Agile for Project Management has become very popular in the business environment. Agile teams are designed to deliver business value. Meaning teams prioritize buckets of work based on their business impact and measure success based on business outcomes. Focusing on delivering value, ensures the team is working towards the right goals. Agile methodology also encourages teams to be more flexible, collaborative, and to celebrate the quick wins.
I had the opportunity to lead an Agile Team for a year, with the intent to implement a new Member Onboarding Experience. In this post, I’ll share some of my experiences, so you can learn from my challenges, learnings, and accomplishments.
What is an Agile Team of Teams
First, What is an Agile Team? It’s a form of a project team structure where groups of subject matter experts are put together to collaborate, test and learn from a Minimal Viable Product (MVP).
Agile teams work in sprints, usually 2-6 week intervals, working towards completion of the MVP. The objective is to produce small iterations of the whole project. They test what is created and then learn from observations and insights gained from the test. If the test shows positive outcomes, it is determined at the end of the sprint to either move forward or do another iteration for additional clarity.
This approach is mostly done with software development projects. It allows for feedback and adjustments to be made along the way, ensuring that the final product meets the user’s needs.
Agile Team Environment
The Agile Team environment is unlike other project teams. It’s not as formal with strict deadlines like the waterfall approach. It’s an extremely collaborative environment as they are usually in a central location together so it’s easy to communicate and ideate on the tests they are running.
The teams are designed to move quickly. Any delay in getting information could cause them to be off track within the sprint.
Agile Team Roles
Agile teams are pretty intimate with approximately 5-7 teammates. Each teammate is an expert usually selected because their skills and knowledge are necessary to successfully create the MVP.
For each Agile Team there are specific roles that are necessary to keep the team moving towards the goal.
Each role has specific duties to ensure the team is successful.
- Product Manager
- Product Owner
- Scrum Master
- Technology Founder
- Subject Matter Experts (specific to the business function, customer experience, product, etc)
The illustration below represents the Agile Team Structure from a previous project that I led. As you can see, we had a few different Subject Matter Experts including a Design Strategist.
Communication is Key to Success of the Agile Approach
In an Agile structure, there tends to be quite a few meetings. The meetings are each for specific purposes to drive action. Due to the speed of delivery, it’s essential to have open communication channels.
- Product Backlog Refinement – Frequency usually every 2 weeks to size the stories in the backlog and determine when they can be worked.
- Daily stand-up meetings – Yes, these happen every day, should be the same time everyday and I would recommend first thing in the morning. These usually last about 15 minutes and it’s to discuss 3 things: What was completed yesterday, What’s in progress, and any barriers to meeting goal.
- Sprint Reviews – These are held at the end of each sprint and usually is a demo/overview of what was developed during the 2 weeks. This is the opportunity for stakeholders to see the product and provide feedback, suggestions, etc. for the next iteration.
- Sprint Retrospectives – At the end of the sprint, it’s important for the team to take a look back and discuss what went well, and what they could improve for the next go around.
- Sprint Planning – Sprint planning occurs at the front of the sprint, a day or so before it starts, to identify and assign the tasks to be delivered to meet the sprint goal.
In Agile Teams, members are constantly encouraged to share their progress, challenges, and ideas to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Embrace change and multiple iterations
Embracing change and multiple iterations enables the team to be more responsive to the needs of the stakeholders.
Embracing change and being open to new ideas, feedback, and approaches is critical to the success of the project. When managing agile initiatives, the Product Manager must be willing to adjust priorities, timelines, and processes as needed.
Agile teams are empowered to deliver
Agile teams need the freedom to make decisions and take ownership of the development process. It’s important to empower them with the tools and resources they need to be successful. By empowering the team, you can increase engagement and achieve quality outcomes at a faster pace.
Agile teams utilize visual management to see progress
Agile teams usually stay organized and focused through visual tools and techniques. By using visual aids such as kanban boards and burndown charts, team members can see progress and identify areas that need improvement.
The illustration below is a visual my team used to showcase the progress of the program along with the issue that were encountered along the way.
Agile is all about continuous improvement
Continuous improvement is expected from Agile Teams. It’s critical to regularly reflect on the development process and identify areas for improvement. The teams also get a ton of feedback from their stakeholders on a regular basis which allows them to pivot during development and/or work through multiple iterations to improve over time. This is where the sprint retrospectives come into play. It allows for feedback to be shared and other opportunities to learn and grow. Continuous improvement ensures the team is delivering the best possible product.
The illustration below is of a process model used for the effort of developing a new customer experience. We had a design strategist on the Agile team that aligned us with the ideation phase of the project and to also connect us with our customer’s mindset through empathy. It was a really cool way to think about the development process and to see it from start to finish.
Agile Principles
There are 12 key principles to the Agile Methodology. Embracing these principles ensures teams are equipped and empowered to deliver value to the stakeholder and drive business success.
- Customer Satisfaction
- Open to Changes
- Frequent Delivery
- Continuous Collaboration
- Build Support and Trust
- Discuss Face to Face
- Measure progress
- Sustainability
- Constant Focus
- Keep things simple
- Self-organization
- Reflect to increase productivity
To dive into these Agile Principles more closely check out these posts.
https://blog.bydrec.com/a-detailed-look-at-the-12-principles-of-agile-project-management
https://www.productplan.com/glossary/agile-principles/
https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/agile-principles
