B1 Podcast Series – Agile project management

Mike: Hello Damon!

Damon: So Mike, what is agile project management at a very basic level?

Mike: Agile project management is a management philosophy that aims to improve upon some of the inflexibility in traditional project management methods.

Damon: Ok, can you give us an example of where traditional project management might not be flexible enough?

Mike: Absolutely, the best example would probably be the way that deliverables are broken down and achieved.

Damon: I’m sorry, deliverables, that’s a new word for me.

Mike: Yes, a deliverable is something produced as the result of a process. Let’s say that you are working on a new product for a customer, like a washing machine. That washing machine would be the deliverable.

Damon: Ok, so it’s the end product or service. Ok, I understand. And how does agile project management handle deliverables differently to the traditional way?

Mike: Well, let’s start as you mentioned, with traditional project management where there would normally be a specific deliverable for several different teams that in the end come together to form the end product, the washing machine. There might be quite long deadlines for this as your team works on the door and my team works on the buttons or whatever. At the end, this all comes together and is delivered as a finished product and customer feedback is collected.

Damon: And that’s not the same with the agile project method?

Mike: No, in agile project management the work is divided into smaller work packages, these are often called sprints. Your team wouldn’t make the final door in six months, they’d make a prototype in a month. That would be reviewed and then improved again in the next sprint. As the work continues, these sprints are accompanied by periodic scrum meetings.

Damon: Sorry, scrum meetings, so I know what a scrum is from my high school days of playing rugby but I can’t imagine that a bunch of employees would lock their heads together and kick a ball around the office! What are we talking about here?

Mike: Indeed, scrum here doesn’t have anything to do with rugby! It’s people, well, metaphorically putting their heads together and reviewing the current situation as well as discussing how to go forwards. In six months you might have a final version of the door that is a result of the sprint and the scrum review process.

This is called an iterative approach and it’s a fundamental part of agile project management.

Damon: Ok, so iterative in the context of repetitive, so something that happens again, a process that happens again and again. I see. But how is that an improvement on the traditional method?

Mike: Well in traditional project management you collect the feedback on the final product and improve the next model, but that could take years. With an agile method, you collect feedback as you go. If customer focus groups don’t like your new design, your new prototype or concept, you can modify your plan immediately.

Damon: Ok, that sounds like an improvement. Why aren’t all companies using this method?

Mike: Well, many of them are! But there is definitely some criticism of the agile method that some companies might think make it unsuitable for some projects.

Damon: Such as?

Mike: Well, the sprint and review format can make it difficult to accurately estimate how much time will be needed. Some people believe that agile project management can experience lengthy delays and problems meeting deadlines. There is also some criticism of the communication structure.

Damon: Ok, what do you mean by that, the communication structure?

Mike: In traditional project management the various teams might work autonomously, in different rooms, buildings, or even cities. In agile project management it’s often the case that the teams work very closely together together with teams with different deliverables. Even if it’s not an area they are an expert in. Some managers believe this can be an inefficient process.

Damon: Ok, I see, so, yeah, it’s different to the traditional communication structure but it might not be suitable for every industry, is that right?

Mike: Well, it’s definitely becoming standard in practice in software development projects but it’s not necessarily going to improve project management across all industries.

Damon: Ok, great, well thank you very much for that Mike. Let’s just have a quick review of some of the keywords that came up to talk about agile project management. Words that came up today were:

deliverable
deadline
sprint
prototype
scrum meeting
to put your heads together
iterative approach
focus group
autonomously
standard practise

Damon: Great, thanks very much for the information Mike.

Mike: Thank you Damon.

Damon: And thanks everybody for listening.