PM Network

…and we did so on the cover of February PM Network. Okay, it was in the form of a question, “Can Government Get Agile?”

The answer to that question, according to this PM Network article, is “yes.” Taking the lead from the private sector, governments worldwide are embracing change by adopting agile as a preferred delivery approach. Admittedly, the primary arena for agile in government is software projects, but the change is significant enough that governmental guidelines are endorsing iterative delivery. One result: government agencies are starting to shake their stereotype of being slow-moving monoliths that cannot adapt to change.

Statistics tell the story: In 2011, only 10 percent of U.S. major federal IT projects were agile or iterative; in 2017, that figure was 80 percent.

Regulatory challenges don’t make it easy for government project teams to follow agile approaches. A U.S. law requires a 90-day public comment period whenever an official form is updated. And since government projects often serve the entire general public, teams cannot chose a particular market segment.

The article details how several public-sector project teams (in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Australia’s National Blood Authority) used agile and overcame challenges.

Government project managers—if your team transitioned to agile, please share your story, either here in the blog or as an article proposal for the magazine’s “Getting It Done” column.

Start-ups are upsetting the proverbial apple cart and upstaging old-timer organizations by being able to respond more quickly to market trends. What do you do?

This month’s PM Network has some ideas. Many organizations are implementing agile approaches. A survey shows that a top benefit of adopting agile is an increased ability to manage changing priorities. Increased project delivery speed is another advantage of going the agile way.

The article “Built for Speed” follows Australian telecommunications company Telstra as its IT and digital solutions team rolls out frequent releases for its products and supporting software. Another example shown in the article is the data engine Zoomdata, which sped up its product deliveries by transitioning to agile and giving ownership to its product teams.

Agile approaches can be used outside of IT as well. The article offers a five-step process of introducing agile. The results can be transformative for customers interacting with your organization.

Do you think agile approaches are a bad fit in an outsourcing environment? A column in June PM Network by Priya Patra, PMP, shows you how to make agile work even in projects with multiple teams from different organizations—often in different time zones.

Priya managed a 25-member team whose members came from North America, Europe and Asia. The project aimed to build an accounts receivables platform. Three organizations were involved: a large multinational, a service provider and a quality assurance contractor.

Her advice? Travel to the customer’s location to learn about the client’s business philosophy, company culture and goals. Make sure stakeholders can collaborate 30 minutes per day via phone, videoconferencing and instant message.

The result of Priya’s project was a launch of a first minimum viable product in two months, 10 percent under budget and satisfactory to end users.

What’s your agile outsourcing story? Please share in the comments.

The Agile Manifesto is 15 years old, and the debate is on: Is the agile approach being diluted? This is the subject of a feature article in December PM Network, and we want your opinion.

There is no denying that agile approaches have spread beyond software development to other industries and organizations large and small. Some experts complain that agile is used as a “smoke screen” for project managers who don’t bother defining product features and a vision of the solution. Others say thought must be put into how agile approaches relate to waterfall. In sidebars, two manifesto co-authors give their take on the state of agile today.

What do you think? How does your organization use agile approaches? Do they work in providing customer value and bringing successful strategic outcomes? Please let us know in the comments below your experience and opinion on the agile debate.

The Agile Manifesto is 15 years old, and the debate is on: Is the agile approach being diluted? This is the subject of a feature article in December PM Network, and we want your opinion.

There is no denying that agile approaches have spread beyond software development to other industries and organizations large and small. Some experts complain that agile is used as a “smoke screen” for project managers who don’t bother defining product features and a vision of the solution. Others say thought must be put into how agile approaches relate to waterfall. In sidebars, two manifesto co-authors give their take on the state of agile today.

What do you think? How does your organization use agile approaches? Do they work in providing customer value and bringing successful strategic outcomes? Please let us know in the comments below your experience and opinion on the agile debate.