July 2, 2019July 2, 2019 Linky

How to Transition into the Agile Project Management Role

In the previous article: “Role of the Agile Project Manager” we covered:

Project management trends that make the shift to Agile approaches more inevitable
The Agile Project Manager in the enterprise context
The role of the Agile Project Manager and what they need to do in the Agile context

This article will focus on what is required to make a successful transition to Agile project management.

An Axelos survey among project managers in 2017, found:

The project manager of the future will be valued above all for creativity, flexibility, agility and emotional intelligence.
Axelos

Reward systems

When adopting an agile approach, organizations will need to re-evaluate their reward systems to encourage agile practices, where collective goals supersede individual accomplishments. Most performance evaluation criteria is still focussed on the individual as well as on the more traditional criteria for project delivery, namely time, cost, scope, stakeholder feedback and benefit realisation. In agile it should be more about the performance of the team, value and benefit delivery as well as customer satisfaction.

Challenges with transitioning to agile project management

Project managers are accustomed to being at the center of coordination for a project. During execution and as part of the controlling processes of a project life cycle, you would be monitoring and tracking progress through status meetings, minutes and status reporting to represent the project’s status to the rest of the organization.

Now, there is a shift from being the center to serving the team and management. In typical high-change projects, there’s more complexity than one person can manage. Instead, cross-functional teams coordinate their own work and collaborate with business representatives like the product owner and subject matter experts (SME) of the organisation.

Project managers are now servant leaders which changes the emphasis:

to coaching people who want help,
to foster greater collaboration on teams,
to align stakeholder needs.

Adaptive approaches use short cycles to undertake work, review the results, and adapt as necessary. This means that Agile is fast paced, disciplined and demanding, encouraging improved team performance due to the inspect and adapt approach. These cycles provide rapid feedback on the approaches and suitability of deliverables, and generally manifest as iterative scheduling and on-demand, pull-based scheduling.

This will require project managers to unlearn some behaviours, to develop a different mindset and developing some new technical skills such as running a retrospective or ‘orchestrating’ work where in the past it was ‘managed’.

What do Agile Project Managers need to be successful?

Taking guidance from the Agile Practice Guide (2017) Project managers need to work on growing skillsets beyond their area of expertise. Some valuable attributes include:

Knowing how to provide a tailored experience for every client
ability to work with flexible workflows – coordinate between different systems and methodologies,
coaching their team(s) in a singular direction,
delegating the control of detailed product planning and delivery to the team.

Rather focus on building a collaborative decision-making environment and ensuring the team has the ability to respond to changes.

Remember that an adaptive environment requires adaptive planning. Planning for agile projects look different to what project managers are proficient with on traditional projects. The different levels of agile planning are clearly explained in the image above.

In their book: Adaptive Project Planning, the authors, Christopher and Louise Worsley, found that one of the most distinctive characteristic of high performing project managers is their ability to use their experience and know-how to adapt the planning approach to meet the specific challenges of the project they were managing.

Develop characteristics of Servant Leadership. This is not the answer to it all, but when leaders develop their servant leadership or facilitative skills, they are more likely to become agile. Read: “Servant Leadership in the Agile context” for more information.

Servant leaders can help their teams collaborate to deliver value faster. They facilitate the team’s success by:

promoting self-awareness,
by serving those on the team,
by helping people grow,
active listening,
coaching versus controlling,
promoting safety, respect, and trust,
promoting the energy and intelligence of others.

Part of the transitioning process is to keep learning, because the demand for competent resources and certified practitioners will keep growing globally. If you want to be a complete Agile Project Manager, your learning should include:

Adopting an agile approach to project management
An overview of agile methodologies
Agile planning: project initiating and requirements gathering
Agile planning: doing estimates and completing the release plan
Planning and monitoring iterations on an agile project (example: conceptual sprint plan on scrum)
Leading an agile team
Managing stakeholder engagement on an agile project
Ensuring delivery of value and quality in agile projects

There are many training opportunities available. What you choose, will depend on your circumstances, your project management experience and your new role in the agile context.

In the next article, we will explore some of the Agile Certifications available, as well as the considerations before you make a selection.

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May 8, 2019March 21, 2020 Linky

Servant Leadership in the Agile Context

By Linky van der Merwe

The practice of Servant Leadership is not new, but it is embraced and adopted again with fervor, especially in the context of more organizations following an agile way of working.

What is Servant Leadership Again?

To refresh memory, I want to reiterate the Servant Leadership definition as per Wikipedia:

“Servant leadership is both a leadership philosophy and a set of leadership practices. Rather than exercising power at the top (traditional), the servant leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible”.

Servant leadership was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in “The Servant as Leader” that was published in 1970. His definition states:

“Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.”

The most important elements of servant leadership are:

Commitment to developing people
Empathy through trying to see a situation from the other person’s point of view; putting yourself in their shoes
Listening with the intent to understand, not respond
Authenticity through being yourself
Awareness of what is happening in the lives of your team members (including any conflicts and tensions between team members)

Servant Leadership is also known from a religious tradition where in the Bible Jesus is known as the ultimate example of a Servant Leader. In a business context, it can represent a decentralized structure that focuses on employee empowerment and encourages innovation.

Servant leadership is covered quite extensively in the Agile Practice Guide (PMI 2016). It’s because, once having practiced it, servant leaders can usually see how well servant leadership integrates into the agile mindset and values. When leaders develop their servant leadership or facilitative skills, they are more likely to become agile. As a result, servant leaders can help their teams collaborate to deliver value faster. Successful agile teams also embrace the growth mindset, where people believe they can learn new skills. When the team and the servant leaders believe they can all learn, everyone becomes more capable.

With this clarity of what servant leadership is, what are the responsibilities of Leaders in Agile organisations and what characteristics of servant leadership will enable project leaders to become more agile?

Servant Leader Responsibilities

Here are examples of the responsibilities a servant leader may have:

Educate stakeholders around why and how to be agile. Explain the benefits of business value based on prioritization, greater accountability and productivity of empowered teams, and improved quality from more frequent reviews, etc.
Support the team through mentoring, encouragement, and support. Advocate for team members training and career development. Through support, encouragement, and professional development, team members gain confidence, take on larger roles, and contribute at higher levels within their organizations. A key role of the servant leader is to nurture and grow team members through and beyond their current roles, even if that means losing them from the team.
Help the team with technical project management activities like quantitative risk analysis. Sometimes team members may not have knowledge or experience in roles or functions. Servant leaders who may have more exposure or training in techniques can support the team by providing training or undertaking these activities.
Celebrate team successes and support bridge building activities with external groups. Create upward spirals of appreciation and good will for increased collaboration.

Characteristics of Servant Leadership

According to the Agile Practice Guide (PMI 2016) the following characteristics of servant leadership enable project leaders to become more agile and facilitate the team’s success:

Promoting self-awareness;
Listening;
Serving those on the team;
Helping people grow;
Coaching vs. controlling;
Promoting safety, respect, and trust;
Promoting the energy and intelligence of others.

Servant Leaders on Agile Projects

Project managers acting as servant leaders will move from “managing coordination” to “facilitating collaboration.” Facilitators encourage the team’s participation, understanding, and shared responsibility for the team’s output. Facilitators help the team create acceptable solutions.

Servant leaders promote collaboration and conversation within the team and between teams. For example, a servant leader helps to expose and communicate bottlenecks inside and between teams. Then the teams resolve those bottlenecks.

Additionally, a facilitator encourages collaboration through interactive meetings, informal dialog, and knowledge sharing. Servant leaders do this by becoming impartial bridge-builders and coaches.

Honouring the first value of the Agile Manifesto: ‘individuals and interactions over processes and tools’, a servant leader can help to remove organisational impediments. On a practical level you can look at processes that are lengthy, causing bottlenecks and impeding a team’s or organization’s agility. It could be a process established by change control boards, or audits where you can partner and work with others to challenge them to review their processes to support agile teams and leaders. For example, what good is it for the team to deliver working product every 2 weeks only to have the product fall into a queue or process that could take 4 or more weeks to release due to lengthy release processes.

Servant leaders work to fulfil the needs of the teams, projects, and organization. Servant leaders may work with facilities for a team space, work with management to enable the team to focus on one project at a time, or work with the product owner to develop stories with the team. Some servant leaders work with auditors to refine the processes needed in regulatory environments, and some servant leaders work with the finance department to transition the organization to incremental budgeting.

The servant leader focuses on paving the way for the team to do its best work. The servant leader influences projects and encourages the organization to think differently.Because servant leaders understand agile and practice a specific approach to agile, they can assist in fulfilling the team’s needs.

A Mental Shift

Agile project managers need to shift from being the centre to serving the team and the management. In an agile environment, project managers are servant leaders, changing their emphasis to coaching people who want help, fostering greater collaboration on the team, and aligning stakeholder needs.

As a servant leader, project managers encourage the distribution of responsibility to the team: to those people who have the knowledge to get work done. Therefore, control of the detailed product planning and delivery is delegated to the team.

Ultimately, the project manager’s focus is on building a collaborative decision-making environment and ensuring the team has the ability to respond to changes.

Additional articles, videos:

What is Servant Leadership? Project Leadership at its best

Leadership Styles – Servant Leadership

Leadership Styles: The Vision of a Servant Leader

Leadership Styles – Is Servant Leadership the Answer?

Leadership Style – Servant Leadership and Communication

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April 4, 2019April 8, 2019 Linky

The Challenges Faced by DevOps Today

By Ashley Lipman

With the rise in Agile adoption, the need for a streamlined process around the software development life cycle, through development and testing to production is paramount. The capabilities that make up DevOps are provided by people, defined practices and automation tools, according to the DevOps for Dummies. (Source: DevOps for Dummies by Sanjeev Sharma, Bernie Coyne)

DevOps Reference Architecture
Source: DevOps for Dummies

While shifting to a DevOps approach is ideal for agile team to deliver value to customer faster, it can cause problems within a project development team. In fact, it’s been known to cause a few problems during the production implementation.

Here are some of the challenges faced by DevOps teams today.

Clearly Defined Roles and Permissions

Not having clearly defined roles and permissions for a DevOps teams can cause many problems.

When it comes down to it, developers and operations teams have different roles that sometimes overlap. It’s important to address these overlaps so that everyone knows not only what they’re responsible for, but what they aren’t permitted to do. For example, developers shouldn’t be able to access the same logs as sysadmins (source: https://papertrailapp.com/log-management).

Roles will allow DevOps teams to utilize applications that will encourage access rights management that promote effectiveness and compliance.

Choosing the Right Projects

While starting to implement DevOps, it’s important to take a gradual, strategic approach. Rather than trying to transfer all new projects to the new management system, choosing a few projects and analyzing the benefits and challenges is key. From there, refining the implementation process and expanding will help make DevOps successful.

That being said, not all projects are meant for a DevOps approach. Many businesses are faced with challenges when it comes to change management. While one of those challenges is letting go of the old way, another is often identifying when the old approach works better for a specific project.

Attention to Detail and Testing

One of the main benefits of DevOps is the ability to finish projects quicker through a continuous feedback loop. However, quicker isn’t always better, especially during the early days. When aiming to move more efficiently, it’s critical that DevOps teams don’t neglect the testing process. Quality assurance testing to ensure that everything is bug-free is one of the most important steps in development, and the DevOps approach doesn’t always put this task in the limelight.

When releasing an app with bugs, it can cause a bad user experience. This can cause a blame game with the development and operations teams, creating a negative team dynamic that will impact future projects.

Legacy Infrastructure and Tools

DevOps challenges - legacy infrastructure

Focusing too much on the tools and not enough on the team dynamic is a unique challenge that many organizations face when switching to a DevOps culture. However, not putting enough attention into the infrastructure and tools can also be detrimental.

Using legacy infrastructure while trying to modernize standard operating procedures can be a significant limiting factor, even if the current infrastructure has been useful for years. The businesses that have the most success with DevOps are those that switch to a micro-services approach, implementing automation and innovating their old applications.

Of course, making these changes can be a monumental task, and can often lead to a “chicken or the egg” conundrum when trying to determine which practices versus which infrastructure should be changed first. Managing all of these changes without getting distracted by the wide array of tools meant to assist with DevOps can be time-consuming and costly.

Successful DevOps

Creating a successful DevOps culture isn’t an overnight process. It can take months of creating a culture of positive communication and cohesion between teams, and even longer to take a sustainable approach to scaling.

However, by focusing on the team itself, having the right foundation in place, and testing rigorously, DevOps can change the face of a business for the better.

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March 12, 2019March 12, 2019 Linky

How Current Trends Impact Project Management in 2019

By Jessica Kane

Many articles are publishedat the beginning of every year covering a variety of trends that will impact the business sector. This article will look at it from the perspective of how the trends in 2019 will impact project management.

The Adoption of Agile

One of the most significant trends is the rise of “business agile.” Starting in 2016, a number of business sectors or industries commenced adopting the Agile development framework impacting various business operational, management, and strategic operations, including project management.

Still many individuals are not yet well versed in business agile. Indeed, in some ways, the concepts and practices underpinning business agile are in various states of maturity. With that said, the essential definition of business agile, is an “amalgam of different business & IT methods that work synergistically to create an agile and competitive business model,” according to the Business Technology Management Institute.

The business agile model incorporates a variety of disciplines into its overall functionality. These include, but are not limited to: business technology management, IT portfolio management, business process management, enterprise architecture, information technology, and project management.

Project management is impacted positively in that Agile help to improve employee communication, allowing the teams to inspect and adapt to changes faster and easier, often with quicker time to market and an earlier value realization for customers.

Increasing Interaction between the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence

During 2017, there was a great deal of discussion about the internet of things as well as artificial intelligence. Admittedly, a good deal of the conversations and presentations on these matters were speculative. However, in 2019 we see an increasing interaction between the internet of things and artificial intelligence, as the two impact or pertain to project management.

The essential definition of the Internet of Things (IoT)is that it is a network consisting of physical devices of different types that are embedded with software, sensors, electronics, actuators, and network connectivity. These objects are enabled to connect and exchange data. Each thing in the network is uniquely identifiable, but able to inter-operate in a network utilizing existing infrastructure supplied by the internet itself.

Artificial intelligence (AI)is defined basically as intelligence exhibited by certain machines or software applications. The term is also applied to the field involved in the creation of computers and computer software that are capable of so-called intelligent behavior.

The ongoing convergence between the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, which is expected to reach a new plateau in 2019, will impact project management. Project management is already heavily reliant on technology in many sectors. Thus, imagine AI machine learning focused on PM domains, like ROI models, common risks and estimation omissions. It can be used as a safeguard from making basic technical project management errors or omissions.

The First Wave of Millennial Project Managers will Appear

Another trend in 2019 is the first real wave of Millennial project managers appearing on the scene. Although there has been a sprinkling of Millennial project managers at work already, they have been few and far between.

The primary reason why Millennials really haven’t been heavily involved in project management to this point really has been a function of age. The generational cohort simply hadn’t reached the stage where they had the experience and background necessary to occupy many project management positions.

By 2019 a larger group of Millennials will have gleaned the experience necessary to take on project management roles. More Millennials will be found in project management positions, particularly in those industries that more heavily rely on technology.

Although the Millennial generational cohort has a number of distinguishing features, the group is perhaps best identified by its use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. Their familiarity with and reliance on these technologies is more profound than their generational predecessors, including Gen X and certainly Baby Boomers.

Refer to this video article: “How to manage different generations at work” to help you understand the Millennials better. It’s wise to acknowledge that Millennials will have an impact on project management in many different ways. The number of Millennials assuming project management positions in 2019 will determine how significant the impact on project management practices will be. Expect some alteration in the manner in which project management is approached because of Millennials reliance and even addition to social media and digital technologies.

About the author:

Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who focuses on personal finance and other money matters. She currently writes for Checkworks.com, where you can get personal checks and business checks

August 1, 2018August 2, 2023 Linky

5 Tech Tools for Agile Project Management

By Brian Thomas

Agile is taking the project management world by storm, and for good reason. Traditional methods of project management that rely on rigid timelines tend to break down when things change. On the other hand you have the Agile project management system that’s actually designed to handle change. With Agile, teams can easily adjust to any issues, setbacks, or new priorities that might arise throughout the process. Change happens all the time, even within Agile itself, so it’s best to make sure your team is prepared for it.

Using the Agile framework and being prepared for when things go awry is great, but you’re going to need to leverage technology to keep everyone on your team in the loop. Check out the top tech tools to keep your agile project on the right track!

Trello

Trello is a good option for getting your whole Agile team on the same page. One of the great things about Agile is that it encourages face-to-face team engagement, which often leads to the use of physical whiteboards. Since Trello functions similar to a classic whiteboard, it makes keeping your physical documentation up with your project management tool simple and effective. Once in Trello, you’re able to set up boards for you and your team. Within each board you can create lists, and then nest individual tasks underneath those lists. The flexibility Trello provides for users makes it perfect for Agile.

Asana

If you’re looking for a project management solution that’s simple and to-the-point, then check out Asana. Asana is an easy-to-use task management system to track progress on all of your team’s projects. Similar to Trello, you can set up task sections for your backlog, current sprint, complete, and any other grouping you might need.

Proggio

Instead of centering your Agile team around the tasks that need to be done, Proggio puts the focus on the actual team members themselves. Proggio makes it easy to visualize workflows to see what tasks need to be done, when they need to be done, and most importantly, who’s responsible for doing them.

Proggio’s ability to visualize how the team is functioning as a whole helps the team members understand why the work they’re doing is important and help the team build momentum to operate efficiently.

Proofhub

ProofHub is a comprehensive project management and collaboration tool designed to streamline workflows and improve team productivity. It offers a wide range of features, including task management, document sharing, team collaboration, time tracking, and more. It has been trusted by thousands of businesses and teams worldwide.

Binfire

Binfire is another Agile project management software tool that allows teams to seamlessly collaborate on projects and tasks in a simple and concise manner. Much like Trello and Poggio, within Binfire you and your team can use visualization tools such as a digital whiteboard to map out your systems and processes. However, with Binfire you can also utilize additional types of charts, markup PDFs, and chat on your team message board among other features.

Drag

Last but not least is Drag. Drag is a free chrome extension that lets you turn your gmail inbox into projects and their accompanying lists of tasks. If your team works within a single email account, such as the company’s “info@company.com” email, it’s perfect for organizing your gmail inbox into its own Agile system. Or if you’re just a big Agile fan and you want to turn your own personal inbox into an Agile workspace, you can do that as well!

There are many more great tools out there to help Agile teams maximize the efficiency of their workflows.

Find a great resource of curated and reviewed project management tools that is best to use for different industries such as creative, design, marketing, developers and other areas! Click here.

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About the Author:

Brian Thomas is from Enlightened Digital, a digital magazine dedicated to the top tech and business news, updates and analyses from around the web – your guide to everything at the cutting edge of technology.

July 11, 2018 Linky

Are you Facing these Agile Challenges?

It’s only in recent years that I started working on Agile projects following the Scrum approach. And what a journey it has been so far! Challenging that traditional way of working mindset of being a PMP (Project Management Professional) for 14 years working mostly on ‘waterfall’ type projects.

You find yourself facing common struggles while going through the motions of changing your mindset which really is essential for successfully adoption an agile approach.

Companies who provide consultation and training around Agile, realise that teams are faced with many challenges when making the transition to Agile. At Knowledge Train they have published an e-book with stories from Industry experts who shared about their challenges with Agile and the solutions they use to overcome it.

Below is an Infographic with some of the most common challenges!

Please click on the Infographic to reach the article where you may download the e-book: “The Challenges with Agile”.

June 18, 2018April 19, 2020 Linky

5 Project Management Trends shaping 2018

By Ashley Lipman

Project Management isn’t an industry that stays the same for a long period of time. It’s unpredictable, versatile, and subject to various trends at any given time.

Some of the trends influencing Project Management in 2018 may be old; others may have just emerged. However, the ones to look out for are those that are the most influential.

Want to know what these trends are?

Knowing about the emerging trends will help you manage your projects and get things done more efficiently in 2018:

1. Artificial intelligence is here to stay

AI, short for Artificial Intelligence, is no longer a concept dreamt of in science fiction. Technology like Siri, Echo, and Home are the most popular kinds, but AI is also the base of several PM applications.

Repetitive tasks have been automated and AI software has been applied to PM management more and more over the months.

Project managers are now making use of AI programs to enhance the efficiency of their projects. This includes dealing with resources, streamlining workflow, and giving valuable insights into future plans.

It’s also used in centralising data that could immensely help your team work together even from remote locations. Application performance management and server monitoring | AppOptics is just another example of how AI is becoming entrenched in this industry.

2. Embedded technology leads to faster project delivery

Source: Pixabay

We know that technology has become highly portable, even to the point where you can wear a smartwatch to replace your phone, computer, and tablet to some extent. As a project manager, wearable technology enables you to track and enhance your productivity at all levels.

Using smart glasses, head-mounted displays, and smartwatches can enhance the efficiency, safety, and the accuracy of any team. What’s more, the data from such wearable devices can help managers learn what makes team members tick.

Once project managers start paying more attention to what their team members need, they will better know how to motivate them and to create a culture that encourages and rewards high performance.

3. Remote workers are expanding the workforce

Source: Pixabay

Project managers don’t require the whole team to be co-located, in fact virtual teams and outsourcing specialist skills has become quite the norm.

With team members working from home or from remote locations, more flexible work hours make for a higher productivity level. Hence, project managers need to be aware of this and improve their skills around managing virtual teams.

4. Hybrid management is the next big thing

Project managers now have to embrace the fact that cookie-cutter solutions (read methodologies) are out of date. They may have followed a traditional waterfall type methodology in the past, but now, it’s time to tweak this according to their clients’ project requirements.

There are certain processes that can help with this kind of project management. One example of these is following an Agile approach, giving companies the ability for faster time to market.

Hence, a project manager who is comfortable with following a hybrid approach is definitely in order. You need to consider several methodologies for approaching different projects. This sort of personalisation and customisation continue to grow more important as time goes on.

5. Project managers with emotional intelligence are preferred

Gone are the days when solid, technical skills were adequate for a project manager. Soft skills and a high level of emotional intelligence are now highly valued in the PM industry, and with several good reasons.

In 2018, business owners are increasingly looking for managers who can keep their teams happy, satisfied, and motivated. This combination is one of the best ones for making up a highly productive workforce.

Find some more insights from the “Pulse of the Profession” PMI report here.

These 5 trends are by no means a comprehensive list, but certainly trends to acknowledge and consider for a project professional in 2018.

June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 Linky

8 Key Elements of the Scrum Master Role

Watch this video to learn about 8 key elements of the Scrum Master role.

When you fulfill the important role of Scrum Master on a Scrum Agile team, here are valuable aspects to focus on.

Servant Leader whose focus is on the needs of the team members and those they serve (the customer), with the goal of achieving results in line with the organization’s values, principles, and business objectives.
Facilitator by setting the stage and providing clear boundaries in which the team can collaborate.
Coach coaching the individual with a focus on mindset and behaviour, the team in continuous improvement and the organization in truly collaborating with the Scrum Team.
Manager responsible for managing impediments, eliminating waste, manaing the process, managing the team’s health, managing the boundaries of self-organization, and managing the culture.
Mentor that transfers Agile knowledge and experience to the team.
Teacher to ensure Scrum and other relevant methods are understood and enacted.
Impediment Remover solving blocking issues to the team’s progress taking into account the self-organizing capabilities of the Development Team.
Change Agent to enable a culture in which Scrum Teams can flourish.

For more details on the Scrum Master role to help you gain a better understanding, read the White Paper:

The 8 Stances of a Scrum Master by Barry Overeem

May 31, 2018June 12, 2018 Linky

Why Agile is not a project management methodology

Whether you’re a project manager working in a traditional Project Management environment following a certain methodology to get your projects done, or whether you’re in an Agile approach organisation where both Agile approaches (like Scrum) and traditional approaches are followed or a hybrid of both, this article will be of interest to you. It was written by a fellow Project Management Practitioner and blogger, Kevin Lonergan, who has used Agile and non-Agile approaches for managing projects for two decades and is a career long project management professional.

The article discusses the difference between Agile and project management and why, when using Agile, there are times when they are both required. It also shows why Agile is not a PM framework itself and highlights many of the specific reasons why this is. It discusses the difference between product development methods (e.g. Agile based methods) and project management, and shows examples of why the two are not the same.

The article takes a frank view of the real world of projects in business and what is missing in some implementations of Agile.

Read the full article here:

https://www.pmis-consulting.com/why-agile-will-never-be-a-project-management-framework/

Please let me know in the comments what you think of it.

February 12, 2018April 26, 2019 Linky

4 Reasons Why Waterfall isn’t a Fit for your Team

By Joel Roberts

Even though the Agile method is now being increasingly adopted by organizations worldwide, especially for software development, too many organizations still cling to Waterfall. The existing processes are probably influencing the decision of what methodology is used.

Your organization’s current processes are likely to determine the way you run your project, regardless of its nature. But, this shouldn’t be the case. Project managers are more than able to assist their organizations and suggest effective ways of implementing projects while reducing risks at the same time.

For this, you need to have a deeper understanding of how each project management methodology may impact the project and its success. Choosing the right methodology can be key to successful completion of a project. So, if your organization still uses the waterfall methodology, read on and see for yourself why this needs to change.

Waterfall Method and its flaws

As you know, the Waterfall method is a sequential approach, separating a project into different phases, where one phase has to be completed before starting the next one.

So here are the 4 crucial flaws caused by this:

#1 No Flexibility

The Waterfall method in its core means following a predetermined set of steps, as the methodology, in its traditional form, leaves almost no room for unexpected changes or revisions. You have to be clear with all the development requirements beforehand and just keep your team always moving forward.

A probable and highly undesirable scenario is that your team will carefully follow the steps nearly to the end of the project but, they may face an unforeseen obstruction that requires a change in scope or goals. Since the used methodology doesn’t welcome change, proceeding with the initial plan won’t be easy. As you’ll have already put a considerable amount of work into a project, under very specific and fixed assumptions, an unexpected change to any parameter of the project may render much of the finished work useless.

This may have severe consequences and even throw off the entire timeline. Another aspect of Waterfall that reduces flexibility is that Waterfall projects are highly integrated and not an object-oriented approach.

#2 Uncertain and Time-consuming Preplanning

When using this method, you must produce a detailed and thorough requirement definition in one of the earliest phases of the project. But, in such an early phase of the project, trying to define the requirements is often very difficult.

Therefore, many of the requirements are subject to change throughout the project. Specifying requirements in advance means that a lot of the requirements are based on assumptions. You may come across many difficulties to validate those assumptions since the first builds are not available until late in the development phase.

Even the client has to outline all their preferences upfront, without seeing a working version. Once the first builds are available, it’s often too late to change requirements without substantial delays of the project. Also, when planning everything up front, very often you can overlook certain changes due to business plans or market influences. Since change is unwelcome and difficult to carry out, any new developments or changes of requirements which may occur after the initial agreement could raise serious concerns.

#3 Delayed Testing Period

Testing is a very important phase of a project as the results have an impact on all the work that has been done. The best practice would be to integrate testing as a fundamental and continual process throughout development. This has been the case with more recent SDLC models, whereas the waterfall model largely differs, leaving the testing until quite late into the life cycle.

This means quality and security issues or integration problems with existing products are typically discovered quite late in the process. Fixing such issues requires a lot of effort. What’s worse, sometimes testing may be short-changed in order to stay on schedule, and that means that bugs will be discovered by the customer only after the delivery of the product.

In turn, this makes fixing the code expensive and time-consuming. It has been shown that a bug identified at a later stage can cost up to 60 percent more to get fixed, as compared to its cost when identified at an earlier stage.

Another issue related to the testing is the possible appearance of careless coding practices. Testing teams often have less time to complete test execution and since more time is spent during the initial stages for detailed documentation, not enough attention is paid to testing.

#4 Lack of Client or Stakeholder Interaction

At times when communication seems to be one of the crucial factors that can impact project’s success, you cannot afford to leave the client or stakeholders out. In the Waterfall method a lot of time is spent with the client at the outset, with an attempt to document all the perceived requirements.

After this has been done, the implementation team usually take over and the client has no say until the project is nearly done. However, the feedback that arrives late into the development cycle can present a significant issue.

Due to the strict sequential process enforced by the waterfall model, an unforeseen requirement or request for a change, although not impossible to be done, will be both costly and time-consuming for everyone involved in the project. So, this method is definitely not suitable for projects with moderate to high risk of change of requirements.

If you are still not completely convinced with these reasons, add the high amounts of risk and uncertainty, longer delivery time, and other challenges that project schedulers might face to the list.

Considering the shortcomings of the Waterfall approach, which method do you prefer? Which factors made you decide?

Please provide some feedback in the comments section.

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About the Author:

Joel Roberts is a Project Management Consultant and an established author with more than 12 years of experience in working for PrimaveraReader – Primavera P6 companion tool for viewing and analyzing project plans by the project team.

She is passionate about Mind Mapping and innovation management and her articles have been featured in more than a hundred project management and business websites.

January 12, 2018December 22, 2018 Linky

How to be a SMART Project Manager in 2018

At the beginning of every new year people think about their goals and resolutions for the upcoming year. However, by the end of January, most people have forgotten their good intentions and fall back into old habits or routines and tend to do the same things they have always done.

I’m sure many of you have fallen into this trap, but there are always people who seem to have it together. What are they doing differently?

Good practices

Just like project management has been standardized by way of international standards and good practices ensuring consistent delivery and more successful outcomes, there are SMART ways to help you be more productive by keeping to your goals for the year.

Some experts recommend to have a vision by way of setting a personal theme as well as a professional theme for the year. This will take you beyond goals and resolutions and will help you to reach your objectives and become like a “heartbeat” for the year.

Based on your themes, you will still come up with objectives that will help you to achieve your goals and give you the best chance for success. If you don’t plan and prepare to win, how can you expect to win? This is taken from a Zig Ziglar “Born to win philosophy”.

There are numerous productivity experts and books available today that can help you reach higher levels of performance and it’s up to you to choose who to follow and what to implement. As long as you make it personal and you keep referring to your written goals on a monthly, weekly and even daily basis, there’s no obstacles that you cannot overcome.

How to make 2018 a successful year

Lastly, I want to share a wonderful resource on “How to make 2018 a successful year for your projects”, an eBook that was compiled by Elizabeth Harrin, containing ideas and tips from experts and inspiring project delivery professionals on how to make 2018 your most successful year ever? I was also privileged to be featured.

Some common themes that came up repeatedly are:

Agile – if you don’t know enough about it, you need to start learning
How crucial soft skills are for project professionals
Authentic and ethical leadership that will help to get the work done and set you apart from your peers

Enjoy the eBook, take responsibility for your personal and career development and implement those success strategies that will help you to make this year one of the best years ever!

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November 7, 2017December 22, 2018 Linky

New PMBOK Guide 6th Edition and SCRUM Guide Perspectives

Attention all existing project managers who are already PMP certified or who are preparing to become certified.

Most of you will know that the new PMBOK Guide, 6th Edition was released in September 2017. Here you will find a reference to a good summary of all the changes that were made in the new PMBOK Guide, 6th Edition. As PMP’s it’s good to keep up to date with what the Project Management Institute (PMI) considers as important when these Guides, that are used world-wide, are refreshed.

Enjoy the read here.

In addition, I would like to share a really interesting interview with Cyndi Snyder Dionisio, the chair of the team that worked on updating the guide. It’s published by Cornelius Fichtner as part of his PM Podcast interviews.

Then I want to refer to an article by Kevin Lonergan, with a controversial view of the Scrum Guide. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.

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