The adaptation and implementation of new technologies and business strategies has become a major organizational challenge. Here we look at how proper utilization of a wide skill set within the project management discipline can help.
Projects that don’t deliver incremental value run the risk of growing stale, or worse, not growing at all. By maintaining a steady stream of constant, frequent, small releases, the product or solution is in a state of continual improvement, with each release better than the last.
When an organization seeks to leverage agile practices and principles across multiple areas of the business, it must take steps to ensure that legacy groups and functions are not left behind or excluded from the process. It’s not about minimizing disruption; it’s maximizing benefits.
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COVID - the word that has impacted our lives at a planetary level over the past couple of years. The changes introduced by the pandemic impacted organizations as a whole and, of course, the way we deliver projects. This webinar is a practitioner's reflections on how COVID accelerated (real) agility, not only by forcing people to think outside of the box but to learn how to adapt to a new 'normal'; work and collaborate remotely; and use technology to support change rather than driving it. From an Agile perspective, COVID forced agility beyond small 'projects' delivered by a team of software developers. COVID also uncovered some shortcomings of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development version of Agile.
Agile remains a hot topic! Started in manufacturing in the 1970s as a better product delivery option than the 'perfect' Six Sigma, Agile became popular in the 21st Century when the success of small software teams using the Manifesto for Agile Software Development values and principles attracted the attention of other parts of the business. Nowadays, many projects have a software development component and a software development (sub) team. From the Project Management perspective, the Story Points, introduced by Extreme Programming (XP) and now used by some Scrum teams, can be harmful to the team and even to Agility. The term "Scrum Project Management" is widely used these days; although, most of the time, this refers to application maintenance and support. This webinar is an analysis of the pros and cons of using Story Points in projects and an exploration of some options that can replace Story Points.
SMEs are changing their business models in order to adapt to the post-pandemic scenario. Solutions are needed to give them the support they need to survive. One such extremely effective and contemporary solution can be the adoption of Agile methodologies.
Podcasts and blog posts to help you manage the challenge of transitioning from traditional project management to Agile. Dave Prior celebrates success, embraces the learning that comes from failure, and digs deep on topics you need to be up to speed on.
This blog explores pragmatic agile and lean strategies for enterprise-class contexts.
This blog concerns itself with organizations moving to business agility—the quick realization of value predictably and sustainably, and with high quality. It includes all aspects of this—from the business stakeholders through ops and support. Topics will be far-reaching but will mostly discuss FLEX, Flow, Lean-Thinking, Lean-Management, Theory of Constraints, Systems Thinking, Test-First and Agile.
Agile project leaders and teams can use this one-page worksheet to help plan and create sprint goals, including description, demonstration items, Definition of Done, and key metrics. Use in conjunction with the article Sprint Planning: Are You Doing It Backwards?
This spreadsheet is an example of how to determine WSJF prioritization, as described in the article Prioritize Weighted Shortest Job First.
When companies move to an agile Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), they often remove the processes and analysis of their waterfall SDLC because, as the Agile Manifesto puts it, “They value individual and interactions over processes and tools.” Some of the rigor should be removed – waterfall processes can get bogged down with gates and sign-offs. However, caution must be exercised to not go too far against processes and analysis and rely just upon backlogs and user stories. Requirements and the analysis that leads to those requirements are just as essential in an agile project as they are in a waterfall project. The difference lies in how much requirements analysis is completed and the timing of it.
We know a lot about how to help product-focused teams use agility. Those teams can plan for a little bit, collaborate, deliver, and learn from their work. But what about non-product teams? What can you do to exhibit more agility?
Question: We are a large organization that works on hybrid products. It means that we need traditional support for some teams, but also a more flexible way to add new services and ways of working for agile or Disciplined Agile teams. Are there changes that need to occur in the PMO to make this an easier environment, or should that part of our corporate structure remain as it has been in the past?
Modeling should be at the core of project management. So, where have we gone wrong? Did we lose the narrative and accept the arguments that these tasks are outside our active concern scope and leadership abilities? The simple answer is, we have.
Many people think they can only choose between waterfall and agile for their project approach. But we can use criteria to help us decide the right approach for our project—even an unnamed, non-standard approach. When we choose an approach that manages our risks, we are more likely to succeed.
Question: I am going to head a team on a large, corporate project that will involve multiple teams. The problem is that we are not all going to be using the same methods of project management, and I am concerned about how we will be able to work together if we are not all following the same processes. Is it possible for various parts of the organization to work in different ways and still produce a good product?
Is hybrid really the dominant approach? Recent surveys have suggested that hybrid is the dominant approach to project delivery. Is that really the case? And should it be the case? Let’s start by recognizing that not everyone has the same understanding of hybrid.
A growing number of professionals must recognize that it is necessary for us to understand a core driver for this period of change: multiple technologies, which are evolving and bring with them unique capabilities. Is your workforce prepared for the disruptive change we will all face?
With some exception, gone are the days of fully defining the project’s scope followed by a comprehensive project plan. So too, however, is the expectation that the goals of a project can simply unfold as time passes. Let’s look at three scenarios…
Agile has been “going mainstream” for more than a decade, but supporting evidence was more in the eye of the beholder. Maybe now it’s really happening. A new State of Agile report found growing adoption rates outside of software development and documented success in areas such as visibility and alignment.
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