1. Evolving a Continuous Improvement System
Dan Craig
Director, Agile CoE

2. Fannie Mae Single Family Multifamily By the NUMBERS
A leading source of financing for mortgage lenders helping to make the 30-year, fixed rate possible.
Single Family
Helping lenders serve today’s home buyers and homeowners.
Multifamily
Providing financing for quality rental housing in every market, every day.
By the NUMBERS
4 Years Agile Transformation
240 Agile Teams
97% Agile Releases

3. Continuous Improvement is the most critical element of agile
Continuous Improvement is the most critical element of agile. With it, we will find our way to every other element. Without it, the impact of other elements is short-lived.
-Fannie Mae Agile CoE

4. Where our Journey Started…
In 2016, agile adoption grew from 32 to 160 agile teams but we saw little Continuous Improvement. Here is why:
No Clear Vision of Target State Teams unclear regarding the desired target state of agile delivery within Fannie Mae.
Leadership Disengaged from Teams Leaders unclear on how to support agile teams and still relying on traditional management practices.
No Consistent, Meaningful Metrics Wide variance in tooling and inconsistent processes make organic, quantifiable metrics impossible.
No Structure for Improvement With only a newly formed Agile CoE, the enterprise had no change management for improvement.

5. Define Target State
Create an Agile Maturity Model (AMM) to ground enterprise on desired future state.
SDLC
AMM
Playbook
CoE Products
Fannie Mae Agile Maturity Model (AMM)
Level 1 – Foundational
Level 2 – Transparent
Level 3 – Predictable
Level 4 – Aligned
Level 5 – High-Performing
60+
Practices
Portfolios
Our Hypothesis
Publication of an Agile Maturity Model (AMM) will:
Inform teams and leaders on desired future state
Focus team retrospectives and improvement backlogs
Aid communication between teams and Leaders
Programs
Teams
Benefits
Learning
Survey
Established a shared vision
Created a standard taxonomy for maturity
Helped new teams start their journey
Allowed leaders to continue “managing”
AMM Score became goal rather than aspiration
Impeded improvement on mature teams

6. Dashboard Metrics
Release a Delivery Metrics dashboard to standardize at the Team and Program level.
SDLC
AMM
Playbook
Metrics
CoE Products
Fannie Mae Agile Delivery Metrics (AMM)
Team Level
Sprint Burndown
Sprint Velocity
Technical Debt Incurred
Automated Test Coverage / Pass %
Escaped Defects
Program Level
Release Burnup
Running Tested Features
Portfolios
Our Hypothesis
Standardizing Delivery Metrics will:
Counter-balance focus on subjective AMM scores and practices
Pivot discussions towards quantitative over qualitative
Programs
Teams
Benefits
Learning
Survey
Helped teams focus on critical metrics
Provided standard for status delivery
Reduced traditional PMO reporting
Armed leaders with more data to “manage”
Did not facilitate conversations between teams and leadership

7. Manage the Change CoE Products
Implement structured framework to support improvement activities.
SDLC
AMM
AHR
Playbook
Metrics
CoE Products
Portfolios
Our Hypothesis
A structured approach to continuous improvement will:
Drive a connection between leaders and teams
Identify systemic issues across programs
Programs
CIT
Teams
CIT
Benefits
Learning
Survey
Facilitated conversations with teams
Provided insight for future investment in training
Begins pivot from “managers” to “leaders”
Leaders unskilled at work decomposition and managing WIP
Insufficient transparency back to teams
Escalations

8. Closing the Loop
Trained leadership in Scrum and techniques for structured Problem Solving.
SDLC
AMM
AHR
Playbook
Metrics
CoE Products
Portfolios
Sprint
Our Hypothesis
Guiding Leadership to problem solve on a predictable cadence will:
Promote a culture of leadership and trust
Incent teams to report MORE impediments
Make delivery more efficient and effective
Programs
Sprint
CIT
Teams
CIT
Benefits
Learning
Immediate positive impact to culture
Teams gain full transparency
Impediments actually being removed!
Leaders unable to prioritize with empirical data.
Still no way to measure the effect of change
Escalations

9. Delivery Outcomes
Release an Outcome Metrics dashboard to reflect state of delivery for each product.
SDLC
AMM
AHR
Playbook
Metrics
Outcomes
CoE Products
Fannie Mae Agile Outcome Metrics
Speed
Lead Time
Release Frequency
Stability
Release Failure %
Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR)
Quality
Escaped Defects
Customer Reported Issues
Satisfaction
Customer (net promoter score)
Employee
Portfolios
Sprint
Our Hypothesis
A focus on Outcome-based metrics will:
Allow leaders to guide continuous improvement with empirical evidence
Benchmark Fannie Mae delivery against industry
Programs
Sprint
CIT
Teams
CIT
Benefits
Learning
Leaders are learning to ask for desired outcomes
Focus on health of the delivery “engine”
Need for focus on actual business value delivered. That’s Next!
Escalations

10. Our Continuous Improvement System
After three years of systems thinking and experimentation, we have evolved a robust improvement system.
STRUCTURED APPROACH
ENGAGED LEADERSHIP
Regular
All Levels
Structured / Tool-Based
Transparent
Well Understood
Escalation Path
Strategy Aligned
Continuous Improvement Teams
Cross Organizational Lines
Program / Portfolio Level
Scrum (or Kanban) Delivery
Backlog Team Fed
Accountability / Demos
Problem Solving
Approach
Leadership
MEANINGFUL METRICS
CHANGE CULTURE
Organic / Tool Based
Quantitative
Outcome Focused
Consistent
Timely
Organic
Metrics
Culture
Shared Vision
Commitment
Time Allocation
Accountability
Shared Learning
Properly Resourced
Recognition & Celebration

11. Thank You!