Presented by Marco Mulder and Lars Vonk

Abstract:

We have experienced that the A3 process, coming from Lean, is a great tool to address tough organizational problems. It helps to clearly identify what we try to achieve and what the best possible improvements are to get there, while creating buy-in for the chosen solution at the same time.

Typically, tougher problems have many underlying causes. In organizations, several groups of people typically have their own perspective on a situation. They all see “their part of the elephant”. People come up with solutions which usually mean that others need to change something. People try to force their solution on others without having a shared idea of the problem and its causes. The A3 process helps us to do better than this familiar way of addressing problems.

The presenters have successfully used the A3 process in Agile contexts:
- reorganized a multi-team Scrum setting that had come to a grinding halt;
- resolve issues such as which automated test tool to use;
- used an A3 report to present findings and improvements from a code review.

The session will be interactive. Participants will experience the A3 process and will work on creating an A3 report in groups.

For those of you who wonder what A3 stands for: it’s the size of the paper on which the A3 report is presented.

Note: the number of participants for this session is limited to 20

Format and length:

90 mins: presentation followed by an interactive session.

Intended audience and prerequisites:

The intended audience is Scrum Masters, Agile coaches and generally people who want to change or improve something in their team or organization.

There are no prerequisites.

Objective(s) of the session:

- Learn about the applicability of the A3 process.
- Learn how to use the A3 process to frame problems in a structural way.
- Learn how the A3 process helps to unite different viewpoints in a solution that is accepted by everyone.
- Practice on how to build an A3 report.

Benefits for participants and presenter(s):

The benefits for the participants is that they learn about a very valuable tool to solve tough problems and bring about organizational change. People often focus on solutions before agreeing on an analysis of the problem. Participants who are aware of the A3 process can use it in many situations.

The presenters like to create more awareness of the A3 process since it is such a valuable tool in many situations that we encounter as Scrum Coaches.