Monday, May 06, 2019

Why It Makes no Sense to Have an Agile Project Manager?

Source: vitalitychicago.com

  • Intermediary: between the management / customers and the team. In Agile this is not required.
  • Resource Coordinator: in traditional projects, lots of teams onboard and offboard, and there is a need for someone to keep track off, and coordinate these activities. In Agile we have a dedicated and self-organizing team, therefore there is no need for a resource coordinator.
  • Hierarchy / Smart one - The project manager speaks on behalf of the team, directs the team, commands the team whether or not there is a direct line of reporting to the project manager. 
  • Document producer - scope of documentation is exceptionally high in traditional projects, and much of it led by the project manager. 

Sunday, May 05, 2019

Daily Standup - no need to stick to 3 question format -- Courtesty Sanjay Kumar on LinkedIn

  • No need to religiously stick to 3 question, 15 min format. 
  • Healthy interaction is more important than above.
  • As a team coach, check for these signs / dynamics within the team
    • Are people in the team tuned in to the meeting?
    • Is there energy within the team?
    • When sharing updates, are people looking at one particular person or addressing the entire team?
    • Did the updates indicate (tone) a sense of urgency?
    • Did members pay attention to work items than their own?
    • Are members asking each others questions?
    • Are members offering help to each other?
    • Are there lighter moments when people smiled and laughed?
    • Did the meeting end on a positive note?

Wednesday, May 01, 2019

7 Pitfalls to avoid during organizational transformation - Tarang Baxi and Anupam Kundu [Thoughtworks}


I would like to add (These are views based on my experience):
  • Not having a Change Strategy: Yes, it may seem strange, but many times, changes are implemented without a strategy in place. Orgs may have a Why, an organizational goal perhaps, but not a strategy for How they are going to go about it. This results in parachuting a bunch of consultants / coaches, waiting for miracles to happen, and dip checking every now and then to craft metrics around these "miracles". 
  • Big bang change: Planting seeds  / catalysts of changes is one way to ensure the practices inspire others to create an environment of pull. Many times, either due to commitment to market, or for another reason, companies end up "creating work" for the engaged consultants / coaches instead of a judicious, methodical and carefully planned approach to chose the initiatives.
  •  Unwilling / ignoring / hoping to clear roadblocks / blockers to organizational change. During organizational transformation, as and when the organizational blockers keep surfacing, it is critical to clear them. If not, their presence 

If we already have automation, what's the need for Agents?

“Automation” and “agent” sound similar — but they solve very different classes of problems. Automation = Fixed Instruction → Fixed Outcome ...