Blocker Clustering: Enhancing our processes
What is slowing you down? Part 2/3
In software development, blockers are obstacles that hinder teams from achieving faster delivery. In a previous article, I shared insights on mindset and behaviours that can help prevent future blockers. Now, let’s explore a tool called “blocker clustering” that enables us to identify and adjust our ways of working, reducing the chances of blockers resurfacing. This technique empowers teams to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying causes and patterns of blockers, allowing for more effective resolution.
Step 1: Identifying Blockers To effectively identify blockers
It’s crucial to record essential information for later analysis:
- Description: A concise description that helps us recall the nature of the blocker.
- Category: Defining blocker categories is crucial for easy identification and classification, such as external dependencies, changes in priorities, internal dependencies, and more.
- Flow Step: Understanding when the blocker arises provides important insights into its nature and impact. Blockers occurring in the upstream and downstream stages may differ in nature and effect.
- Blocker Dates: Record the dates when the blocker occurred and when it was resolved.
- Cycle Time: Measure the time it took to resolve the issue (from creation to closure).
You can use any tool to record this information, such as spreadsheets, sticky notes, or specific fields in your preferred ticketing system. It’s essential to keep the process lightweight to accurately reflect the reality of the blockers’ nature. In an upcoming article, I will delve into how you can automate this information capture in Jira and explore alternative implementation approaches.
Step 2: Prioritising Blockers
Understanding which blocker categories caused the most disruption to the team is vital. Two significant variables to consider are the number of blockers and the total blocked time.
In this example we have a category that caught our attention, we have a group of teams blocking each other and this issue happened 13 times in a period of time. Now is the time to deep dive into the causes.
Step 3: Finding Root Causes
To uncover the actual root cause of a blocker, I recommend employing the “Five Whys” technique. By repeatedly asking “why,” this technique helps identify the fundamental reasons behind a problem, rather than focusing solely on its symptoms. Here’s how it works:
- Clearly define the problem or issue that needs to be addressed.
- Ask “why” the problem occurred, identifying the immediate cause or reason (the first “why” question).
- Repeat the process, asking “why” for each answer given in step 2, delving deeper into the underlying cause.
- Aim for the root cause, which is the underlying reason that, when addressed, can prevent the problem from recurring. Uncovering the root cause may require multiple iterations of asking “why.”
Note that the number of “why” questions may vary based on the problem’s complexity. Sometimes, more than five “whys” are needed, while other cases may require fewer questions. The goal is to continue probing until reaching a point where further questioning no longer provides additional insights.
Step 4: Defining Improvement Actions
Once you’ve identified the most impactful blocker and uncovered its root cause, it’s time to take action. Apply the same principles as in any improvement session, such as a retrospective. Begin with divergence to convergence, using techniques like the double diamond approach. The improvement actions should be meaningful, concrete, team-driven, and measurable. I recommend adopting a scientific experimental approach, clearly articulating the problem, the improvement actions, how to measure the expected impact, and the time window for experimentation.
Blocker clustering is a powerful technique that enables teams to reflect on and address their blockers, fostering the adjustment of ways of working to prevent impediments and facilitate the continuous flow of value delivery. By diligently applying this tool, teams can enhance their agility and optimise their software development processes.
