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Date: 23/06/2021
Kanban is a well known Agile framework that helps
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- visualize your work,
- limit the work in progress,
- maximize the efficiency (or flow) of the team.
How do Kanban boards work?
The main component of the Kanban framework is the Kanban board. The Kanban board is a tool to visualize the workflow of the project. The board shows the workflow and all related tasks, this helps to better understand your processes and provides an overview of the workload. The visualization of the workflow offers the transparency that will help quickly identify problematic work stages. The Kanban board will help teamwork more efficiently. The Kanban board is available for the complete team and everybody can access it to find his/her responsibilities. Everyone can see what each team member is doing and therefore the Kanban board also functions as a motivator to pursue better performance. The Kanban board can be used either as an online tool or in the office itself. The board uses- cards,
- columns,
- swimlanes,
- WIP limits.
Kanban cards
The Kanban cards are the virtual representation of tasks. Each card is filled with information about the task, like its description, the deadline, the status. Kanban cards are assigned to a team member or members, who will be responsible for executing the task.Kanban columns
The Kanban columns all represent a different stage of the workflow. The Kanban cards move from column to column until they reach their full completion.Kanban swimlanes
The Kanban swimlanes are horizontal lanes that can be used to separate different teams, services or activities.Work in Progress limits
The Work in Progress limits restricts the maximum amount of tasks in the different columns of the board. That means that there can only be a total of tasks in a certain stage of the workflow. The WIP limits help you prioritize tasks and allow you to focus on current tasks. The Kanban board is not static and can be adapted by any team. That means that you are free to add as many columns and tasks as you want. You can decide where to put the WIP limits and whether you would like to use swimlanes. The Kanban board is to be tailored to your specific workflow and needs.
How to use a Kanban board?
The Kanban board is a very intuitive tool that anyone can use and understand at first glance. But what are the best ways to use the board?- Tailor the board for your project
- Look for workflow bottlenecks
- Help your team focus
- Improve time management
- Define a Kanban policy
1.Tailor the board for your project
Many first Kanban boards start with three simple columns:- ‘to do’,
- ‘in progress’
- ‘done’.
2. Look for workflow bottlenecks
If there is one column where all tasks seem to pile up, it means that something does not go right in that process. This can be due to a temporary situation, like a sick team member that can not finish his/her tasks or a serious bottleneck. The Kanban board shows where to pay extra attention and helps you to come up with improvements. A more detailed Kanban board will give better insights.3. Help your team focus
If you make use of the WIP limits on the Kanban board, you help your team focus on the high priority tasks. Often tasks pile up in the ‘in progress stage. If you put the WIP limits, team members will first have to finish their ‘in progress’ tasks before they can start with new ones. This way, the Kanban board helps your team finish assignments that are already in progress and stops the team members from multitasking.4. Improve time management
The Kanban board provides a complete overview of the current status of a project and the team. It gives a real-time status on the progress of the project. With that, you can consider cancelling the progress reports and regular progress meetings and save a lot of time. Make sure your Kanban board is not static, but keep on looking for improvements to your board in order to improve your workflow even more. This way you continue to become more efficient.5. Define a Kanban policy
It does not have to be much, but make sure that every team member knows what the process policy is. Define when to move a card from one column to another column, define what information is needed in your card etc. Each team member needs to understand for example when to move a card or when to add information to a certain task.
Date: 16/06/2021
To become a successful project manager, technical knowledge alone is not enough.
Since the project manager has a role in synergy and interdependence with the environment and the team, it is essential that the project manager has the soft skills necessary for the success of the projects.
Here are the five essential soft skills for a Project Manager:
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- Team Building
- Decision making
- Manage conflicts
- Effective communication
- Know how to negotiate
1. Team Building
To be able to carry out and manage projects efficiently and effectively, it is essential that the team is aligned and above all that it collaborates. The project manager must act as the glue between the various members, making them collaborate and assigning tasks that reflect as much as possible the skills and inclinations of each of them. If the project manager is able to create a team spirit that involves all team members, he/she will be able to rely more and more on collaborators. The team will be motivated to work synergistically with each other, which will help avoid problems and misunderstandings and facilitate all processes.2. Decision making
Obviously, in the development of a project, it is necessary to be able to make the right decisions, trying to stay on schedule. The successful project manager must be able to collect the ideas of all team members and then make decisions that may conflict with the proposals received if this guarantees the success of the project. It can certainly be useful to rely on the six-step decision model:- Define the problem clearly and concisely.
- Brainstorm with the team to come up with possible solutions.
- Define evaluation criteria for solutions and analyze the pros and cons of each of them.
- Understand which other actors are involved in the implementation of the solution and involve them in the process.
- After carrying out the implementation, analyze, evaluate and listen to the lessons learned.
- Evaluate to what extent the project goal has been achieved by implementing the solution.
3. Manage conflicts
The teams that work well are not the teams without conflict. The teams that work well are those where these conflicts are managed and overcome. It is precisely in conflict situations that the experience of a project manager is essential. In fact, the project manager must be able to manage internal problems in the team so as to ensure that the project proceeds successfully. The causes that can trigger the emergence of possible conflicts are many, such as poor or ineffective communication between team members, unclear requests regarding project implementation requirements, pre-existing and deep-rooted internal conflicts, company policies that are not very inclined to foster collaboration between colleagues. A successful project manager must be able to overcome even the pre-existing problems rooted within the team in order to guarantee a relaxed and stimulating working climate that is able to lead to the realization of quality projects within the established times.4. Effective communication
A successful project manager must be able to communicate clearly and effectively with all stakeholders involved in the project. This involves first of all the ability to communicate with the members of one's team: open communication is an element of effective involvement that can concretely motivate professionals. Being always up-to-date makes the team members proactive towards possible problems. Above all, it makes them more motivated to commit themselves so that the project is completed within the pre-established deadlines and in compliance with the required quality standards. The colleagues are then joined by superiors, with whom the project manager must be able to communicate clearly on the developments of the project, whether positive or negative. This allows them to avoid misunderstandings regarding what is requested by the project team managers. Finally, of course, the customers. The project manager who is unable to communicate with their customers will not be able to carry out projects that satisfy them and every job will fail from the beginning. Communication is therefore one of the main elements behind the success of any project.5. Know how to negotiate
This soft skill is also essential for the success of any project. As mentioned above, the project manager is the element that unites work teams, superiors, and customers. In addition to having to communicate individually with these and other groups (e.g. suppliers), the project manager must also be able to manage the requests of the parties and balance them with each other. Negotiation skills are certainly one of the soft skills that most help every project manager on a practical level: it eases the pressure of work and helps to find solutions to problems that may initially seem insurmountable.
Date: 09/06/2021
Scrum is a framework that respects the 4 values and 12 principles of agility.
All agile frameworks insist that the best teams are those who work together, day today, in the same offices.
So how do you work with remote Scrum teams?
What happens if your Scrum team no longer works together physically?
Here are 5 tips to implement Scrum at distance:
The most effective communication occurs face to face, in front of a whiteboard, for example, followed closely by, what might be surprising, video conversation with content sharing.
This means that from a distance, if all the participants in the video call agree to put on their camera and share their screen, for example, the communication is effective and everyone is part of the conversation.
It is possible to see the collaborators, to see if they are interrupted, if they need a break, to observe their attitude, their ability to listen, and to notice the level of understanding on elements visual and concrete.
Tip: You cannot force someone to put their camera on, but it is best to ask everyone to put it on, even if it means blurring or changing the background. We must therefore review together with the rules of exchange and communication by integrating the personal limits of each and the (new) tools.
Damien Galzi
- Accept disruption and review the organization of work.
- Take inspiration from the Working Agreement Canvas.
- Ensure that communication is effective.
- Maintain ceremonies and select efficient tools.
- Unite and manage all teams.
1. Accept disruption and review the organization of work
First of all, you have to realize that working remotely is a real disruption in the way a team works. We must not say to ourselves:“We do as before but at home, we are used to working together, everything is going to be fine”.It is important to start from the start, whether it is the tools, the means of communication, or the rules of the game since remotely, the parameters and the availability differ. You have to deal with unforeseen events and personal obligations in addition to professional ones. We will therefore define the new rules of the game and seek to understand the new constraints and limitations of the team members. For example, remotely, it is likely:
- to be interrupted,
- to interfere in the privacy of employees,
- to have a connection or technical problems,
- to have to take care of the children,
- to have different rules to follow,
- to feel isolated,
- to have difficulty disconnecting from work.
- How are we going to organize the work?
- What are the new hours?
- What are the limits that should not be exceeded so as not to intrude into the privacy of employees?
- What are the (new) working tools?
- How are we going to communicate, discuss and continue to work TOGETHER?
How
- What are the new rules of the game?
- How can we work together despite the new context?
- What are the modalities, the new tools?
What
- What is visible?
- What should we build together?
- How do you make sure you have visibility on the increments to be made together?
2. Take inspiration from the Working Agreement Canvas
There is a Caneva on scruminc.com to help you, called the Working Agreement Canvas, which will facilitate the implementation of these new rules remotely. I advise everyone to complete it, even with a team that knows each other well. In particular, it includes the name of the team, the mission, the roles and responsibilities of each, but above all the standards and guides, which represent the code of conduct (e.g. no meeting after 5 p.m. because the children have returned from school. school). Tip: these things might seem simple and obvious, but this is something you should not take lightly. It should also be borne in mind that the rules must be adapted according to the number of Scrum teams.3. Ensure that communication is effective
Let’s take a closer look at the graph below, which shows the communication efficiency according to the communication channel.
The most effective communication occurs face to face, in front of a whiteboard, for example, followed closely by, what might be surprising, video conversation with content sharing.
This means that from a distance, if all the participants in the video call agree to put on their camera and share their screen, for example, the communication is effective and everyone is part of the conversation.
It is possible to see the collaborators, to see if they are interrupted, if they need a break, to observe their attitude, their ability to listen, and to notice the level of understanding on elements visual and concrete.
Tip: You cannot force someone to put their camera on, but it is best to ask everyone to put it on, even if it means blurring or changing the background. We must therefore review together with the rules of exchange and communication by integrating the personal limits of each and the (new) tools.
Maintain ceremonies and select efficient tools
In themselves, the ceremonies do not change, but you have to make sure you have the means and tools at a distance to replace the usual physical tools. In practice, Scrum teams are already well organized except for those that are not digitized at all. If this is the case, address the problem in the “how” part (eg: how to go from physical post-it to digital post-it?). Scrum does not advocate new rules for conducting remote meetings and usually advocates self-organization, always asking the right questions about their effectiveness. The ceremonies put in place are still relevant today, just because we are at a distance does not change. A daily Scrum is still a meeting but maybe with the camera and sharing the progress of the Trello kanban. The same is true for retrospectives and customer demonstrations. For the latter, it will be necessary to organize a specific point with the Scrum product owner (PO) in order to specify the “how”. If it is physical delivery, we will explain in the “how” all the precautions, rules, and health standards that this implies. If it is a remote delivery, it is also necessary to review the rules and provide the right support for the demonstration (webcam, slides, test environment, …) in order to have a fluid and efficient exchange while appreciating the reactions directly from the client, his attitudes and gestures. Tip: here is a non-exhaustive list of tools that can help you improve your Scrum ceremonies remotely: Trello, Miro, Klaxoon, Mentimeter, Mural, Kahoot, Jira, Wrike, Scrum Time, Slack, Team, Skype, Zoom, Discord, Meet, Spatial.io.Unite and manage all teams
Be careful to keep the work of the teams visible! What is recommended when the teams are remote is to make the product backlog as transparent as possible and also to ensure that all the teams have transverse visibility. All the product backlogs should be available through a common tool. The teams thus share a clear vision of current product developments and anticipate dependencies. When the company has many Scrum teams, or practices agility at scale, specific teams are formed to ensure clear management of the “how” and the “what”. By following the indications of the Scrum @ Scale Caneva for example, we take care to manage the responsibility for the “what” (product) and the “how” (process) through two dedicated teams. The goal is to eliminate unnecessary organizational conflicts that prevent teams from achieving their optimal productivity and optimizing collaborations. Tip: always keep a “lean” spirit by promoting the exchange around the added value of your practices with your teams. → Read Now: Onboarding new staff into your Agile team
Agile coach for more than 5 years, Damien has supported companies in the development of their digital transformation projects, their continuous improvement initiatives and their search for the performance of R&D teams in a Lean and Agile spirit.
He is CSM, CSP, PMP, Lean 6 Sigma Green Belt and Agile Coach (TSP) certified.
Date: 03/06/2021
ITIL is seen as a solution to many problems associated with IT organizations.
It is used as a guide to help groups improve the value of their services by focusing on co-creating business value and solving business problems, rather than just improving IT capabilities.
Organizations use ITIL as a framework for focusing all their activities, components, and resources to implement capabilities that deliver specific business value. So ITIL can benefit any organization that provides an IT service management product or service.
In this article, we provide seven key tips for organizations looking to effectively introduce the ITIL framework.
→ Download our free paper "The 7 ITIL Guiding Principles"
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7 reasons to implement ITIL in your organization
Adopting ITIL 4 can bring many benefits to both organizations and their users. In the new version, the framework gives strategic importance to ITSM by placing it in the larger context of customer experience and shared value creation. The key benefits of ITIL4 are:- Cultural transformation
- Find a starting point
- Know the framework and define the roles
- Know where you want to go
- Know what to improve
- Integration of practices
- Continuous improvement
1. Cultural transformation
The first clarification to make concerns the terminology: ITIL cannot be “implemented” in the canonical sense of the term as it requires a cultural transformation to the approach to work. IT Service Management professionals need to help organizations in which they operate to shift their focus on customers, results, and business value so that they can make a deep connection between these factors. For this reason, we cannot simply speak of “implementing” ITIL, because this term implies the fact that there is a process with a beginning and an end. The ITIL framework is based on an approach to an iterative and incremental improvement and therefore requires a complete cultural transformation.2. Find a starting point
When introducing a new methodology, it is always necessary to take into account the organization’s past and current situation. Understanding what can and cannot be done and what has already been done in the past. It is important to see past results and to determine the objectives that are to be achieved. The main components of the Service Value System that must be implemented according to a holistic approach are the following:- Corporate Governance
- The flows of value
- The Practices
- Continuous Improvement
- The 7 Guiding Principles
3. Know the framework and define the roles
The knowledge and mastery of the concepts underlying the ITIL 4 framework is a factor that is as obvious as it is fundamental. Knowing the framework brings the knowledge of the need to clearly and unequivocally define the role each involved professional must play. The correlation between role definition and knowledge of the framework is a key factor to start with when adopting ITIL within an organization.4. Know where you want to go
ITIL helps to define the specific value flows of the organization and supports to concretely implement them through the 34 practices made available by the ITIL 4 framework. For this reason, it is necessary to thoroughly analyze roles, processes, information, and technologies, together with the ITIL 4 stakeholders. Stakeholders are included in order to define the future path to take towards the evolution of the organizational model. Clarifying the ins and outs of the organization makes it possible to identify possible weaknesses and opportunities in advance, by comparing the processes in place with best practices.5. Know what to improve
After analyzing the current situation, it is time to focus on the objectives; which value flows to introduce, and how to divide them into steps, actions, and tasks in such a way that they are easier to manage? Answering these questions will also allow us to answer a fundamental question: What is the motivation that drives the organization to introduce ITIL best practices? Once the answer to this simple but fundamental question has been found, the organization will be able to focus on the ITIL project. While also focusing on desired results (outcome) and those actually achieved (output).6. Integration of practices
Once the value flows have been defined with the relative steps required by the Demand for Value, it is necessary to identify the practices and associated resources that contribute to the success of each step. In the past, weaknesses often came to light precisely in the passage from the end of one process to the beginning of the next one. For this reason, using the Value Flows allows you to interface processes towards a shared and functional vision to also optimize procedural work and transition between processes.7. Continuous improvement
Having finally introduced ITIL into your organization does not at all mean that the process is over, quite the opposite!- Which processes have fully achieved the objectives?
- Which could be improved?
- Have the predetermined outcomes been obtained?
Date: 31/05/2021
“Is it possible to learn how to be better at managing change in an agile world?”
This was the question Melanie Franklin, renowned Agile & Change Management expert, transformed into an answer. In 2014 she published the book “Agile Change Management – a practical framework for successful change planning and implementation”.
The book provides an approach for managing transformational change initiatives, using a lot of the ideas from the agile methodologies. This book has led to the creation of the Agile Change Agent qualification.
Two years ago we had the opportunity to interview Melanie Franklin and today we are proud to announce the launch of the Agile Change Agent courses.
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Agile Change Agent: an agile approach to change
An Agile approach to change is about doing change in waves of change. According to Melanie Franklin, Agile Change Management is about accepting that in this world of very fast-moving change, it is not a good idea to try and plan every single change detail upfront. The Agile Change Agent course & certification provides the participant with guidelines for those that want to work in a change. The course provides insight into how to plan and manage all the activities that are needed to design, deliver and adopt change in an Agile way. The course answers the question: “What makes a change successful?” “What is it that we really need to know to make a change successful?” “How can we manage our changes in an agile world?” It is not about what you have to do but how you are supposed to do it, the techniques you can use.Are you an Agile Change Agent?
You are a change agent if you are responsible for the creation of new ways of working as a result of a project investment. Or if you are in a change management role, where you are identifying what needs to be done by those who are going to have to work differently. But you are also a change agent if you are impacted by the change in sales, marketing, HR, finance, or other departments. You have daily priorities, you use existing ways of working to satisfy current customer demand and get the job done, but you are also mobilizing your colleagues and yourself to participate in the changes your organization makes/decides. So you are acting as a change agent. Understanding activities for effective change management and including them in your Agile project plan increases the chances that the deliverables from your project will be adopted as new business as usual working practices. People may not be called Change Agents but the point is that on top of their daily job they have a role to help make change happen and ultimately integrate change into the current ways of working.Why the Agile Change Agent course could be relevant for you?
- Agile and change explained on a practical level
- The course contains many problem-solving techniques
- You can benefit from a practical kit of techniques, checklists, and tools so you can start managing your change projects using what you have learned from the moment you leave the course
- The course helps those who know about change understand Agile, and those who know about Agile learn about change
- You can get a qualification on your CV that proves you have skills in Agile and Change Management - hitting the two hottest topics in business today.
Date: 26/05/2021
Scrum is a popular Agile Framework that helps teams function efficiently.
It does so through predefined roles that provide structure, while still allowing for flexibility.
Scrum is a framework that helps put the team into place and helps deliver works effectively.
Scrum provides a structure for meetings, responsibilities, and artifacts. The goal of the framework is to create a fundamental sense of structure underneath shifting skills and project needs. Scrum is pretty flexible and can be adapted to the situation of the company.
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The Scrum Team
The dedicated Scrum roles are enough to describe the minimum responsibilities of the Scrum team. The size of the team and the specific skills depend on the project and the project phase, it can change over time. The predefined Scrum roles are the following:- the Scrum Product Owner,
- the Scrum Master,
- Scrum Developer(s),
- Stakeholders.
The Scrum Product Owner
The Scrum Product Owner is the professional responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Development Team or, in other words, for maximizing business value for the project. He or she is responsible for articulating customer requirements and ensuring the business justification throughout the project. We can say this role embodies the voice of the Customer. The Product Owner must always maintain a dual view, understanding and supporting the needs and interests of all stakeholders, while also understanding the needs and workings of the Scrum Team. The Scrum Product Owner is, among other things, responsible for:- Managing the Scrum backlog,
- Managing Stakeholders,
- Managing releases.
The Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is the professional who coaches the team towards the adoption of the Scrum Framework. The core responsibility of a Scrum Master is to lead the Scrum Team to the correct understanding and enactment of the Scrum theory, practices, and rules. He/she is the professional responsible for ensuring that the Agile philosophy is understood and enabled inside the whole organization (that is the reason why is preferable that the Scrum Master belongs to the organization instead of being freelance). The main responsibility of the Scrum Master is being a process facilitator for the Product Owner and for all the Scrum Team. The Scrum Master is, among other things, responsible for:- Promoting values,
- Ensuring transparency,
- Enabling self-organization,
- Planning sprints.
The Scrum Developer
The Scrum Developer is the professional responsible for creating the project deliverables, together with the entire Development Team. The Development Team is made by professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable increment of “Done” product at the end of each Sprint. Each Scrum Developer is responsible for delivering a functional element (or chunk) of the product at the end of each sprint. The Scrum Developer is also responsible for:- Delivering work,
- Estimating the user stories in the sprint backlog,
- Understanding the business requirements,
- Ensuring transparency,
- Being organized.
Stakeholders
The Stakeholders are not a direct part of the Scrum team but influence highly the course of events. The stakeholder has to keep a healthy relationship with the Scrum Product Owner to share the details of the project. The Stakeholder provides regular input to the Product Owner and prioritizes work effectively with the Product Owner, to ensure the project development. The Stakeholder in a Scrum Project is responsible for:- Regular input to queries of the Scrum Product Owner.
- Conveying his wishes and concerns with the Scrum Product Owner.
- Share all possible details with the Scrum Product Owner.