Can You Process This?

Vincent is a Senior Project Management Consultant and e-Learning Developer.

  Requirements Management   ProjectsAtWork  

What’s the quickest way to do a project? Do it right. And contrary to a popular backlash, processes can help. The key is understanding what process is necessary for the work at hand, and determining how it should evolve as things change. It’s not about bureaucracy, it’s about meeting the needs of your project.

Processes have been around probably as long as mankind. Early hunter-gatherers made specialized tools so they must have been systematic in the way they used them. They were starting to think in terms of process to make their work easier and more repeatable. Similarly, there must have been well defined processes for the various aspects of constructing the pyramids. And during the middle ages there were elaborate rituals (i.e. processes) for gathering some medicinal plants for the treatment of disease.

In modern times there seems to be some confusion as to the value of processes. The first of four Agile values published by the Agile Alliance declares: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools. While a valid statement, many construe this to mean that process, or at least any process other than Agile is bad. This in spite of the clarification after the four values: “while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.”

There’s no question that team members interacting and working together ultimately produce your end …

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