It seems as if the larger the agile program, the bigger the planning. Many organizations try to plan for an entire quarter at a time. They bring everyone on the program together in a large room (often a hotel ballroom) and attempt to plan the next quarter’s work. That kind of planning works for some […]
Many agile teams attempt to plan for an entire quarter at a time. Sometimes, that works quite well. You have deliverables, and everyone understands the order in which you need to deliver them. You use agile because you can receive feedback about the work as you proceed. You might make small adjustments, and you manage
The more I work with project portfolio teams and program managers, the more I understand one thing: Cost accounting makes little sense in the small for agile, maybe for all knowledge work. I should say that I often see cost accounting in the form of activity-based accounting. Each function contributes to some of the cost
What does “scaling agile” mean to you? For me, there are two ways to think about scaling: one is moving from one project to a program. The other is sharing agile across the business. Let’s talk about moving from a one-team project to agile programs. A program consists of several projects across the organization. While
An agile coach asked me this question, “What tool should our senior leadership use for managing the program/portfolio?” That question told me these things: Her leadership is confused about the difference between a program (one business deliverable composed of many projects) and the project portfolio (a picture of the committed work that implements the organizational
Create an Environment of Delivery One of the nice things about agile and lean approaches is that they focus on delivering value. I’m a huge fan of delivering value. The larger and longer your project or program, the more delivering value is important. That’s because your organization is investing in your project or program. They
Use the Power of Your Rumor Mill Project and program managers often ask, “How can I get people to work across teams? I don’t want to delay people or solve problems for them when they can solve problems themselves. I just don’t know what to try.” My advice: Use the rumor mill. You’ve seen the
I sent my newsletter, Scaling Agile and Lean to Programs to my subscribers yesterday. (Are you one of them? No? You should be!) If you are trying to use agile for several projects that together deliver value (a program), you might be wondering what the “right” approach is. You’ve heard of frameworks. Some of them
Scaling Agile and Lean to Programs Using agile or lean for one project can be a challenge. What happens when you want to extend agile or lean to multiple projects or across the organization? Many people try frameworks. Frameworks assume you have the same context and challenges as other efforts–even inside your organization. You have
Agile 2015 was the week of Aug 3-7 this year. It was a great week. Here are the links to my interviews and talks. Interview with Dave Prior. We spoke about agile programs, continuous planning, and how you might use certifications. I made a little joke about measurement. Interview with Paul DuPuy of SolutionsIQ. We