Project management – Agile leadership

Introduction Agile leadership

The standard method of project management (Waterfall method) does not always lead to a quick commission of the solution/results of the implementation to its Operation, and if it is not successful (failure to meet the deadline, budget, or both), the bitter aftertaste of failure and disappointment of useless effort and financial resources remains with clients.

Clients increasingly require their products to be marketed as soon as possible. For this method of work, we use the method of the so-called Agile approach to the implementation, when project manager’s role is replaced by new key roles, which are Scrum Master and Product Owner.

This management method is used especially in case of software deliveries, where the pressure to market products quickly is by far the greatest.

The fact that the client does not always know in the beginning what they want for a product and how they want to use it, is often in favour of the use of the agile approach to the management of the delivery of products to the market. Therefore, the client – Product Owner assigns and the Scrum Master manages the so-called Sprints, where, given their limited scope, it is possible to respond flexibly to client’s current needs, or to their gradual specification of not yet clearly defined product requirements.

Scrum Master gradually defines the tasks for their implementation, and if everything is recorded, managed and evaluated properly (we use the already verified JIRA SW, when we have a trained staff for its use), then such approach to the implementation may significantly accelerate the actual works on the implementation of the delivery through individual Sprints.

Even during this method, we strictly insist on proper documentation of client’s needs and requirements, as well as their methods of solution and implementation, especially with regard to the uncertainties mentioned above in the definition and gradual specification of requirements by the client (hence the documentation in the JIRA SW).

Conditions for introducing the agile approach to product deliveries

1. Approach

What must be emphasized is that the agile approach is not self-saving for the successful implementation of products and their introduction to the market. Quite bluntly, we have to point out that the agile approach is just a tool, and like any other tool, it has its specific uses. In this case, the agile approach is especially useful where the client simply does not know exactly what product and how they need to market. In other cases, i.e. where client’s requirements are exactly known, it is preferable to choose a classic waterfall approach to the delivery management.

2. Adoption

The agile approach will never lead to a successful, i.e. rapid launch of the product, unless client’s work environment and internal culture have accepted the settings to the agile approach of product deliveries. It is precisely on this problem when the most of deliveries of products at large corporations fails and will fail, when they are implemented through the agile approach.

3. Team

To implement the delivery, it is necessary to have a well-coordinated team that dedicates 110% of its working time to the problem of delivery on one hand and on the other hand, it is necessary to have a competent Product Owner who respects the rules of agile approach to product delivery management.

4. Alternatives

If the conditions do not allow the use of the agile approach to the delivery, while accepting an acceptable risk of failure of the product delivery, it is suitable to use a combination of the classic project approach and the agile approach to implementation and delivery of a product.

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