Leveraging Agile Market Research for Faster, Better Concept Optimization

Only one in 10 market-facing decisions have the backing of customer data.  Nowhere is this shortage of customer feedback more evident than in the concept development process.  It's no wonder that a significant percentage of product, packaging, and advertising executions fail every year.

The time and cost of traditional data collection methods have prevented researchers and marketers from tapping consumer insights as much or as early as needed leaving them to rely on intuition or gut feel to pick and refine winning concepts.

On-demand tools when coupled with the Agile Research Methodology allow researchers and marketers to identify and optimize winning concepts much earlier in the development process resulting in executions that are both faster to market and better performing.

An upcoming webinar presented by GutCheck, “Leveraging Agile Market Research for Faster, Better Concept Optimization,” on Thursday, November 14 at 2:00 pm EST will feature an interactive, step-by-step review of the concept development process infused with best practices for applying on-demand quant and qual tools using an Agile approach.

GutCheck is an on-demand research community solution that provides immediate insights from specific consumers with quality that is equivalent to traditional online communities. Unlike these offerings that challenge timelines and budgets, GutCheck enables an Agile Research approach that delivers actionable feedback in days instead of weeks and at 50-70 percent the cost of traditional in-person focus groups.

In this webinar Matt Warta, CEO, GutCheck and Lisa O'Connor, Lead Online Research Strategist, GutCheck will discuss:

• How to apply on-demand quant and qual tools within the Agile Research Methodology to screen and optimize concepts rapidly and early in the development process
• Common questions that yield rich insights for testing and refining concepts
• Best practices for recruiting and testing concepts with minimal bias
• An in-depth case study will also be provided to illustrate this approach in action.  We will reserve the last 15 minutes of the webinar for Q&A.

Reserve your webinar seat now: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/v8o7rwaiax7w&eom

6 Types of Bad Project Managers

Project management is integral to the business world - milestones, kickoff meetings, deliverables, stakeholders, and work plans constitute the everyday world of most managers, whether they are called "project managers" or not. Given the vast experience organizations have with project management, it's reasonable to wonder why all projects aren't completed on time, on scope, and under budget. The reality is that there are some project managers who simply aren’t cut out to manage a team.

In fact, according to Phil Simon of InformationWeek, there are certain types of project managers that aren’t doing their job successfully. Here are six types of PMs that you may have in your office:

The Yes-Man

Certain PMs fear conflict and agree to every demand that clients or senior management make. As a result, they are used to saying "yes." These PMs do not intentionally try to sabotage projects, but  yes-men simply want their clients to be satisfied. But by failing to confront those with different expectations, yes-men make promises that put projects in danger.

The Micromanager

Micromanagers want to understand each step in a process or the nature of a complex issue. However, on a project, the PM is not supposed to be the product expert. Depending on the timing, a PM might have to live with a high-level explanation of an issue. Should the micromanager need more detail, she should bring consultants to steering committee meetings or have them write status reports providing more specifics.

The Procrastinator

PMs who routinely fail to deliver are the worst of the bunch because they cause organizations to miss project deadlines and put both employees in untenable positions. The procrastinator often ducks clients and does not deliver promised results such as updated project plans, documentation or status updates. People are likely to lose faith in the consulting firm and its individual consultants.

The Know-It-All

Nobody can know everything about an enterprise application. Some PMs have the ability to answer questions about certain system-related issues. Although being able to speak intelligently about issues is hardly a liability, PMs who do not engage their teams at key points do a number of inimical things. For one, they can alienate their consulting teams and make team members less likely to broach issues with them in the future.

The Pollyanna

Some PMs new to projects with large scopes are ecstatic when the project makes any progress at all. Pollyannas tend to take a "glass is 10 percent full" approach to project management. Rather than realistically assess and deal with a project suffering from delays and budget overruns, Pollyannas focus on trying to make everyone feel good. In this sense, they are like yes-men. PMs need to be able to call a spade a spade and not worry about sugarcoating dire situations.

The Pessimist

Pessimists fail to appreciate the gains that a team has made in the face of considerable obstacles. Pessimists overemphasize what still needs to be done as opposed to what has been done. Many projects would benefit from healthy doses of skepticism and realism. Sometimes, it's necessary to put functionality on the chopping block, but consultants and employees tend to put in long hours on projects, especially during critical times. PMs who constantly criticize a team for that which it has not accomplished are likely to irritate everyone. 

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10 Leadership Habits of Project Managers

Have you ever been a part of a project team whose components seemed to be lacking until everyone pulled together to accomplish something great? Why do these things happen? The answer is the leadership. A poor leader fails to bring out the best of an already great team, but a great leader can create winners out of a team who may seem to lack ability.

Leadership is a critical and essential component for any project management team. Leading a project towards success requires the manager to have a clear vision, clarity in reason, practical in scheduling and the ability to attract a talented and efficient team. The stress in project management is about ensuring that things get done while motivating the project team towards delivering project success.

Rick Mears, CIO of Owens & Minor, has an interesting perspective on the most important elements of leadership with implications for how PMs show leadership in their roles.  Here are his top 10 leadership habits of project managers according to Mears:

10.  Keeping customers, people and profits balanced

These days, PMs have to watch the boundaries they place on stakeholders, teams and projects.  Does delivering a project on time make us successful if they’ve killed their team while doing so?  This habit rings true with the juggling act that PMs must keep up.

9.  Delivering bad news quickly

One of the biggest mistakes PMs can make is to sit on negative information in the hope that it will get better on its own.  The world doesn’t work this way – the much better alternative is to share the information with decision-makers and come up with solutions to solve the problem.

8.  Having tough conversations early

If PMs don’t address conflict in a timely manner, it can poison the relationship, the team atmosphere, etc.  Wait too long and you will blindside people with feedback that is out of date.

7. Running the play that was called when the huddle breaks

This is all about consistency, about not second-guessing the decision that was made.  Leaders who say one thing to the team, then turn around and take an action quickly lose creditability. This doesn’t mean you can’t change course, but that if you do so, you need to get the team’s understanding.

6.  Owning the decision

A leader who says to her team “Well, the big boss upstairs says we have to do it this way” has just given away her authority, and damaged the team’s confidence in her leadership.  A true leader has to understand the decision, become creative in how to follow it and own it.

5.  Collaborating – try for consensus

As leaders, PMs should do everything we can to get consensus from our teams.  Knowing that this will not always be possible, the next best thing we can do is at least spend enough time communicating our point of view so that the team understands the decision.

4.  Focusing on the things that you can influence, and then grow you influence

It’s important that PMs continue to hone leadership skills, relationships, credibility to grow their areas of influence.  If they aren’t managing that ability to influence, they will run into brick walls that can limit effectiveness. 

3.  Staying confident on the inside, but humble on the outside

True leaders take the heat, and give all the credit to the folks on the ground doing the work.  Ironically, by doing so, leaders are seen as honorable and capable – things that make others want to follow them.

2.  Asking for help

Some people in leadership roles are crippled by the fear that if they ask for help, they will be seen as weak.  In not asking for help, they become ineffective or make costly mistakes – which makes them seem week.

1.  Trust – takes forever to build, can be destroyed in an instant

For leaders to be effective, they must be trusted.  Each of the points above relate to this core concept – and it is a fragile thing to maintain.  It’s worth it to keep this concept in mind in almost all PMs’ actions as leaders – how are they are building trust, and are they risking damage to the trust they have established?

About the Author: Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR’s blogs including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, and ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc. 

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How to Be a Better Project Manager When You Aren’t One

The massive amount of young people who have grown up using social tools to engage with each other will soon take up the majority of the future workforce – causing a huge demographic shift. As a result, a new collaborative workplace is emerging - transforming the way work is done.  The future workforce will likely be project managers without even knowing it. According to Jacob Morgan, co-founder of Chess Media Group and Forbes.com contributor, here are seven ways the non-professional project manager can become a better manager of projects.

Be Mr. or Ms. Fix It. If you see something that’s broken, take the initiative to fix it.  Develop a plan to solve your team’s most pressing problems and gather influential people and resources around you to make things happen. 

Understand the Project. The best PMs have a handle on why they are doing a project, who they are doing it for, the requirements and the timeline.  They push back if senior leadership establishes a deadline that is unrealistic and doesn’t allow for the inevitable delays, and before proceeding, they make sure that everyone involved is on the same page regarding budget and metrics.

Be Organized. Collaboration software was developed for the purpose of keeping your team’s responsibilities and work easy to follow, but the software won’t do the whole job.  Use its features to communicate action items, keep track of the details and status of each task, and establish relationships between project aspects.

Don’t Let Them Coast. Set expectations ahead of project start and hold your team members accountable for specific deliverables and outcomes.  Think about each person’s development areas and devise ways to challenge them. Your team will be more productive if members are stretched and able to actively contribute to individual and team goals.

Be Assertive. The moment you become aware of a critical issue is the moment you should address it.  Before things get out of hand, speak with all of the parties involved and encourage a direct conversation.  Also, think about the best way to approach each team member to get the information you need and go that route. 

Macromanage.  Effective project managers understand that a team cannot be productive unless each member has the ability to work autonomously.  Once you set the course, give your people the freedom to make decisions in their area of responsibility.

Have Their Back. Facilitate an environment of open communication and let your people know that your door is always open. Setbacks are inevitable, but don’t play the blame game and take responsibility for your own role as a team leader.  Support your team when going head-to-head with others so that they will trust and respect you.

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5 Steps to Better Project Management

An organization must execute well. While project management can make up for mistakes in planning, excellent project management begins in the planning phase.

Project management is the art of managing the project and its deliverables with a view to produce finished products or service. There are many ways in which a project can be carried out and the way in which it is executed is PM. Without a planned approach to the task of managing the projects and achieving objectives, it would be very difficult for the organizations to successfully execute the projects within the constraints of time, scope and quality and deliver the required result.

Many of us are either new to PM or our organization is new to a structured PM approach. The key is to set up a good process and build on it through successful project deployments and understand what works best for your organization and customers.  You can build a project management methodology, but be open to tweaking it along the way – especially for newer or smaller organizations as you learn what works best for the size projects you manage.

According to Insightly.com, here are things you can do today quickly and easily that will make you a better PM and make your overall practice more successful:

Use a good customer management tool. There are so many cloud-based options abound for managing your customers.  It can be so easy to lose track of current clients, potential clients and those clients who want you to call them back next quarter when they have more money to spend. You need a good  CRM tool, so download a few trials and see which one works best.

Use a good PM tool. There are also a lot of cloud-based and affordable PM tools.  Search and try a few out…there are hundreds available now.  You can even use a combination of a CRM and a separate project management application, or you can evaluate CRM applications that include PM functionality.

Collect templates and planning documents. You need to plan – you need those requirements documents, communication plans and statements of work.  And, you need templates, pipelines and stages so that you can easily repeat project successes.  Project schedule templates are difficult to create from scratch, but once you have effective ones to choose from you can tailor them to get started on any type of project quickly and confidently. 

Meet with your customer regularly. We should all be scheduling weekly status meetings with our project teams, as well as reaching out regularly to your customer just to ensure that they feel all the bases are being covered. It’s better to find out early about a concern than to let it fester into something that they end up calling your CEO about later in the project. 

Be professional. You probably have at your disposal a solid group of very skilled project resources.  Treat them as such and they will follow you into battle. They won’t soon forget the recognition you give them for jobs well done.  Project managers don’t often get the praises they probably deserve for individual project successes, but that should never stop you from treating your team the way you would want to be treated.  It will pay off dividends throughout the engagement and when these same resources end up on your teams later on other projects. 

Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist at IIR USA in New York City, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the tech industry.  She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc.

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Marshmallow, Spaghetti Sticks and String…Oh My! How to Encourage BA and PM Collaboration

In her discussion titled “Let’s Collaborate Not Tolerate…” Paula Bell (CEO, Paula A. Bell Consulting, LLC) proclaimed early on that “Many people talk about collaboration, but few people actually collaborate.”  After this proclamation, Bell moved forward with her mission to make sure that session participants became a part of (if not already in) the population that actually collaborates – not just talks about. 

Bell emphasized the importance of first building a relationship with your partner (project manager or business analyst), next fostering a collaborative environment, and finally maintaining a positive relationship. 

As a part of building a relationship, Bell encouraged participants to

·         Learn about each other (likes/dislikes, working styles, and communication styles)

·         Set expectations for working together

·         Stay connected with one another

In terms of fostering a collaborative environment, she stressed the importance of (among other things)

·         Investing time upfront

·         Communicating goals

·         Defining roles and responsibilities

For maintaining a positive relationship, Bell advised participants to do a number of things including

·         Make good on your word

·         Admit your mistakes

·         Be realistic

To help session participants grasp and retain the key concepts above, Bell shared interesting videos, provided a template demonstrating how to apply some concepts, and directed the team in a very engaging and thought provoking activity (learned from another expert).

 

It was the aforementioned activity that seemed to really allow session participants to practice and assess their own collaboration.  Bell divided participants into small groups that were responsible to work together to build a structure (as tall as possible).  Each group was afforded the exact same resources for building its structure (a marshmallow, some spaghetti sticks, a string and some tape).  At the end of a set time period, the group with the tallest standing structure was declared the winner.

 

The winning group had a structure that stood 19 inches tall.  When Bell allowed the group to share with others how they worked together, one of the group members explained “I trusted my team”.  The group member went on to explain how she never worked with the others in her group (prior to the session), so she had no reason to distrust them.  The group member’s comment tied back to one of Bell’s key bullet points on maintaining positive relationships – making good on your word.

Overall, Bell’s obvious passion for the material, interactive tools, and hands-on activity seemed to drive home the point that collaboration is not something to simply be talked about – relationships must be established, a collaborative environment must be fostered, and the positive aspects must be maintained. 

Belinda Henderson, CBAP, PSM

Senior Consultant and Business Analysis Blogger, Cardinal Solutions Group
Guest Blogger, 2013 Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts

Lessons in Leadership from the Flight Deck

Carey Lohrenz, a leadership and strategy expert, knows what it takes to win in one of the highest pressure jobs imaginable. She has spent 10 rewarding and challenging years planning, executing and debriefing complicated missions as the first female F-14 Fighter Pilot in the U.S. Navy.

Lohrenz doesn’t work in your typical office - she spends each work day in a $45 million jet working a very high stress role with a lot of moving parts. In less than two seconds she goes from 0 to 165 mph in her jet to bring men to a target and back again.

“That speed is physically exhausting so the hardest part is staying conscious, “she explained in her keynote presentation at PW&WCBA 2013 in Disney World. “Meanwhile you are responsible for communicating on three different radios to several different people in the air and on the ground.”

Working on top of an aircraft carrier is one of the most dangerous industrious worksites in the world. The job has a clear focus of mission– safely launching and recovering an aircraft. In order to complete each mission successfully, Lohrenz has to consistently exemplify stellar leadership skills.

“When you can leverage strong leadership skills, you can achieve growth and accelerate your career path.” she told the audience.

Here are some skills that Lohrenz developed to reach her goal:

Be the Catalyst

A catalyst is someone who can align people and make things happen faster. “That purpose, focus and discipline allow common people to achieve extraordinary thing,” said Lohrenz.

Also, having a winning attitude and commitment gets you far. How committed are your to your success and continued development? “If you lose sight, your loose the fight,” she added.

Be Tenacious

Early in her life, Lohrenz was drawn to doing something with an organization that put mission before self. She has to always be flexible, be able to adapt to ever-changing situations and overcome any obstacle, which she strongly advises people to do in any business.

The Commanding Officers had to identify only the people who were able to do this well. “They want to break us to get us to the point of understanding where we will break and be able to address those fears and challenges and work through them. The fear of failure is so paralyzing because it makes us pass up opportunities,” she explained. “But, breaking through this allows us to start reaching our potential.”

Be Committed to Excellence

Lohrenz really wanted to blend in and be one of the guys, but it turns out she became a pioneer in the industry. Because of this, she has learned how much perceptions matter, your personal brand, professional brand matters because it is how people perceive you.

“There can be a gap and you just need to know where you are in those gaps so you can address those perceptions,” she explained.

Lohrenz said she and her team are process people’ and tend to over-complicate things. They have highly effective processes of planning, executing and debriefing after the event. “We understood peoples’ roles and responsibilities so we can move easily into the execution phase,” she said. “In fact, one hour of effective planning can save you 200 execution errors, according to Harvard Business Review."

Be Resilient

Being a fighter pilot has its challenges. Lohrenz was used as a platform for “why we can’t have women fighter pilots” in an international discussion when she was just 24 years old She was pulled even out of her cockpit when the Navy chose to not support her because they thought the issue would simply go away. So, for a year and a half she was grounded and felt like her world was completely shattered.

“There were days that I felt like I couldn’t breadth. Everything I worked for was taken away from me,” she told us.

She later was given the opportunity to get back in the cockpit and fly admirals and generals, but it was a very different life than a fighter pilot.  Soon enough, she was back to where she was meant be as a fighter pilot.

“I stood up for what I believed in because the women came before me fought so hard and I knew women would be coming up behind me,” Lohrenz said.

Overall, her message today is: “Good enough is only your entry ticket into the game. Be innovative in your path to success that will get you where you want to go.”

So, be brave. Take risks. What are you going to do to make a difference?

Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist at IIR USA in New York City, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the tech industry.  She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc. 

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For Pete’s Sake…Consider the Impact of Change on Others

Keynote Naomi Karten (Author of Changing How You Manage and Communicate Change) opened her discussion on “Embracing Change…” by warning “There is a prerequisite for this session – It is only for people who have experienced change.”  She then advised anyone who has not experienced change to stay after the session, so she could “introduce them to someone who has experienced change.”  This witty way of emphasizing that change happens to everyone went over well with the audience and made for a smooth transition into the real life example of someone who had experienced an interesting change – a gentleman Karten met by the name of Pete (or Project Pete as Karten called him).

Karten met Project Pete at a previous conference.  She told how Project Pete went to work one day and was told to “pack up” his area.  He (and the rest of his team) was being moved to another office in 24 hours.  Karten described how this unexpected “jolt” to Pete’s normal way of life threw him into chaos.  She went on to reference Project Pete throughout the discussion, in order to tie how we experience change back to a real life scenario.  

One point Karten emphasized is that session participants (as project managers and business analysts) are often responsible for introducing “jolts” into the lives of others – the same types of “jolts” that Pete experienced.  BAs and PMs cause jolts by carrying out expected tasks like offering ideas, introducing options, and trying to influence others.  Since BAs and PMS are “possible sources of chaos”, Karten stressed the importance of understanding how chaos is caused and how people respond to it.   

Understanding that successful BAs and PMs cannot completely avoid introducing change (jolts), Karten shared some guidelines on how to best handle such situations.  A few of those guidelines are listed below.

·       Minimize the compounding effects of chaos:  If you know someone is still dealing with the effects of another change, consider adjusting the timing of the change you are preparing to introduce.

·       Regularly communicate the status of the change and its impact:  Communicating the status of change builds trust.  However, be careful that you don’t overdo it – Don’t communicate so much that you become a larger source of stress than the change itself.

·       Give people a say about the change:  In many cases you will not be able to eliminate the change altogether.  However, if you have areas where you can give them some say on how to carry out the change – do so.

·       Recognize the power of listening and empathy as change management tools:  Sometimes having someone to just listen makes it a little easier for those involved to handle change.   

·      Absolutely, positively, do not put down the old way:  Putting down the old way of doing something may offend those involved, because people often find a sense of security in the old way. 

·      Don’t Mollycoddle: Don’t spoil, overprotect, cosset, humor, pander, overindulge, or baby those who have to endure the change. Listening and empathy are important (as noted above), but don’t overdo it.

·      Don’t forget that there is chaos involved with change:  Change is naturally messy.  Understand that those involved with change are experiencing some degree of chaos. Accordingly, they may not respond to things in a logical or rational way for a period of time.

·      Build trust:  Before introducing change for others, build trust. 

Karten also touched on how participants personally should handle change.  She emphasized that when going through a change personally, it is important to recognize when you are in a state of chaos, as well as be able to resist the urge to make decisions that have permanent results.

Overall, session participants seemed to take away the importance of considering the impact of change on those going through it (others like Pete - as well as themselves).

Belinda Henderson, CBAP, PSM

Senior Consultant and Business Analysis Blogger, Cardinal Solutions Group
Guest Blogger, 2013 Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts

News Alert! Bigfoot Sighting – We Have Evidence!

In a session titled “Business and IT Alignment:  Turning Agility into a Reality”, Robert Woods (IT Project Manager & Agile Coach/Trainer) used his hands-on experience at Aarons, Inc. to advise participants on the importance of establishing Business and IT alignment, when trying to get the value out of an Agile transformation.   He described this alignment as being elusive – “…sort of like a Bigfoot sighting.”   He went on to reassure the audience, however, that he observed this alignment working at Aarons.

Woods explained that the success of Aaron’s Agile transformation was evident in the release of the developed product to 500 stores - as planned.  The journey was not without challenges, though.  A lack of product ownership and a lack of properly trained team facilitators are 2 of the key challenges the team faced.  These challenges were acknowledged and steps were taken to create engaged product ownership and to train team facilitators.  

After explaining some of the challenges (and tips to overcome them), Woods left participants with a key take away “Agile transformation is not department specific.  It is a culture change for the entire organization.”  He explained that if an organization can think of Agile transformation from this perspective, it is more likely to be successful in that transformation.

Belinda Henderson, CBAP, PSM

Senior Consultant and Business Analysis Blogger, Cardinal Solutions Group
Guest Blogger, 2013 Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts

Embracing Chaos: A Normal Response to Change

In PW&WCBA 2013 this morning, Naomi Karten, author of Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals, Changing How You Manage and Communicate Change, Gaps and How to Close Them and Managing Expectations, had the audience at the edge of their seats as she gave a keynote presentation on Embracing Change: Transforming Ideas and Challenges into Opportunities.

As we all have experienced, the way things are can sometimes get thrown into a jolt which causes chaos and many people affected by this change go through a very bumpy adjustment through the chaos created form the jolt.

Karten explained that jolts can be brief or prolonged, expected or unexpected, planned or unplanned, positive or negative, etc. Jolts like mergers, new manager, project cancellation, new tools, new job, or demanding sponsor can be very familiar jolts in your workplace because they can throw the people involved into a state of chaos.

“Chaos is a normal response to change and therefore is predictable,” added Karten. “People may be absent minded, tired, and have difficulty concentrating when people experience chaos. People may experience stronger emotions in general.”

So, how may they react? Karten said that some people actually love chaos – they thrive on the adrenaline rush and get charged up, while others not so much. Others may resist and refuse to cooperate because they don’t like the uncertainty. But don’t worry, Karten said resisting is normal because it’s the way we naturally react to change

“At home and at work, we are dealing with a lot of chaos all at one time. It’s amazing how good we feel when dealing with chaos,” she explained.

According to Karten, BAs and PMs are the people that throw the jolt into the mix and create chaos - by creating new ideas, giving bad news, introducing new methods, and trying to change people’s minds.  Ultimately, how BAs and PMs communicate with their team can greatly influence the duration and intensity of chaos.

So how do manage chaos? Here are some of Karten’s guidelines you can follow:

1. Minimize the compounding effect of chaos.
2. Regularly communicate the status of the change and its impact.
3. Give people a say about the change.
4. Recognize the power of listening and empathy as change management tools.
5. Absolutely, positively do not put down the old way.
6. Don’t mollycoddle.
7. Avoid the biggest mistake people make by implementing change.
8. When you are in chaos, try not to make any irreversible decisions.

Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist at IIR USA in New York City, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the tech industry.  She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc. 

How Fascinating! Learning to Speak the Truth about Agile Adoption

Ellen Gottesdiener (EBG Consulting) and Ainsley Nies (Acorn Consulting) kicked off the first Agile workshop of the 2013 PW&WCBA by emphasizing truth-telling with regard to Agile adoption.  When we discuss the who, what and why of Agile, we must be willing to be honest about where we are in our progress.  This includes being honest about the adoption challenges we face.  Once we are transparent, we can take steps to overcome the challenges and advance our Agile implementation.

The duo went on to encourage each person to identify her progress on the spectrum of traditional versus Agile practices in areas like management focus, culture, design, change, and value. As participants physically moved up and down the spectrum (created by Ellen and Ainsley standing at opposite ends of the room), discussion ensued about how participants may be more mature in some areas of Agile, but have opportunities for improvement in other areas.  The activity also revealed that an individual participant may be at one place on the spectrum, where the actual organization in which the participant works is somewhere else on the spectrum.  Participants were encouraged that identifying these types of opportunities and gaps is the starting point for addressing related challenges and maturing in Agile adoption.

The traditional versus Agile spectrum activity was a nice transition in to the being Agile versus doing Agile discussion, where Ellen and Ainsley emphasized that “many implementations fail because people are so focused on doing Agile instead of being Agile.”   The duo stressed that being Agile means a change in mindset, where values and principles guide behavior and enable success.  Some of the key values and principles discussed included thinking with a systems perspective, tolerating ambiguity, building relationships, and being transparent.   To help participants take the next steps in being more Agile Ellen and Ainsley directed everyone in starting a development plan with actions to address the opportunities for improvement identified during the session. 

Ellen and Ainsley shared a number of other insights regarding who is involved with Agile (the Agile teams) and what those teams do.  One of the more impressive ways I have seen to demonstrate what teams do (versus just lecturing on it) is the way that the duo structured the agenda.  The agenda items were listed in an actual backlog.   Ellen and Ainsley explained that the session participants were the users for this backlog.  As the duo progressed through the backlog, they moved items from the backlog to the doing board and finally to the done board.  Participants were treated like actual users in that they were allowed to add items to the backlog during the meeting.  Towards the end of the meeting Ellen and Ainsley asked participants to choose which backlog items they wanted to pull into the current sprint, given that there was only X amount of time left in the session.  This really drove home the concepts of backlog management and time-boxing. 

Finally, in the spirit of being transparent (according to Agile principles) Ellen and Ainsley shared with the group a technique they use for handling unexpected change (which they learned from another expert).  Instead of handling unexpected change with fret and dismay, they instructed participants to simply shout out “how fascinating!” This takes the initial sting out of change and allows the necessary steps to be taken for handling that change.  Ellen and Ainsley encouraged participants to apply the technique during the meeting.  The participants did just that.  By the end of the session, everyone seemed to get the point that change happens and you have to be prepared to handle it – not ignore it or get so worked up that you are unable to move forward. 

Overall this session reinforced key Agile principles in an interactive way that gained (and maintained) participants’ attention.  To that I give a genuine - how fascinating!

  

Belinda Henderson, CBAP, PSM

Senior Consultant and Business Analysis Blogger, Cardinal Solutions Group

Guest Blogger, 2013 Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts

 

 

Business and IT Alignment: Turning Agility into a Reality

About five years ago, Aarons Inc. a lease-to-own retailer that focuses on leases and retail sales of furniture, electronics, appliances and computers, was growing faster than anyone projected. So, the company decided to go through an agile transformation.

Ultimately, the company was missing the critical business and IT alignment in their project management. It was missing an agreement on priorities, a common understanding, the culture change taking place and even the adoption of agile.

“We had to find those core missing requirements and fill the miss holes,” explained Robert Woods, IT Project Manager, Agile Coach/Trainer, Aaron’s Inc., at PW&WCBA 2013 this afternoon in the Agile Summit. 

Woods and his team sat down explained the agile transformation process, the ROI, the team engagement, stakeholder management, etc. According to Woods, these were all key things that management at Aarons Inc. didn’t know they actually had to be involved in.

“The agile transformation world: a world where every team is thrilled to be working with each other. I’ve never seen this place before, but I hear it exists and we want to get as close as we can,” he commented.

The idea of an agile transformation world is an idea that project managers and business analysts try hard to aspire to, but it unfortunately doesn’t always work out that way.

“So, we have to take steps to find the core items that we are missing from a project stand point,” said Woods.

As it turns out, he and his team found that Aarons Inc. needed a team facilitator, a more servant leadership which is different from the people coming from a project management history.

“It was a hard change for some of them,” Woods added. The team facilitator must be a conflict resolution specialist because a lot of different types of people are working together trying to “make magic happen,” so there is bound to be conflict.

Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist at IIR USA in New York City, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the tech industry.  She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc. 

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