Figure 5-3: The project manager’s focus in an agile versus classic environment.
Agile Strategy Act as an information manifold to efficiently distribute the distilled information to the appropriate team members. This highly valuable role provides a key linkage between the project and its external environment, and it puts you out in front of both the project team and sponsors.
Perhaps manifold is not the perfect analogy, since it implies a rote and simplistic method of distribution. This is probably true in a repeatable environment, but not so in the agile one. Here, you need to be an intelligent manifold (see Figure 5-4). When you are in the midst of a dynamic technical and business environment, knowing which events are important to the project (and which are not important) is critical to making the correct decisions. Knowing where to look for the information, and then getting it, can be challenging. Reconciling the constant flow of information against your (agile) plan takes effort. Analyzing various “what if” scenarios is a skill to be honed. And finally, packaging the information and channeling it to the right people at the right time is key to success. By acting as an intelligent information manifold, you do two things. First, you establish credibility with the technical team by adding value where there was none before. And second, you influence the direction of the project by channeling the appropriate information to the appropriate decision makers, at the appropriate times. An outline of the mechanical parts of the manifold is also discussed in Chapter 10.
Figure 5-4: The project manager acts as an intelligent information manifold to distribute key project information to team members and sponsors.
Building Relationships with Key Stakeholders
There are people outside of the project team who are core participants during the definition and planning stages, but who are often fringe players during the execution stage. These stakeholders include the project’s end customers, other project managers, functional management, and executive management. While we may strive for a fully integrated and project-based organization where the project manager and team are bestowed with substantial decision-making authority, in most cases, this just isn’t reality. In these situations, critical decisions will have to be signed off by the appropriate stakeholders. It is not enough to merely keep these people “in the loop”. You will need to have a previously established relationship to facilitate the difficult decision making that needs to happen in the heat of the moment. Presenting the facts is definitely a project management duty, but having preestablished credibility and trust will go much further than just facts when trying to a get approval for an urgent and critical action. When you go to an executive with a crucial recommendation you want to hear her say, “Listen, Anne, it doesn’t seem like we have the time to revisit all the facts. I trust your judgment; just make it happen”. That’s also an incredible morale and energy booster!
Agile Strategy Find time to spend with key stakeholders when the project is going smoothly, so that when a crisis hits you will have already built a solid relationship in which you are trusted to make the correct decisions under fire.
Building a relationship of professional trust requires work and time. By work, I mean that it’s not just fluff and shooting the breeze. You need to initiate professional discussions on substantial topics so that you can demonstrate your ability to identify, analyze, and present the most valuable nuggets of information to that particular stakeholder. By time, I mean that you simply cannot rush your relationship-building duties; you must plan for them. An executive has time for only those nuggets of information that are truly valuable, and these may come along once a month or less. Your task is to consistently pick up these nuggets before their value wanes, while filtering out the junk. The key is to spend time early on with your stakeholders so they can describe to you, as precisely as possible, what their particular nuggets looks like. One last point: If you’re not finding any nuggets, be patient. If you get overanxious and try to use junk information to build your relationship, you’ll more than likely lose credibility faster than if you did nothing at all.
Agile Strategy Build credibility with stakeholders by working with them to learn how to recognize their critical few (gold) nuggets. Then, patiently and consistently, extract the real nuggets for them while filtering out the junk.
Filling the Gaps
Another way that project managers can add value in the agile environment is through filling gaps. Agile projects are often trying to do something that has never been done before, so it is reasonable to expect that gaps or holes in the project plan will appear as the project progresses. Furthermore, many of these gaps will not fall cleanly under the responsibility of any given team member. Likely locations for cracks to form are where the technical aspects of the project meet the business elements, or where there are handoffs between different functional areas. This is a perfect opportunity for the project manager to jump in and help bridge a gap that could otherwise become a stumbling block for the team. Not only is this a way to add real value to the project, thus helping to establish credibility, it’s a way for the project manager to get more deeply integrated with the technical side of the project without stepping on anyone’s toes.
Agile Strategy Look for ways to fill gaps in the project plan or that have formed during project execution. You can fill these gaps yourself or by finding additional resources. Either way, you will not only be adding value, but you will be brought deeper into the fold by the technical team.
Managing the Interactivity
Project managers are in the unique position of being involved in all key aspects of the project. They don’t necessarily approve or even have a say in many critical decisions, but they have the opportunity to observe these events and the overall decision-making process. An agile project manager will take advantage of this inimitable perspective to advance his project by raising the level of effective activity and interactivity among team members.
In a dynamic environment, individuals can lose sight of the really important tasks, especially when they are not privy to the entire picture. I’ve seen projects where one part will come to a complete stop, while another is frantic with activity. And I’ve seen other projects where everyone wants to work on the same set of activities, while there are numerous other things that need to be attended to. Or, there are other projects where subparts of the project are duplicated because team members don’t know what other team members are doing. All of these cases are examples of energetic and dedicated people trying their best to advance their project as fast as possible, but without complete information or involvement. In a stable project environment, or in the initial project planning, this is not a problem. It only becomes a challenge in the dynamics of the project execution. This is when the project manager must step forward and direct traffic for the team. No matter how little technical contribution the project manager may be making, he knows what is being worked on and by whom, thus putting him in the best position to bring people together, inform subteams of relevant developments, and fill the gaps in order to ensure success.
Agile Strategy When the project becomes dynamic during the execution stage, your first action should be to facilitate the activities and interactivity of team members to support project and business objectives, before updating the detailed plan.
Managing the Plan
The agile project manager cannot lose sight of his project plan, but he also doesn’t have to obsess over it. We know that the plan is in a nearconstant state of change and that it needs to be maintained, but we also know that that’s not our number-one priority. If we devote the bulk of our time to chasing the changing plan, we diminish our value to the team and will be (subconsciously) reverting to classic PM techniques in an agile environment. In the classic paradigm, control is very important for the project manager, and, in order to have control, you need a solid plan—thus the need to maintain an up-to-date plan. In the agile project, we spend more energy on information absorption and analysis, rather than constantly updating the plan.
In managing the plan for the agile project, the project manager needs to rely heavily on her facilitation and information manifold skills. Technical team members are often experts in a fairly small area, and they do not always see the bigger picture. This doesn’t mean that they are not interested in the overall project, just that they may not have the bandwidth to stay abreast of everything in the project while still driving the part that they own. In fact, when presented with the “big picture” implications of various project alternatives, I’ve found that most technical people can readily assimilate the information and provide thoughtful feedback. These team members want to understand the entire scope of the project because it puts the project in a business perspective, and it enables them to understand the complexity and value of making the project successful. It is also helps them prepare for the inevitable course changes in the project down the road, because they always have the overall picture in the back of their heads.