No Agile Methodology is Right for You

No Agile Methodology is Right for You

I understand that there is no one-size-fits-all methodology for any team. Every team is unique, every project is unique, because people are unique. Therefore, it is much more important to understand the fundamental principles associated with agile work methodologies and project management rather than becoming an evangelist for Methodology A or B.

A summary of these principles:

The foundation of work in an agile methodology is for everyone to have a clear understanding of what work is expected to be completed at the end of a predefined period. This period is most commonly referred to as a sprint. It’s also worth noting that work should be assigned to an individual with a specific responsibility. In other words, there is no “team work”; all work should be assigned to an individual. Another crucial principle is the ability to anticipate whether the team will be able to achieve what has been planned and to identify anything that can be done to make the process more efficient in order to reach the goal. Understanding that the role of the person responsible for coordinating the teams is to ensure that as many assigned activities as possible are completed by the end of the period, aiming for 100%, it is crucial for them to constantly monitor the team’s progress in the current endeavor. This includes knowing how much of the work has been completed and what each team member is working on, allowing for real-time adjustments if necessary.

With this in mind, there are four major pillars:

1. What work needs to be executed and who should execute each part of that work.
2. The deadline for completion.
3. How much of the work has been completed up to that point.
4. What each team member is working on at that moment.

Task Fragmentation

Measuring the progress of work is a critical necessity, and the smaller the margin of error in this process, the better. The best way to reduce estimation errors and generalize activities as much as possible is to break down each part of the work into something resembling a ticket or task with an equivalent effort. This leads to greater predictability.

The Pitfall:

There is a pitfall when it comes to generalizing activities. Many managers start making a massive effort to create activities with irrelevant actions, such as “Send an email…” or “Follow up with the department…”. When this happens, their management model is on the verge of failing. This occurs because the time allocated to manage the activities becomes greater than the actual execution of the activities. At this point, a good manager understands that working is more important than organizing work (which is correct), but often attributes the problem to the methodology, which is a mistake.

How Tasks Should Be Divided:

Each task should have its role within the whole. Think of each task as a piece of a puzzle; it needs to make sense within the project. A good way to determine if an activity has the minimum requirements to be considered a task is to ask, “When the project is completed, can this task be perceived in some way within the project?” This prevents activities of minimal relevance from being included in a list of items to be completed and providing an incorrect perception of a team’s efficiency.

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