Agile and Project Management - DrunkenPM Radio

So much has been changing in how we work over the past few years that it can be tough to keep track of everything. There has been an increased focus on product management as companies move from a project-based approach to a product-based approach. Some organizations are still trying to get their feet with agile, while others have decided that their teams no longer need a Scrum Master (very bad idea - IMHO). And more recently, there has been an increased focus on the role of Technical Program Manager. When you check out the job postings for these gigs, you’ll see a bit of variety, but some things they often have in common are that this person should have experience managing projects, programs, and portfolios in a traditional approach; experience working, leading, and coaching Agile teams; experience working as a software developer; and sometimes also experience working in product management. If project managers were superheroes, this would be all of the Avengers in one person. It’s a big ask. In this episode of the podcast, my friend Jeff Howey joins me to talk about what he’s been seeing in market as companies are listing jobs for a Technical Program Manager. We dig into why this has become a thing, whether it is even possible to find all this in one person, how it might impact organizations, and how you can get started filling whatever gaps you may have so that you can maintain the ability to be competitive in the job market. If you’d like to contact Jeff Howey. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhowey/

NOTE: This podcast was originally recorded in video. You can find the video version here: https://youtu.be/h6hvltUPGHs Dan Eberle is a film maker AND and Agile Coach. He's been a guest of this podcast a few times in the past, but we've always centered the conversation around his work as an Agile Coach at the New York Times. This time, we're switching things up and Dan has joined me to discuss how agile and lean practices have influenced his practice of filmmaking. Specifically, we focus on the Obeya that Dan and his team utilize as they create films. If the term "Obeya" seems unfamiliar... "Conceptually akin to traditional “war rooms,” an Obeya will contain visually engaging charts and graphs depicting such information as program timing, milestones and progress-to-date and countermeasures to existing technical or scheduling issues." (Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obeya) Whether you are making films, building software, or just trying to help your team get better organized, you'll get a lot of great ideas from this conversation on how to work with your team to design an obeya that will foster greater transparency and collaboration in the work you do. Production Obeya Slideshow - Dan created a slideshow with screen grabs of his Production Obeya and examples of how he and his team visualize their production work. You can access it here: https://bit.ly/InsurgentObeya Contacting Dan LinkedIn: bit.ly/3wGScbC Twitter: bit.ly/3F6dkec

(A video version of this interview can be found here: https://youtu.be/t86MzxadU_k) When a long-standing, traditional organization embarks on Agile Transformation, there can be a lot of things that impede the change. When a lot of those things are happening at once, it can seem even more daunting. The good news is that when that happens, some of the things blocking the change can be addressed fairly easily, but some things will be much harder to change.  In this episode of the podcast, I am joined by my good friend and fellow CST, Chris Li and we talk through some challenges that were sent in by a student of mine. As we walk through the issues we discuss how severe each situation is and how we would each respond to it.  Here are some of the challenges: • PO can’t or won’t prioritize the backlog • Team members are always taking on special side projects in the company • The team is 35 people spread across several time zones - both on and off-shore • Everyone is working on new products and also supporting up to 30 applications • Everyone is expected to be at 100% utilization at all times. • The Sprints are 4-5 weeks long (the size varies depending on the work to be done) • One hour is allocated for Sprint Planning There is obviously a lot to work through here. Chris and I did our best to hit all the points. If you’d like to reach out to Chris directly: Web: https://www.sparkplugagility.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/realchrisli LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realchrisli/ Email: chris@sparkplugagility.com

Many people who are new to an agile way of working struggle to understand how practices like Scrum can be used if you are doing Research and Development. It can also be difficult to see how an agile approach can be applied if you are developing hardware. If you fall into either of those categories, this podcast should help get you sorted on how agile can be used in both R&D and the development of hardware. Michael Grill plays a dual role at Knorr-Bremse in Austria where he serves as both the Product Owner of Agile Practices and as a Product Owner for the research and development of brake magnets. In this interview, Michael shares what led his team to want to try agile, some of the experiences they have had, and things they learned in adopting agile practices for their work developing brake magnets. If you are trying to find your way with implementing Scrum on a team that focuses on hardware, this is an episode you’ll definitely want to check out Links: Scrum Field Book by J.J. Sutherland: https://amzn.to/3pASEoU eXtreme Manufacturing: https://bit.ly/3ClNwMT Wikispeed: https://bit.ly/3pG0iOV Contacting Michael LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-grill Twitter: https://twitter.com/actualMG

This podcast was originally recorded in video. You can find that version here: https://bit.ly/3p8YDB8 This episode of the podcast features an interview that I’m hoping will serve as an example of how collaborating in a distributed model can lead to great things. Malene Jacobsen and Mario Melo both became Certified Scrum Trainers during the 2022 Scrum Gathering in Denver this past spring. The story of how they became Certified Scrum Trainers is the focus of our conversation. During the interview, you’ll hear how they worked together and supported one another while preparing for their in-person TAC panels. They were also part of a larger team of people who committed to work together until each of them had become a Certified Scrum Trainer. Their teamwork demonstrates how being separated by multiple time zones does not have to be a hindrance. If you are working as part of a distributed team or you are working towards becoming a Certified Scrum Trainer, this podcast offers an inspiring story that is chock full of tips to help you succeed with your geographically distributed team. Links from the Podcast: Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Trainer Info: https://bit.ly/3p9qNfc Scrumchkin: https://scrumchkin.com Malene Jacobsen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malenembj/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaleneMBJ Mario Melo Web: https://melomario.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melomario/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/melomario

Christine Converse and Ross Beurmann (who host the podcast A Couple of Coaches) join me for a conversation/debate about metrics. During the podcast, we discuss what metrics help create clarity for the team on how well they are performing and what metrics help highlight areas that could be improved. We weigh the pros and cons of standard Scrum metrics, Kanban metrics, and share the ones we each find most valuable. If you are tracking certain metrics simply because Jira (or whatever tool you are using) tracks them, or someone else told you "THIS IS THE WAY," the question to answer is, if you were going to hire a metrics for your team, what job are we hiring the metrics to do? Christine and Ross also interviewed me for their podcast A Couple of Coaches about serving on the Scrum Alliance TAC and what it takes to become a Certified Scrum Trainer. You can check that interview out here: https://soundcloud.com/coupleofcoaches/episode-7-drunkenpm-crossover Sam... Apologies Sam Moore and Stax/Volt fans everywhere for using Sam as the underperforming team member in this discussion. Please listen to more Sam and Dave… it will be good for your soul. https://spoti.fi/3oruBIF Contacting Christine Converse Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christineconverse1/ Contacting Ross Beurmann Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbeurmann/ Email: ross@rossbeurmann.com

In Elizabeth Harrin’s latest book Managing Multiple Projects: How project managers can balance priorities, manage expectations and increase productivity, she draws on her 20+ years providing training, education, and mentoring in the project management field to take on a problem all of us face. When you have too many projects on your plate, and all of them are high priority, how do you find you get the most important work done without losing yourself in the process? While the book is project management-centric, the tools and skills Harrin offers are applicable not just for career project managers, but anyone who finds themself juggling more projects (work or otherwise) than the hours in the day will accommodate. In this interview, Elizabeth shares a few of the key ideas from the book and we dig into some of the techniques she employs to manage her own workload in a way that still allows her to be present and show up for the rest of her life as well. While many of the interviews I get to do focus on particular aspects of project management or agile, this interview has valuable ideas and techniques for everyone - not just those on a project management career path. Managing Multiple Projects https://amzn.to/3uEQwiX Project Management Rebels https://projectmanagementrebels.com Contacting Elizabeth Website: https://elizabeth-harrin.com Amazon Page: https://amzn.to/3cbWykH LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethharrin/ Blog: https://RebelsGuideToPM.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Rebelsguidetoprojectmanagement   Twitter: https://twitter.com/OtobosGroup

When I have questions about product-related topics Scott Sehlhorst is always the first person I reach out to. He is a product management and strategy consultant that makes my head explode every time I talk to him and this interview is no exception. Scott joined me for this interview that builds on his recent blog post “How to Make Your Product Special” (https://bit.ly/3AciBBK). We dig into product positioning, why understanding the desired outcome the product is supposed to provide is often the thing fail to understand, and how to start creating User Stories that are focused on those outcomes instead of the output-driven stories most people write. This interview covers a lot of ground as we talk through the challenges we all face when we’re trying to understand the problems we are trying to solve, who we are solving them for, and how to capture a user-centric explanation of what we need to create in a way that genuinely addresses the goal of the end-user. This podcast will make more sense if you first check out Scott’s blog post “How to Make Your Product Special” (https://bit.ly/3AciBBK) Contacting Scott Scott’s Blog at Tyner Blain: https://tynerblain.com/blog/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sehlhorst/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sehlhorst Email: scott@tynerblain.com

This episode features Troy Lightfoot who is a Business Agility Coach and Consultant as well as a Professional Kanban Trainer. The interview starts with a discussion about the basic differences between Scrum and Kanban and then digs into four of the metrics recommended in the Kanban Guide. We cover WIP, Throughput, Work Item Age, and Cycle Time, talking through what each of these is, the value these metrics provide, why they are so much more valuable than simply looking at something like velocity, and what these metrics can do to help you develop a better level of predicting when work is likely to finish and how they can show you and your team ways to identify and address the things that are holding you back from delivering value for your client. Troy also has a few ProKanban Certification classes coming up. In the back half of the interview, he explains what to expect if you sign up for a Professional Kanban 1 (PK1) Certification class or his Applying Metrics for Predictability (AMP) Certification class. Troy’s Classes Professional Kanban 1 (PK1) Certification June 23-24, 2022 https://bit.ly/3HmV1Ug Applying Metrics for Predictability (AMP) Certification July 21-22, 2022 https://bit.ly/3zxZOk2 Links from the Podcast ProKanban.org https://prokanban.org The Kanban Guide https://kanbanguides.org My interview with Troy Magennis on Probabilistic Forecasting https://bit.ly/3tDUW9b My interview with Colleen Johnson on ProKanban and ProKanban Certification https://bit.ly/3NUN6Ac Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability by Dan Vacanti https://amzn.to/3tAVeh7 When Will it Be Done by Dan Vacanti https://amzn.to/3NUjrqR Contacting Troy Email: troylightfoot@gmail.com

Distributed Teams are never easy. It doesn’t matter if you are separated by one flight of stairs or 12 time zones. Forming and maintaining a cohesive, collaborative team that can support one another, consistently deliver, and continuously improve is always just a little bit tougher when you are not in the same physical space. The pandemic has offered all of us plenty of “opportunities” to find ways to improve how we form and function in a distributed way. But here’s the thing, even when you’ve been doing this stuff for years, it is tough. Experience can help guide you and show you some things to try to avoid, but each team is its own puzzle. In this episode of the podcast, Mark Kilby has joined me to utilize the Five Lenses of Humane Management to talk about distributed teams. There are three important things you need to know before you listen. 1. Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman wrote the book “From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams: Collaborate to Deliver”. If you are looking for a tips on what makes distributed teams work, this book is an amazing resource. 2. Mark and I are on a distributed team together with two other people. Collectively, we bring over 70 years of experience of not only working on teams, but in coaching others on how to do it well. 3. We are struggling mightily During the interview, Mark and I unpack some of the things we’re experiencing in the forming storming stages of our distributed team. We share some of the insights and struggles we’ve had along the way. This interview is intended to offer a kind of retrospective/case study on challenges that even seasoned pros have when working remotely. For those of you who are having similar challenges, we want you to know that you are not alone and hopefully, one of the takeaways you’ll get from this interview is that even when you and your distributed team are struggling, there are probably some amazing things happening, you just need to keep an eye out for them and appreciate them. Links from the interview From Chaos to Successfully Distributed Agile Teams by Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman
 https://amzn.to/3bPVDkT The Five Lenses of Humane Management Interview with Jim Benson https://bit.ly/3a2FBIe Lean Agile Visual Management https://www.modusinstitute.com/lavm Contacting Mark:
 Web: www.markkilby.com
 Twitter: twitter.com/mkilby
 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkilby/