The Pitfalls of PPM

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?PPM (Program Predictability Measure) is the primary and most well known metric of the agile implementation of SAFe which is calculated for each PI (Program Increment). Tracking it can be informative, insightful, and motivational to meeting your goals, but how do you know if it’s properly incorporated into your organization’s SAFe implementation? Here are some ways you might be using it wrong.

You're using it to measure productivity.

It’s easy to forget that PPM is a measure of predictability, not productivity. If you view PPM as a metric of what is getting done, you’re going to set your org up for failure and demotivate your teams. Don’t assume teams that achieved a lower PPM failed to deliver. True agile teams want to deliver on their commitments.

A low PPM simply means the organization wasn’t as predictable as hoped, not that value wasn’t delivered. This should be used as an opportunity for a conversation with teams. There can be many reasons and it’s important to know why. Treat teams with respect to work on identifying root causes. They usually know what’s needed. A balanced culture of shared responsibility and a little coaching will go a long way to discovering and solving issues.

You try to drive PPM higher each PI.

The target PPM range is 80% to 100%, so more is better, right? And achieving over 100% is better still since I’m getting more than I asked for. Wrong!

This mindset is another symptom of treating PPM as a productivity metric. Driving teams to consistently deliver a higher and higher PPM each PI will instill undesirable anti-patterns into your teams. Teams will begin sandbagging, commit to less and less in PI Planning so they can deliver more than their commitment. They’ll also be more rigid or cut corners when you ask for necessary mid-PI changes, or sideways work, because that work isn’t being tracked.

Frankly, you don’t want a higher PPM every PI. You should preserve the ability to pivot your development to keep up with a changing marketplace. Sometimes, that means asking teams to turn away from the commitments that they made in the last PI Planning and work on something new. This is good, and frankly, it’s better for your business.

You’re asking for the wrong things.

When you approach PI Planning, are you communicating what you want or what you need? Too much detail or precision in what you want created will drive down PPM and lead to a lot of wasted time and work. A roadmap should not be an itinerary. If the teams can get you from point A to B, do you really care what route they take to get there?

Trust your teams to be able to transform your vision into a solution. Don’t dictate unnecessary implementation details. Your vision should communicate the why and the what of your solution. Your teams are best able to figure out the how for themselves.

You’re not open to a changing market.

Today’s marketplace is dynamic and rapidly changing. If you’re going to survive you need to adapt and change with it. The whole point of being agile is to be able to change and pivot at a moment’s notice. It is a chronic misconception about SAFe that organizations and teams must be locked in to their commitments during a PI and work on nothing else.

Don’t be so focused on capturing your teams’ PI commitments that you miss the greater opportunity to beat your competition or grow into a new segment. Every checkpoint during a PI should present an opportunity to pivot or persevere. Even though this could drive down your organization's PPM, the ability to adapt to change should be celebrated and rewarded. It will actually help you survive.

Douglas Cunningham is an independent agile coach, trainer, and consultant for organizations and teams. Contact him or follow on LinkedIn and his website at ProactiveAgile.com.

If you find this article interesting or useful, please comment and share to help build visibility. See the original post at: https://proactiveagile.com/2020/07/21/the-pitfalls-of-ppm/

Doug’s writings stem from his real-world experiences and contain his real-world opinions. He welcomes discussion and strives to adapt in response to new information.

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