As I already mentioned in Italy Rome PMI EMEA Congress 2017 Day 2:
PMI.org defined this session as: Many of the problems experienced in the software industry are similar in other industries. This session will illustrate how to apply solutions from the software industry based in scrum, including roles, artefacts, and events, to your own industry. It will also discuss the role culture and leadership play, and how scrum application can positively impact cost and scheduling. Finally, the session will help attendees avoid common pitfalls encountered when applying scrum in a project environment and will provide them with tools and the vocabulary necessary to speak about, plan and execute projects in a new way.
- to implement a scrum framework outside of the software industry, with a focus on cohesive teams, culture and leadership, and realising improvements in cost and schedule
- how to leverage tools and vocabulary necessary to speak about, plan, and execute projects, regardless of the project.
Of course there has been some “set the scene” moments to explain what is a gas plant, where it is located, size, etc… but I mentioned in PMI EMEA 2017 Can Portfolio Management Strategy Really Stop My Headaches? it is ok to of course mention the context and the business segment you work in.
Some may object that you generated waste by over delivering but I take it… and I am not easy to satisfy in these types of events. You inspired me during the session and I have now a clear idea on how I can differentiate my programme and go for more efficiency moving to SCRUM of SCRUMS…
I was in fact totally aligned with the issues highlighted:
- Definition of the priorities, roles, silos
- Adopt visuals to improve visibility of progress on what’s important and why
- Set accountability to each other as part of the process
- Increase understanding of true state of project
Having these stated, it helps moving into the right direction and keeping in mind that Agile will enable this, hence the explanation of the SCRUM pillars and other basics so that all understand the work to be delivered.
I was in agreement in everything Simon except for the fact that he does put the Project Manager as Product Owner. For me the Product Owner must be in contact with the “customer”, internal or external. It is critical as the Product Owner will prioritise the stories in the backlog. On the other hand for this specific example here as in effect the it is the Project Manager that will prioritise issues, mitigation actions, etc… it makes sense but it may not be considered as a rule of thumb.
For my programme, I made the call to adapt his method but without working sprints at programme level (SCRUM being implemented in projects), it helped me to run daily stand-up to ensure better visibility on Issues, Risk Mitigation, Actions and so for what is visible to Programme Advisory Board, Steering Committee and Decision Review Board. Since then I can evaluate a 20% minimum solution speed increase!
It definitely brought a change in mindset and bringing total transparency-visibility, inspection and adaptation on a daily basis brings more respect, focus, commitment, courage and openness in my Leadership Team. We are now thinking of getting this delivered at each level like a SCRUM of SCRUMS and so in order to get these behaviours in all components of my programme.
The next key point is of course the communication and the lessons learned in order to continuously improve, as visual, we are currently testing Nureva so far so good but we are waiting for the next release for some extra needed functionality.
The future of Agile is not really about the methodology but the mindset change to make things happen and this is why people like Simon and I will keep explaining, advocating that Agile is not specific to Software development but also to any type of projects! It is important to be sharp in terms of being really open minded to use the best tools or methodology available to deliver and hybrid is also fine if needed!
Fantastic presentation and many thanks!
Categories: Project Management