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Agile project management - for whom and why?
Agile project management is more than just a fad.
The first agile methods in the field of software development emerged back in the mid-1990s. They are based on empirical models that are used when the end result is difficult or impossible to plan at the start of the project. Accordingly, agile project management allows you to change or adapt the requirements during the course of the project. Of the agile approaches, Scrum is the best known and most widely used method.
Agile project management:
The Scrum method
What exactly is Scrum?
In 2001, agile project management with Scrum was established in the book "Agile Software Development with Scrum", but only for software development. In 2003, the spectrum was expanded to include the entire project management with Scrum ("Agile Project Management with Scrum") and thus the entire company.
Definition of Scrum:
In rugby, the word Scrum itself refers to the players' scrum when the ball is thrown in. The analogy is intended to underline the work in small, self-organized units that are only given a direction (goal) from the outside, but determine the tactics and way in which they want to achieve the common goal themselves.
In the Scrum world, you have three roles. There are:
- the Product Owner,
- the Development Team and
- the Scrum Master.
The Product Owner is your customer or represents your customer. They ensure that the customer's interests are implemented in the project.
The development team works independently and autonomously to implement the customer's wishes.
The Scrum Master acts as a coach, ensuring that the team can work as smoothly as possible.
The four principles of Scrum project management
You can base collaboration in Scrum project management on four principles for agile project management:
- Individuals and interactions are more important than processes and project management tools.
- A functioning end result (e.g. software) is more important than detailed documentation / reports.
- Active cooperation with the customer is more important than contractual fixes.
- Meaningful changes to the project goal are more important than stubbornly following the original plan.
The Scrum method...
- is particularly helpful in software development.
- recognizes the roles of Product Owner, Development Team and Scrum Master.
- favors interaction, function and meaningfulness.
What other agile methods are there for agile project management?
Scrum is currently the most popular method for agile project management.
However, there are many other agile techniques such as Kanban, Extreme Programming, MVP, Feature Driven Development, Test Driven Development or Crystal Clear that you can use to manage agile projects.
The term"agile project management" is increasingly becoming a generic term for an approach that differs significantly from the classic waterfall method.
Kanban
Developed in the 1950s, Kanban (Japanese for "signal card") originally came from Toyota's production control system.
The aim is to control each production stage efficiently and to optimize the flow of materials. Kanban elements from lean production, lean development and the Theory of Constraints were added when it was transferred to IT. The result is our own agile project management, in which the number of parallel tasks is limited and therefore shorter throughput times are achieved.
This enables you to avoid bottlenecks for agile project management, as these quickly become visible in this way.
The following principles will help you to manage your projects for agile project management with IT Kanban:
- Visualization of all stages of the workflow on a Kanban board
The individual tasks, noted on an index card for example, can be moved quickly and easily from left to right through the individual stages of the value chain. - Limiting the work (work in progress)
For agile project management, you can set a maximum number of tasks that can be processed simultaneously per station. - Control and analysis of the workflow
You can easily improve the work process by analyzing metrics such as queue length or cycle time (from station to station or total cycle time). - Formulate rules for the process
For agile project management, you can define what is meant by the term "done" or in which order, i.e. according to which prioritization, the task cards should be taken. - Continuous improvement and promotion of leadership
You can encourage your employees to submit specific suggestions for improvement. The suggestions are then discussed seriously at all organizational levels and, if suitable in nature, implemented.
Design Thinking
Design thinking is a user-oriented method for solving problems and developing new ideas. The team usually consists of members from different disciplines. It takes the user's perspective and focuses on their wishes and requirements.
You can divide the design thinking process into six steps for agile project management:
- Understanding
The client explains the task to your team. - Observe
Your team members make a note of the task. - Synthesis
Your team collects its notes and comes to a common understanding of the task. - Finding ideas
The team collects possible solutions for the task and then selects the best one. - Prototyping
Your team then implements the best solution as a prototype. - Test the prototype created
You can then have tests carried out and, if necessary, further optimize the product.
You can find out more about how design thinking can improve your agile process here.
DevOps
The DevOps model has a strong connection to IT and software. DevOps is a portmanteau of the terms development and(IT) operations.
The purpose of the model is to achieve more effective and efficient cooperation between the areas of development (Dev), IT operations (Ops) and quality assurance (QA). DevOps therefore refers to cross-departmental, company-wide collaboration between managers, developers, testers and administrators with the involvement of the customer. Everyone involved pulls together and has a common goal in mind: the provision of high-quality software.
With DevOps, you can develop software faster and with better quality for agile project management. It also improves collaboration between your teams.
Get more insights into development strategies for DevOps here.
Advantages and disadvantages of agile approaches
No matter which model you choose, agile project management brings you advantages:
You benefit from
- high flexibility
- rapid implementation,
- low planning effort,
- easy management and administration,
- strong adaptability,
- great personal responsibility.
These advantages give you a significant competitive advantage.
In agile project management, however, you should pay attention to company-wide project and resource management, as the agile approach requires:
- A high level of communication
Agile methods work very well when only one department is involved and there are few or no dependencies in terms of the result. However, agile development projects are often part of larger customer projects. In this case, it is very important that you attach great importance to internal communication and seamless coordination between departments. - Good capacity planning
Agile approaches do not mean less work. You must therefore always plan your capacities in the project precisely as part of careful resource planning. - Tools for agile project management
Agile project management is usually mapped in separate, special software solutions. If these are not integrated into the company-wide project management software, considerable information deficits can arise in these enterprise solutions, which can have a negative impact, particularly when simulating future scenarios in the project portfolio. You should therefore always ensure that you select suitable project management tools. - A high level of personal responsibility
Employees must be able to act independently in agile teams. For you, this means that when selecting the right team members, you should not only focus on their technical expertise. The willingness to act independently should also be a must. - A low degree of predictability for the final project result
The ability to quickly adapt the objectives and approach also means that the entire project can be redefined at any time - possibly with a corresponding impact on the budget. - Little or no documentation for the solution found
As solutions are often found through brainstorming, it is very difficult to document them properly. - No resilient multi-project management
As agility does not allow for comprehensive planning, multi-project management or portfolio management is hardly feasible.
Agile project management means for you and your company ...
- the need for a strong communication culture.
- high demands on project and capacity planning.
- a commitment to flexibility and changing goals.
Tips for introducing agile methods for agile project management
Introducing agile project management is a challenge, but it's not rocket science. It is important that you start small and as simply as possible:
- Choose a team that wants to work in an agile way.
- Choose a small project that is as clearly defined as possible.
- Make sure you define your goals precisely.
- Decide which agile project management method you want to use.
- Make sure that your team understands the method.
- Find out whether team members need to be trained.
If it is your first agile project, it would be important to record all successes and failures after completion in order to learn from them. Be sure to document what worked well, where you plan to make improvements or where you should use hybrid project management if necessary.
Then optimize your agile project management and start your next project!