How many times have we all experienced this? Leadership asks for project status. What they want is a color. Is the project green, yellow or red? If it’s green, all is well. If it’s yellow, there is cause for concern. If it’s red, sound the alarm!
And how do we justify whether a project is green, yellow or red? We check the project schedule, budget and scope. If one if these areas doesn’t align with the plan, the project is red.
If we were talking about waterfall projects, this wouldn’t be an issue. The problem is, many companies manage “Agile” projects in this same way. They want to be Agile, but fail to let go of a plan driven, project focused approach.
Agile is a value driven approach, not plan driven.
A plan driven, project focused, approach is what we learned when we got our PMP’s. Everything is planned up front. Requirements are fixed, and cost and schedule are estimated. We then report status based on how the project is doing compared to the plan.
When it comes to software development, we know a plan driven approach is flawed. Yet, many companies continue to use it. Why? Why do we punish project teams for being over budget or behind schedule when we know it’s the process that’s broken?
We need to shift our mindset from project focus, to product focus.
Product focus is a value driven, adaptive process. It doesn’t punish teams for change. It anticipates change and even welcomes it.
In a value driven approach, cost is fixed, and features are estimated. It’s the reverse of a plan driven approach. Investment is made at the product level, not a project level. People are dedicated to teams, and the teams stay intact.
This move from project focus to product focus is not pie in the sky. It’s not for small tech firms only. Target, for example, has completely shifted to a product focus model. They get it, and they’re not alone. Many large companies are organizing cross functional teams around products. They are bringing IT and business people together to focus on delivering business outcomes.
If your company is going Agile, ask yourself, are you ready to move on from traditional project management? Are you ready to no longer have a PMO? Are you ready to change? If yes, then it’s time to embrace a product focused mindset. If no, then continue using Waterfall, but don’t call it Agile.
About the Author: Mike MacIsaac is the principal consultant for MacIsaac Consulting. Mike provides leadership as an Agile Delivery Consultant and IT Project/Program Manager. Follow Mike on Twitter@MikeMacIsaac or visit Mike’s blog.