees of the furniture have gone to this dull winter morning, on the exhibition grounds of the Bern Expo. Primarily Software developers and other IT specialists, but also people from the product management and the business units are. The insurer hired specially to Make a exhibition hall for the two-day. The purpose of The "agile Teams" organized employees to learn what tasks you have to complete in the next three months.

And when the time is up? Then it comes out in may for the next big meeting, where the team will set the Agenda for the next three months. "The Program Increment Planning" or "PI-Planning" – in German: step-wise program planning – is the name of this Event, with the quarterly contraction of all parties Involved. The method comes from the USA, and companies such as Google or Facebook is the leading Tech-long Standard.

Clocked planning

What the furniture to? Martin Wechsler, the referred to as the "Orchestrator" of the furniture-event, explained it to deliver: "In the shortest possible time, maximum value, not in the sense of monetary value, but, for example, in the Form of a cool App or a time-saving Software." In this area each day count today.

The furniture applies PI-Planning in Software development since the spring of 2017, initially for applications in property and liability insurance business, meanwhile, for life insurance and certain internal services such as Finance. The Bern-based insurance is one of the few companies in this country, the use of this clocked the planning process in such a comprehensive manner. Of which group are affected with around 70 Teams, with up to 800 people.

a Lot of Humor and occasionally something Sweet: At the furniture, it looks like a company from the Silicon Valley. Photo: Adrian Moser

The PI Planning Meeting in the area of property insurance is already the 13. his art According to routine the expiry of acts. After Changer has outlined at the beginning of the plenary session the priorities of the furniture, begins the work of the 30 present Teams. Each is assigned in the extensive exhibition hall with a table, to the people – about 80 percent men put up with their Laptops.

five to twelve Teams, depending on the Size, are in a larger unit, the "Agile Release Train" (KIND of). "With 100 to 125 people per TYPE, the Size is still so, that we all know each other," says Wechsler. The interdisciplinary and cross-sector Work in larger units was mandatory in view of the increasingly complex tasks for Software-developers.

hundreds of emails

For each of the three present major units saved, there is a separate area in the exhibition hall – because every TYPE of unit has its own three-month planning. Between each of the Teams within the big unit, an intensive exchange takes place during the two planning days, there are various dependencies to be taken into account when setting the target too.

this is Also a Central aspect of the PI Planning: All Stakeholders need to be at the Meeting, so that a replacement of face-to-face is possible. "From time to time, I responded to the two-day events, associated costs," says Wechsler. "But the money is well invested, if I see here across all areas intensively communicate with each other." When asked about this, replied one Participant: "I can go directly to the people – this saves me hundreds of e-Mails."

Teamwork rather than authority. Employees of the furniture discuss to a wall. Photo: Adrian Moser

the longer the day lasts, the more pieces of paper with a sticking hand-written notes, and tags on the boards of the individual Teams. Each wall is equal to divided – with space for the objectives of the first two weeks, the second and third two weeks until the end of the three-month period. This 14-day stages are called "Sprints". Thus, the quarterly requirements in a detailed two-week projects, breaking down. The temporal sequence of Sprints can change depending on the course of the projects – the in the PI Planning objectives agreed for the next three months, however, are taboo.

at The conclusion of the day all the Participants gather again in a plenary session. The Teams will present briefly their goals for the interim three month, but also make it clear where you can see from today's perspective, risks, caveats, and dependencies from third parties. These ambiguities are resolved on the second day, so far as possible, so that at the end for each Team it is clear where the journey until the may meeting to go.

"More rest is returns"

Having regard to the almost three years of experience in the furniture, is Changer a staunch supporter of the clocked planning: "We have become significantly more mobile and flexible, in a word: agile." The quarterly cadence in the planning allow it to respond more quickly – for example, on technical developments, changes in priorities of the Executive Committee, or the inclusion of new partners. "In this fast-paced time, especially in the field of Software development, it is of enormous importance," adds Wechsler.

In addition, the furniture Manager determines a higher Motivation in the team. "People stay together, you know, where they belong, and, you know," says Wechsler. A team boss in the traditional sense, there are individual members take on specific roles. Initially, the Teams were able to determine their composition, as well your name. So we read in the hall of the Ice Age, Copacabana, Base Jump, or El Dorado.

Before the introduction of the PI Planning Software and IT involved specialists for the project, time for another deducted for the key persons among them were equal on several projects. "This has torn the people, and worn out," recalls Wechsler. "With the new planning approach will be more calm." The Teams knew exactly what goals they have committed themselves to. They were to Meet, the only binding guideline – up to the next PI-Planning.

Similar to the positive part of the comment on participating on the courses. A, the development of a large insurer was previously in the Software sector, says: "I don't want to work more so as I know it from earlier. We are faster on the road and enjoy more free space."

Created: 02.03.2020, 21:28 PM

Date Of Update: 03 March 2020, 07:00
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