There are many concepts fundamental to Agile that could be applied n environments outside the realm of projects and project management. Concepts like iterating solutions and self-organizing teams are tools that can help make a better world.
When Agile was almost exclusively used as a software development delivery approach, there was heated debate about what was and wasn’t “pure” Agile. The conversation continues now, but why? Today Agile approaches serve many needs and stakeholder groups; agile purists need to recognize this reality.
An organization is looking into AI to streamline story point estimation for its agile work. The leadership believe that AI is going to simplify the process, increase productivity and improve accountability. But its agile teams are pushing back.
Goals are good for any team, including agile ones. However, it’s possible to set goals that seem to make sense but are ineffective and might even hurt the work of the team and the product. Let’s look at three goal setting “anti-patterns” that should be avoided.
As agile approaches grow in popularity and enter new areas of operation, the demand for people with agile experience and skillsets increases. To fulfill that demand, it may be time to rethink the ‘ideal’ agile candidate, focusing on capabilities not IT backgrounds.
Instead of driving the completion of tasks, project leaders should point teams in the right direction and empower them to deliver positive results. Good teams become great when they have the resources needed to succeed, the flexibility to innovate, and the ownership to grow.
If startups move like jet skiers, large organizations move like supertankers—they require time to change direction. In today’s world that’s a problem. Can big entities adjust and adapt faster? Can they truly embody organizational agility?
A sprint review is an essential part of the agile process, where the team can demo new features and functionality. But the demo is only half the story. The sprint review is also an opportunity for productive conversation and feedback between the team and stakeholder, which will lead to a better product.
There is a welcome focus on wellbeing in the workplace these days, but we need to ensure that expectations are realistic for everyone. It doesn’t always happen on fast-paced agile projects, where the human toll on software development teams to deliver is often ignored.
A new report from Project Management Institute and the National Academy of Public Administration outlines nine tenets that federal agencies can implement to become more effective, efficient and equitable.
Project leaders need their teams to be accountable to tasks, deadlines, quality and a host of other things. But without position-level authority, gaining commitment is a common challenge. Avoiding these three faulty commitment expectations can help.
Most organizations “get” what it means to do agile projects, but far fewer embrace agile concepts and build agility. There needs to be more focus on the merits of an agile approach, regardless of its label.
There is increased focus on measuring project performance in terms of business outcomes. What does that mean for agile projects? How should value be measured in an agile environment?
Gartner is predicting that 30% of teams will operate without a boss by 2024. Is that realistic, and what are the implications? Let’s explore those questions in the context of today’s agile environment.
Legacy organizational structures and top-down, command-and-control management have institutionalized insular silos, hierarchy and dated governance practices that impede our transition to modern ways of working. A better way? A cross-functional, cross-silo, cross-hierarchy leadership team of teams that is responsible for delivering value and driving change across the organization.
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.
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 customers are reluctant to embrace a project team’s agile approach, should the organization modify the approach to accommodate them, or should they press on and “prove” it is the best way to deliver what they want?
Project leaders have a key role to play in innovation. It starts with giving teams the flexibility to be creative and develop unexpected results. Facilitating customer interaction helps teams explore what is actually needed and get in the mindset to deliver it. And stakeholders must be prepared for change and ambiguity, instead of predictability.
Some in the Agile community don’t like the word “project”—they associate it with bureaucracy and bad ways of working. But the real issue is that they don’t feel their organizations understand that Agile is a way of thinking, a way of operating in today’s business world.
A high-performing agile team requires the development of a positive attitude. Here are eight steps to help you and your team cultivate a positive mindset, from vision, rules of engagement and buy-in, to accountability and celebration.
Various project management approaches employ terms and concept with their own specific meanings; much time has been spent on trying to create a common language among them. It would be better to focus on a common understanding, adjusting our language to our audience.
On a distributed project, the team can’t rely on the informal, incidental information-sharing that occurs when we’re roaming the same hallways or going out for lunch. That’s why an intentional communication strategy is needed to keep everyone informed and involved.
Developing a project team that is ready and able to handle adversity as it arises is the only way to consistently produce results and achieve remarkable outcomes in these challenging, uncertain times. Here are tips and principles to help you build resilient teams.
An uncertain business environment is an ideal environment for agile delivery practices—the flexibility and adaptability encouraged by prototypes, continuous feedback and refinements. But there still needs to be clarity about needs, goals, and what ultimately constitutes success.
In sports, we cheer when someone makes a great play. But a well-run project should not need to rely on heroic highlights that save the day. After all, the goal is to deliver expected results in a repeatable manner.
In agile product development, we try to work on fewer things and stick with them until we finish. Rapid priority shifts are expensive and demoralizing. But that’s not always clear on the go-to-market side, so we need stories like the Hungry Man Parable to build better understanding.
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