We recently put out an All Social Media Points Bulletin for advocates of agile project management. Ultimately, we’ve been seeking professionals from a variety of backgrounds (Agile to PM, PM to Agile, PMs that dig Agile but are not married to certifications in general) to answer some of the nagging questions the layman project manager has about the rise in agile as a project management method. For those who dispute that point in principle, please sign up for the Project Management Tipoffs newsletter ASAP – you’ll get some good reading and discussion from our articles, guaranteed!
One such respondent was Steffen Lentz, a Zurich-based IT project manager who we couldn’t make room for in our article that runs Thursday, but nevertheless fits the definition of the first example of people we wanted to hear back from. We have the space on the blog today though, and we hope his responses to our agile questions serve as a solid preview for tomorrow’s newsletter. Steffen is also a blogger and author, whose blog Think Productivity! is featured on our sister portal, PPM Community.
Without further ado:
ARRAS PEOPLE: Why does Agile work in a project?
STEFFEN LENTZ: Agile forces you to reduce complexity, and typical Agile practices can make communication more effective
AP: What are the subtleties to the approach that a project manager needs to understand?
SL: What is important is the agile mindset, not so much the methods (e.g. Scrum, XP). Methods or practices are just tools – they may fit, or may be not. There’s no one best way to do agile. Your means of control is the outcome (end product) delivered by the team. You use it to measure progress and give feedback to the team.
AP: What are the major change(s) from the old, traditional way of managing projects?
SL: Traditional – you define, manage and control HOW the job is done (quietly assuming that this will ensure a good outcome)
Agile – You define and measure the OUTCOME, and leave the details of how it’s produced to the team
AP: Why did you/your project adopt Agile?
SL: Short planning horizon forced by business. Extreme complexity did not allow for masterplans, we had to go forward in small steps
AP: What kind of projects have you delivered in your career using Agile?
SL: Software projects of different sizes and industries.
AP: Has there ever been a sort of “Eureka” moment in applying Agile to a project that really drove home why Agile as a method would prove useful in managing projects?
SL: A challenged project had used task-based planning (low detail level, long planning horizon). We switched that to features and a backlog planning, which made things significantly better
AP: What are the top tips you have for new adoptees of the Agile approach to managing projects?
SL: Understand the mindset. It seems simple at first, but if you come from a different background it will change your thinking. Don’t look for the one best way – use methods as inspiration, not as laws. Try things out and learn – and always focus on the outcome.
If you want to get the Tipoffs newsletter, sign up today. Furthermore, if you know of a great project &/or programme management-related blog like Steffen’s Think Productivity!, recommend it to be featured at PPM Community. Those wishing to have their PPM blog profiled can fill out our form, too!
