ROLE
Lead Producer / Scaled Agile Lead
FOR
Bohemia Interactive Simulations
DATE
2018 – 2020
DESCRIPTION
VBS4
A whole-earth virtual desktop trainer and simulation host that allows military training professionals and students to create, edit and run any imaginable military training scenario at any location on the virtual globe.
VBS Blue IG
A CIGI-compliant, 3D whole-earth image generator designed to support the full spectrum of land, sea, air and space use cases for collective and individual military training applications.
ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
At BISim I wore multiple-hats in the Production Discipline.
At the leadership level
I lead all 8 global development teams dependent on the core engine in an adapted form of Scaled Agile project management including pre-pro, dependency mapping, feature tracking, and release finaling for the VBS4 and BlueIG Products.
It was my responsibility to drive process concensus and educate team leads on program level processes, driving the teams in hosting Scrum of Scrum updates, stakeholder updates as well as preparing and proctoring the week-long quarterly planning event as the Lead Producer.
At the team level
I lead teams as a Scrum Master and Producer, driving requirement identification / analysis / estimation, setting and monitoring sprint goals, sprintly ceremonies, dev team coaching and release finaling for the BlueIG and SDK Teams.
KEY CONTRIBUTIONS
• Scaled Agile Transformation – Unified all 8 VBS development groups under the same roadmap product team, training leads on dependency mapping, project reporting and risk mgmt, resulting in the team shipping our VBS4 early acces on schedule for IITSEC 2019.
• Global Remote Leadership – I established and facilitated all status update and scrum of scrum meetings as BISim's Scaled Agile Lead. I Identified, implemented and trained leads on using digital tools allowing us to effectively coordinate production remotely across 4 global offices in real time, laying the digital foundation for global coordination.
• Virtual Big Room Planning – In response to BISim's COVID-19 travel freeze, I researched and implemented toolsets and educated leadership on processes that would allow us to host our week-long quarterly Big-Room planning workshop entirely through digital tools and telecomunication. Setting a pandemic-friendly paradigm that would also save the company $300,000 annually on travel and accomodations.
• Program Level Tracking – I Coordinated with the 8 VBS Blue development teams and program leadership to define the unit of hierarchy for portfolio Features and map their path to "the definition of done", and implemented a tracking board for a "one-stop-shop" view of Feature status for Executive Leadership.
• Dependency Wrangler – Introduced the company to, and educated team leads on digital Program Board dependency tracking. This tool would allow us to visualize and track the consequences of evolving schedules on feature deliveries in real time during planning and sprintly production syncs, resulting in a "No Surprises" view in release planning and dependency management.
• Arcade Chartering – Due to the lean nature of BISim development, teams and goals would change fast, roles and responsibilities would become muddied without regular team chartering. My solution for my dev teams was to rent out the party room at a local barcade to hash these details out candidly in a fun environment. With a tourney or two of Killer Queen, no-less!