Charitable Agility

A blog from Jonathan Eversett, Senior Systems Analyst at Landmark Information Group:

"The company I work for is big on Corporate Social Responsibility, so over two days last week everyone at Landmark Information Group had the opportunity to do a day’s work for a charity to improve two playgrounds in Bristol. 

In order to make sure we could still have a business operating over the course of the build, we were divided into four groups i.e. one group for each site for each day, where a group consisted of roughly 75 people, and each site had eight different activities. Our organisers engaged a company called Splash Projects who specialise in running team building events and the design for the parks had been done with a great deal of input from the children who use them.

Ok, so what does this have to do with Agile? Well, like many things in life, it’s there if you look for it.

Team sizes ranged from four to thirteen people from Landmark, so not always the optimum Scrum team size, and one member of the Splash team with a member of staff from the charity on-hand all day too, so in agile terms we ended up with pretty good representations of Scrum in most teams. Landmark employees became the Development Team, as we were responsible for the creation of the product; the Splash guys billed themselves as Project Managers and they certainly do have those skills, however looking at how they worked with us then it is clear to me that they were the teams’ Scrum Masters. The staff members from the charity were our Product Owners and the children who has designed the new play park and who turned up after school to check on our progress and help clear up, were our stakeholders.

The “Scrum Masters” had the plans (i.e. the Sprint Goal), which they shared with us, and explained the priorities attached to the various tasks to ensure that the job would be completed on time, with the most important work being done first. The Sprint Goal was to complete the slide section which meant completing the bridge which connected a raised platform to the main walkway, finishing the platform and attaching the slide. 

In addition to these high level goals we had to ensure that we implemented specific business rules too, for example when adding railings to the platform we had to ensure they were between 25-89mm apart with a gap at the bottom of 25mm. I was in two minds whether this role was Scrum Master or Product Owner and I finally decided that the guys from Splash were fulfilling the Scrum Master role for two reasons. Firstly, they were ensuring that we followed the process, which in this case was the plan for the slide and to ensure that we met an acceptable definition of Done, but secondly, and crucially, they told us what we needed to do but did not tell us how we should do it. Although advice was given when requested.

Our Development Team were made of women and men from different offices so although we knew each other, few of us had worked closely together but good collaboration and communication would play a key part in the success of the project. Plenty of the team had experience of these kind of DIY projects and these multi-skilled developers were able to turn their hands to a wide variety of tasks. 

Those with slightly more limited skills were able to contribute by picking up new skills and ensuring that the batteries for the drills were kept charged up or bringing the building materials to the build site thereby ensuring the site was kept tidy and that a smooth flow of work could be maintained. As a team we collaborated very effectively to ensure we met our goal but we also had to collaborate with other teams on the site as some of the tools had to be shared across teams and success was judged on the overall site not on any one project.

For me, the most rewarding aspect of the day was that we were allowed to own the problem we were tackling. We had plenty of guidance and coaching from our “Scrum Master” in terms of ensuring we met of Definition of Done, and fulfilled all the necessary requirements. We were told that the old slide needed to be demolished to make space, and we that needed to keep the metal sheet to re-use on the new one BUT our self-organising team had to work out how to reinstall the slide against the new platform which had a different height and orientation to the old one. 

On several occasions we had to adapt the plan in the light of the real world situation such as digging a hole to ensure the large slide still fitted. Even when digging the hole we initially expected earth and stones but immediately hit some previously forgotten rubber matting placed years before and long since overgrown so we had to work out the most efficient way of removing it – it turns out that shovels won’t work but secateurs do a great job!

So, we had a Goal and a Backlog of requirements, a Development Team, a Scrum Master and Product Owner and a whole load of eager stakeholders - plus two days to do something genuinely worthwhile. 

While I can’t say this is the perfect metaphor for Agile we had all the elements for a successful collaboration to deliver a meaningful project and above all the team took the opportunity to own the build and adapt the plan to the conditions on the ground in a truly agile fashion. All in all it was a great day!"

Jess Varnish challenges Landmark staff to jump on their bike and get DNAFit

Landmark Information Group has become the first company in the world to offer genetically guided corporate wellness programmes to help staff manage their diet and boost their fitness.

Landmark has teamed up with British Olympian and double Commonwealth 2014 Games Medal winning cyclist Jess Varnish and British nutrigenetics firm DNAFit Life Sciences to offer DNAFit, a test which reveals the best workout and diet to help weight loss and improve wellness.

Jess has used the DNAFit test to refine her training and 50 staff at Landmark have followed suit, including CEO Mark Milner. All will receive their own bespoke DNAFit diet, nutrition and exercise plans to help change their lives.

They will also have the chance to turn science fact into pedal power in Landmark’s Bike Week ‘JESS’S JOGLE’ challenge - to ‘virtually’ cycle the distance from John O’Groats to Land’s End (955 miles).

Exercise bikes allowing all staff to take up the challenge will be located at Landmark’s offices in Brighton, Exeter and Reading. Participating staff are also helping to raise money for Cycling Projects, which promotes accessible cycling nationwide. All staff will also be invited to attend genetic workshops hosted by DNAFit Consultant and athlete Andrew Steele, who used the programme as part of his training for the British Olympics men’s 400m.

Landmark’s health and wellbeing initiative comes at a time when the NHS has raised concerns that obesity is causing millions to suffer life-long illness. NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens will publish plans next month to encourage private companies to help staff lose weight by holding slimming classes, running clubs and promote cycling.

“At Landmark, we are already powering ahead by promoting healthy lifestyles through a range of initiatives, like JESS’S JOGLE challenge,” said Landmark’s CTO, Ian Clarke.  “A healthy employee is a productive employee. DNAFit enables staff to know the very best diet for their own genetics and train according to their unique genetic makeup, in the process influencing behavioural change and creating motivation.”

The revolutionary DNAFit test – which made news around the world when it was revealed it was being used by English Premier League soccer teams and Olympic athletes – scans up to 45 gene variants linked to a body’s capacity to cope with training and food. The tests reveals if a person is best suited to endurance exercise (heavy cardio) or power exercise (weights and sprints), how much recovery time is needed between training and the risk of soft tissue damage.

In a recent study of 191 obese people by the University of Trieste, those using a DNA-matched diet lost 33 per cent more weight than those counting calories. The DNAFit test also reveals a person’s carbohydrate and saturated fat sensitivity, lactose and gluten intolerance risk, as well as their ideal diet, detox ability, anti-oxidant needs, vitamin and micronutrient intake, salt and caffeine sensitivity.

Jess Varnish said: “I think it’s excellent that Landmark is the first to offer this test to its staff. It’s really important to me to promote positive values around overall fitness, health and wellbeing. As Landmark’s ambassador I’m really excited to see how they are embedding this approach as part of their own internal ethos.”

DNAFit’s founder Avi Lasarow added: “We’re delighted Landmark has become the first firm to offer genetic testing for its staff.  They will now be able to train and eat smarter, confident that they have a workout and diet that is personalised.”

For more information visit www.landmarkbikeweek.co.uk and follow Landmark’s Twitter account @LandmarkUK #blazeatrail.

To support the week and make a donation to Cycle Projects, please visit the JustGiving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/landmarkbikeweek/

Climate change - meeting the compliance challenge

Despite the Government's well-publicised Red Tape Challenge, the volume of climate change-inspired legislation seems to keep on growing.  Businesses, and in some cases public sector organisations too, may already:

·      be subject to compulsory carbon trading schemes (the EU Emissions Trading System, the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme)

·       be required to meet stringent energy targets in order to benefit from lower energy prices (Climate Change Agreements)

·       have to pay for Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates for their buildings

·       be obliged to operate a formal energy management system as a condition of their environmental permit. 

 

Now, UK quoted companies must in addition report annually on their greenhouse gas emissions.  This new requirement extends to certain public bodies too, while others are strongly encouraged to report.  From next year, another new piece of legislation will make regular energy efficiency audits obligatory for all enterprises above SME level.

 
While such obligations may prove beneficial for some organisations through tighter control of energy consumption, high energy intensity businesses tend to manage their energy well in any case - when it is a large proportion of your overall costs, you have to or you become uncompetitive.  Whether large or small, the raft of carbon management legislative requirements presents a compliance headache, particularly for those operations that are subject to a number of the overlapping regimes.  The problem is magnified for companies that are part of an international group because the parent company may need to report worldwide emissions in several jurisdictions, based on differing legislation, emission factors and reporting guidelines.  Such groups will often wish to make voluntary reports as well, and engage in CSR, in a way that is appropriate in each country. 

How can an organisation keep track of all these requirements?  Better still, how can it go beyond mere compliance and make use of the data it is required to gather to increase efficiency and demonstrate its environmental credentials to its stakeholders?  Fortunately, the software tools are now available to meet these challenges and turn the burden of complying with multiple climate change regimes into an opportunity for performance improvements and reduced costs.

Landmark's Sustainability Sure package has been developed to help both large and small organisations to manage their energy and environmental data and facilitate reporting.  It is flexible and customisable, allowing the user to record, analyse and manage all energy/carbon compliance issues through a single application, no matter where the operations are in the world, and deal with other CSR and sustainability issues too.  It is supremely easy to use, with a web-based interface accessible through any browser.  The displays and outputs can be tailored to suit the organisation and the user's preferences, and alerts set to inform the appropriate people when particular events occur (or don’t occur). 

One of the key features of Sustainability Sure, and the main reason why many organisations use it, is CRC compliance.  It is well suited to the task of tracking energy usage across a large property portfolio.  Anomalies such as missing or inconsistent meter readings can easily be spotted, and supporting information such as bills or notes of organisational changes and property disposals can be uploaded to provide a full evidence pack.  A unique feature is Quick Connect which provides automatic receipt of data from energy suppliers and metering companies, reducing the chance of errors creeping in and ensuring the consumption figures are available quickly.

For those businesses that participate in multiple schemes, whether UK-only or worldwide, an important benefit of Sustainability Sure is that data only has to be entered once even if it is used in several ways.  For example, the consumption figures from a single meter can feed automatically into the CRC report, the UK greenhouse gas report, voluntary reporting under the Carbon Disclosure Project and any other outputs that may be required.  Emissions factors are automatically updated, a big advantage for those working across several jurisdictions with their different reporting obligations.  Users can be confident that their reporting will be compliant with both local legislative requirements and global standards.  The system can handle CSR data such as waste generation and workforce diversity as well as energy consumption and emissions, allowing everything to be managed and controlled through one tool.

 
Having gathered a substantial quantity of energy data, it would be a shame not to make proper use of it.  The Energy Dashboard within Sustainability Sure allows users to drill down through the data and analyse it in different ways (including graphically) to identify potential savings.  This process can be as simple or sophisticated as the users wishes.  For example, the energy manager of a large manufacturing group might start by ranking sites in descending order of energy intensity and then focus attention on the consumption of the top 10%.  Half-hourly meter data can be examined at whatever scale is required.  An unexpectedly high overnight gas consumption in single-shift production facility would merit investigation, as would a gradual increase in electricity demand over a period of months.  The impact of changes such as the installation of renewable electricity generation is readily identifiable, making it easier to justify similar investments in the future. 

Most of the schemes to which organisations are subject, whether mandatory or voluntary, have auditing requirements.  In the case of the CRC only about 20% of participants will be audited each year and, as a result, the need to maintain 'audit-ready' records is often forgotten.  This can lead to mild panic when a communication is received to warn of an impending audit.  Users of Sustainability Sure need have no fears because the system is designed to facilitate the audit process.  Remote or on-site auditor access can be provided easily, without compromising the security of other data, and all the supporting references will be available through the system.  This makes both internal and external auditing a simple procedure even across a large number of sites.

 

Using an effective management tool such as Sustainability Sure allows an organisation to reap the benefits of climate change legislation as well as ensuring that compliance is achieved and can be demonstrated. 

 

Victoria Joy