One of the questions I encounter during the training sessions I give about Agile Project Management is, what are the benefits of Agile Project Management in an agile environment? asks Orlando Heijmerink wonder. 86% of software development teams have adopted agile (source: 15th State of Agile report, 2022). This means that the vast majority of software teams work with some form of scrum, or work in a value stream or release train (as defined in Safe, (Scaled Agile Framework). What additional benefits does Agile Project Management offer in addition to agile and scrum forms of working? The short answer is: coordination and control.
Rapid and complex changes require agile ways of working such as Scrum, Agile Project Management and SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
Because the pace of change in our world is becoming faster and more intense, there is a demand for software development, change initiatives and projects to be completed faster and within a tighter budget. Rapid technological changes have prompted many organizations to evaluate traditional methods of project management and adopt agile ways of working to stay competitive. This has also stimulated the introduction of agile working and Agile Project Management.
Agile working has three basic characteristics. First, we are continuously creating the highest prioritized business value. Second, we do it in short iterative cycles with feedback loops. Third, we are continuously improving what we are doing. These three elements can be found in the methodology of Agile project management. Where costs, time and quality are fixed. That is what makes it so attractive to clients.
Agile Project Management is an iterative approach to planning and guiding project processes that breaks them down into smaller cycles called sprints, or iterations. The core of Agile Project Management revolves around embracing change.
Agile Project Management offers a hybrid form of project management in which it combines the benefits of agile working with scrum. Guidance and coordination that is necessary to bring something to a successful conclusion in combination with “empowering people”. Without the disadvantages of detailed planning or the unnecessary elaboration of details that change again because the customer does not know what they want, or that other clients come up with new insights. The credo is therefore “just enough detail upfront” and “fail fast learn fast”. Namely, only deliver what you need at that moment for the customer or to be able to make a decision, as a team, as a product owner or as a client.
a customer of mine, Albert Smets, CEO at Unified Post, speaks clearly about how to use the different methodologies. “If you want to improve a product,” says Albert, “use scrum. Working with permanent teams on continuous product development works great. But if you want to deliver a larger product or project, apply Agile Project Management”. Especially if you need multiple scrum teams, multiple departments or tribes, multiple value streams or departments in foreign countries, extra coordination is needed to align those organizational units, coordinate dependencies and ensure that deadlines are met. Deadlines are important for, for example, legislation or compliance change initiatives, and management from a board and coordination by a coordinator (previously called project leader) offers a solution. Large companies such as ING and ABN AMRO have now incorporated coordinating roles into their organisations. These roles have pre-eminent advantages when applying Agile project and program management.
What I often hear in my training sessions is; 'we all work in scrum teams and it all works great, but some initiatives just don't get off the ground'. Well, you need an Agile project manager for that. Someone who coordinates certain things in order to achieve the project goal within a certain set time with a certain set scope.
Agile Project Management is a wonderful combination in which people who have a lot of project management experience recognize the way of working because there is governance control. That's what the project board is for. In addition, there is an executive solution development team. The participants who have a lot of experience with working in a scrum agile environment recognize this again. It's a great way to combine both worlds. Agile project management is one of the ways to become more effective. It is always crucial to tailor the way of working within the context of an organization. These can be many ways of working agile, project-based and programmatic. At Lagant we call ourselves “agile agnostic”. The Agile Project management training that leads to the certification of Agile Foundation and practitioner is in any case very popular with our customers. These certificates are also internationally recognized.
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Rapid and complex changes require agile ways of working such as Scrum, Agile Project Management and SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)Because the pace of change in our world is becoming faster and more intense, there is a demand for software development, change initiatives and projects to be completed faster and within a tighter budget. Rapid technological changes have prompted many organizations to evaluate traditional methods of project management and adopt agile ways of working to stay competitive. This has also stimulated the introduction of agile working and Agile Project Management.
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