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Project Management Office (PMO) in an Agile Organisation

by Krishna Chodipilli | May 26, 2021 | Agile Methodology, Leadership Tribe

Given the rise of Agile methodology and projects that adopt an agile way of working, there has been an emerging discussion on the concept of ‘Agile PMO’. Some people working in the agile domain are inclined to think that PMO is a rigid control function and has no role to play in agile organisations. Being a PMO professional myself, I beg to differ.

Agile Project Management vs Traditional Project Management

First of all, let’s take a look at the PMO in the ‘traditional’ sense and its major functions in the business context.

Traditional PMO

A ‘traditional’ PMO (Project Management Office) is often expected to act as a control function defining the governance framework, guidelines, templates and processes for project execution. With the restricted view, it is mistakenly perceived to be a management overhead that is inflexible and simply not compatible with agile.

Whilst a PMO warrants the appropriate governance and control are in place to safeguard project delivery. Its functions stretch far beyond that and offer a variety of other services, such as:

• Communication and Engagement
• Planning
• Financial Management
• Risk management and Issues Management
• Resource Management
• Change Control
• Centre of Excellence
• Quality Assurance

See the full description of PMO services on Leadership Tribe website

It is important to point out that, what a traditional PMO is or does can vary significantly according to different organizations and their requirements. For instance, it can serve different purposes and act as a governance body, advisory partner, training provider, support function, and some or all of them in the decision making process.

A successful PMO meet the specific requirement and deliver value to your organization. Similar to the other functions, it should always develop and evolve with the organization. As the organization become increasingly agile and better at self-organizing, there are some changes which need to be adopted by PMO as well. This leads us to the so-called ‘Agile’ PMO.

Agile PMO

The general functions of a PMO in an Agile project environment or an ‘Agile’ PMO probably won’t change much from the traditional sense. At least, I don’t believe so. Though how these functions are performed may vary considerably depends on the organization’s strategy of its Agile transformation.

Organizations may have strategic plans to implement an extensive Agile transformation and Agile training strategy throughout the organization or simply want to deploy an Agile process at the development level. The ‘Agile’ PMO needs to be shaped accordingly by the corporate strategy in terms of the design and solution for effective continuous improvement. 

That being said, the functions of a PMO need to adapt to the Agile environment and some functions will inevitably vary one way or another from its traditional sense:

• Role of an Advisor with Agile Methods

As the project teams and team members become more self-organizing, the ‘Agile’ PMO should play more of an advisory, consultative and advocating role. Instead of the mandate the changes, it is expected to advise project teams on the effective and efficient Agile processes and tools, help them to implement the appropriate Agile practices, roll out improvement on performance to the wider business context, and promote closer and more collaborative work relationship.

• Agile Approach 

Planning is an important part of the roles the PMOs play. In the agile team environment, an adaptive approach needs to be taken instead of the conventional plan-driven approach. Agile planning activities are more relevant at the strategic and portfolio level, as the project teams manage their releases, iterations, and daily planning cycles.

• Value Delivery and Benefits Realisation

Any project we carry out should deliver some sort of value and realise some benefits for business. In Agile, this is of particular importance. The Agile PMO needs to appreciate and contextualise value stream mapping, change management and value assurance, assist the active and continual organisation and prioritisation of work, measure business value and report to the leadership team.

• Consciousness of Leadership among Agile Practitioners

Where applicable, the Agile PMO helps the Product Owners and Senior Leaders to manage and prioritise the product and enterprise backlog based on their value delivery. It assists the leadership to ensure projects are aligned to the organization’s strategic initiatives. And it supports leaders to embrace servant leadership to remove organizational impediments and empower teams to explore and identify innovative solutions.

• Agile Coach Training

An Agile PMO as a Centre of Excellence is best situated to ensure the effectiveness of Agile adoption and promote an Agile way of working. It enables the team and organisation to transform from ‘doing agile’ to ‘being agile’ – not only by providing knowledge on the Agile techniques, processes and practices but also by promoting the Agile mindset and nurturing culture shift. From scrum teams to lean-agile project delivery, we specialize in agile management approaches.

• Less of a PMO in…

Whilst a successful Agile PMO needs to offer ‘more’ from certain aspects, I reckon it will not be involved as much in the ordinary PMO functions such as resource allocation, financial management or reporting, to best accommodate the Agile features in the new business context.

In summary, there is no ‘one size fits all’ PMO function for any agile organization and its project managers or stakeholders. Being ‘traditional’ or ‘agile’, it needs to serve the corporate strategy, adapt and evolves with the organisation’s changing requirements and project management landscape. Agile transformation of organisations doesn’t make the concept of a PMO obsolete or irrelevant, though it does necessitate some reconsideration on the role of a PMO.  

Learn more about our Agile Principles.

Top 6 Agile Training Certifications

by Krishna Chodipilli | May 19, 2021 | Agile Training, Leadership Tribe

The Agile methodology has radically transformed the domain of software development and project management, and this has in turn increased the need for professionals with specialist agile knowledge and experience. A number of Agile certifications have emerged to benchmark professionals’ level of competency and expertise. These agile certifications the UK help professionals or professionals aspiring to a career in the domain to keep up with the market, demonstrate specialised proficiency and prove aptitudes, provide higher visibility and credibility in the job market, and higher salary range and high rate growth in career. The knowledge and skills acquired from agile certifications the UK will help to change the mindset and perspective of people working in the industry, enhance the teamwork and warrants the improved delivery of performance.

This article suggests the top 6 Agile certifications depending on individual knowledge and experience, and Agile professionals can use this information to identify and evaluate their goals and next steps. For each certification, we will provide a brief introduction followed by its benefits, pre-requisite and the target audience.

Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM) / Certified Scrum Professional

The Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM) certification from Scrum Alliance is one of the most widely held certifications among management professionals. It explores the Scrum framework in detail, from fundamental theories to practical applications, covering Agile Scrum values, team roles, activities, and artefacts. The key knowledge and skills will enable CSMs to act as “Servant Leaders“, assisting the rest of the Scrum team to work together and increase customer satisfaction with the continuous drive for value, and increase the likelihood of the project’s overall success.

This qualification is suitable for practicing professional ScrumMasters, Product Owners, Development Team Members, Project Managers, Team Leaders, and anyone who is involved in a Scrum Project or setting out on their Agile journey. There are no prerequisites required for the certification.

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner® (PMI-ACP)

The Project Management Institute – Agile Certified Practitioner® (PMI-ACP) covers a broad range of agile methodologies, including Scrum, Kanban, Lean-Agile, extreme programming (XP) and test-driven development (TDD). Upon successful completion of this qualification, you will be able to demonstrate your professional knowledge of agile principles, methodologies and tools, exemplify expertise and proficiency as an agile practitioner specialist, and increase versatility in Agile technologies that warrants the team productivity and customer satisfaction.

You will find the PMI-ACP very helpful if agile practices and approaches are being adopted in your projects or organisation. It is ideal for Agile project management candidates such as Project Managers, Agile Team Members, Project Executives, Software Developers and any professional aspiring to be a Project Manager. To attain PMI-ACP certification, you need to have at least 2,000 hours of general project experience working on teams and in addition 1,500 hours working on agile project teams or with agile methodologies, as well as 21 contact hours of training in agile practices.

Kanban Management Professional (KMP)

Kanban is a management technique which enables change in a developmental transformation approach instead of an abrupt or disorganised manner. KMP illustrates Kanban values, methodologies, rollout, and daily operation of Kanban system. It is a starting point to help you understanding the most appropriate type of Kanban initiative for your organization and ways to develop it over time to improve working practices without disturbance. Kanban works across multiple functions and hierarchy levels of an organization, and helps to improve agility with asymmetrical commitment and cadences.

The KMP is a great choice for professionals who want to improve their work atmosphere. It is suitable for those who are part of a product development or knowledge work environment, such as the Product Managers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, Scrum Team Members, Product & Software Developers, and so on. KMP comprises two levels: KMP 1 and KMP 2. Whilst KMP 1 is about fundamental stages of Kanban method, KMP 2 is an intermediary for attaining advanced certificate in Kanban and explores several continuous development programs.

Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe) 4 Agilist (SA)

The Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) is a comprehensive methodology for large-scale agile project teams to execute agile transformation. The framework synchronizes the alignment, collaboration, and delivery of multiple agile teams contributing to enterprise success. Being scalable and configurable, SAFe supports implementation of small scale solutions as well as complex systems, and allows each organisation to adapt according to own business needs. With this certification, you can improve your knowledge about employing the Scaled Agile Framework, leverage SAFe® methodology to scale Lean and Agile across multiple teams, coordinate large solutions and empower Lean Portfolio, and lead the agile transformation in your organisation.

The Executives, Leaders, Directors, Portfolio Managers, Programme and Project Managers, Product Line Management and Infrastructure Management will be able to empower their enterprises to succeed in a disruptive marketplace when they become a SAFe® 4 Agilist (SA). Minimum 5 years’ experience in software development, testing, business analysis, product or project management and previous experience in Scrum are recommended for those who intend to apply for the SAFe® 4 Agilist certification.

Disciplined Agile (DA) Certifications

The Disciplined Agile certifications UK are appropriate for both novices and practitioners in Agile working environment who want to learn about Disciplined Agile ways of working, gain a better understanding of how to apply agile strategies within your enterprise-class settings, such as banks, insurance companies and government agencies, to create effective working environment by adopting Disciplined Agile strategies. There are three levels of certifications for practitioners which build upon each other: (1) Beginner (“Shu”) – Disciplined Agilist (DA) or a Certified Disciplined Agilist (CDA); (2) Intermediate (“Ha”) – Certified Disciplined Agile Practitioner (CDAP); and (3) Expert (“Ri”) – Certified Disciplined Agilist Coach (CDAC) and Certified Disciplined Agile Instructor (CDAI). The major characteristics of these certifications are illustrated below:

The Disciplined Agile (DA) certification program is a principled Agile approach based on the “Shu-Ha-Ri” philosophy of learning. The Disciplined Agile certifications UK deliver real values to practitioners – being a Disciplined Agilist indicates that you have taken the effort to “earn” it, helping you to demonstrate broad knowledge and interest on Disciplined Agile delivery, depict how all facets of agile principles and practices are in syn, in an enterprise-class environment, and this real-world experience boosts your employability and career opportunities.

ICAgile-Agile Certified Coach (ICP-ACC)

The ICAgile-Agile Certified Coach (ICP-ACC) certification is one of two knowledge-based certifications on the Agile Coaching track. It elaborates on the mind-set, skills, roles, and responsibilities of an Agile Coach introduces team coaching skills to create a safe environment for meaningful collaboration and healthy conflict resolution within an agile team, as well as team development concepts in the light of team dynamics and organisational systems. The ICP-ACC certificate helps you to advance your coaching skills and abilities, which enables you to build effective and self-organising teams, eliminate dysfunctions, constantly review and adapt, drive continuous improvement and high performance.

This Agile certifications UK can be a great choice for Agile Coaches or aspiring coaches in a business environment, those who have a passion for servant leadership and a desire to learn and practice facilitation and coaching for Agile teams. Other relevant roles such as Scrum Masters, Product Owners and Agile Project Managers may also find the certification helpful. There are no prerequisites for attending this certification, though understanding of Agile and experience in an agile team will be useful.

Agile Development Across Various Certifications

In conclusion, the article provides an overview of the top Agile certifications ranging from the basics of Agile/Scrum to advanced level of scaling at the organisational level. In recent years, rising demand for Agile professionals have been observed and an increasing level of requirement on their proficiency. Yet there is a lack of qualified professionals who are able to comprehend and materialise the true value of Agile methodology. All the certifications suggested above are effective programs providing professionals with the visibility and credibility in the field, and acting as an influential platform to exhibit one’s outstanding credentials. The professionals in the area need to figure out which ones best suit their needs and help to uplift their career prospect and enthusiasm on the subject to the next level.

“The only thing that is constant is change”, we all have to transform with the changes in order to ride the tide and achieve the new height in life. To do so, we need to acquire more knowledge and skills to enable the transformation, to continuously outperform ourselves as well as facilitate our teams and organisations to grow, and the appropriate Agile certification is the very first step to equip us in the journey. 

At Leadership Tribe we have many years of experience in providing well-constructed training for a number of Agile certifications facilitated by post-study support, contact us to find out how we can help you to uplift your Agile competency and make the next successful leap in your professional development with a range of training courses and certification courses such as the ones featured here.

Scrum Master – A Project Manager?

by Krishna Chodipilli | May 9, 2021 | Leadership Tribe, Scrum Training

I always wondered about the effectiveness of Scrum Masters and Scrum Teams in developing complex products. An Aha! the moment occurred when I recently attended a training workshop on Scrum. So what is Scrum Master and their role?  I learnt that ‘Scrum is a framework of processes and techniques implemented in developing a complex product.’ This may seem like technical jargon, but Scrum adoption works seamlessly in developing technical and non-technical products (Marketing Campaigns, Product Development, etc) in a planned manner with simple practices that yield powerful results. 

According to the Scrum Guide, ‘Scrum is lightweight, simple to understand, but difficult to master.’ Scrum theory is based on transparency, inspection and adaptation.

Let us understand now who is a Scrum Master

A Scrum Master role can also be referred to as a team coach who promotes and supports a Scrum Team. They teach team members on daily scrum framework, scrum events, rules, values and practices. He (or She) helps them collaborate in implementing the practices and ensuring Agile processes are in check while ensuring which of the behaviours are missing or need more emphasis (Openness, Trust, Courage, Respect, Empathy) during the practices (Sprint Planning, Daily Standups, Sprint Review, Retrospectives).

The Scrum Master is a Servant Leader for the Scrum Team

A Servant Leadership role imbibes qualities like foresight, commitment to growth, listening, collaboration, trust, empathy and so on. It is interesting to note that, in Scrum, leadership does not necessarily lead to management. Here, the Scrum Master is not bequeathed with the task of managing teams. He only facilitates the team to fulfil the commitments which they themselves have set for themselves.

Consider a normal ‘Project Coordinator’ in this context, he actually manages the teams and gets things done from his team within the stipulated time. Hence, a project coordinator might be handling multiple teams at the same time. This is not the case with a ‘Scrum Master.’

A Scrum Master helps the team to be accountable to themselves. He will never get into the intricacies of managing a team. Being accountable just means that the team members are managing themselves. ‘Accountable’ here means the ability to assign a task to a team and make sure that each member from development team to stakeholders can execute the task successfully unless an issue arises and the Scrum Master will achieve it without the intervention of a task manager. If one of the team members fails, then the entire team fails and the Scrum Master facilitates the discussion so that the team works together to find a solution.

An Experienced / Certified Scrum Master may manage Multiple Teams and responsibilities of a scrum master may include:

• Meeting commitments which the team members themselves have made.
• The team working as a cross-functional unit.
• Heightened collaboration among groups.
• Removing impediments that come in the way of the team.
• Make the team accountable for their commitment towards the Scrum framework.
• Coaching the team and training them on why, how and what of Scrum practices.
• Holding the team accountable for creating the highest value product possible.

A Good Scrum Master or Scrum Trainer helps the Agile team members in managing themselves by following a checklist which comprises of:

• Improving the Effectiveness of the Product Owner – Scrum master will help them find ways to maintain the product backlog and release plan.
• Reviewing the Condition of the Team – The scrum master’s job often involves collaborating with team members on their work and overall team functionality.
• Checking the Engineering Practices – balancing automated end to end system tests and automated unit tests or sprints.
• Monitoring the Workflow of the Organization – Scrum Master will do ‘Scrum of Scrums’ to ensure effective workflow in the organization and the team’s progress.

As an ardent learner of Scrum Implementations and related frameworks, I want to conclude by saying that ‘A scrum master should not be mistaken for a ‘project coordinator’, but should be rightly called as ‘Project Facilitator’ who helps Scrum teams in achieving phenomenal success.’

From Scrum Master Certification to Scrum Methodology, find out more about the role of the scrum master and contact Leadership Tribe today.

What is Digital Transformation?

by Krishna Chodipilli | May 3, 2021 | Leadership Tribe

As we get into the 2020’s, let us try to reflect on the most profound change the world has seen over the last two decades before we roadmap the next few years.  Is it artificial intelligence, is it automation, or new technologies? Actually, the answer is the Digital transformation process we are all experiencing – a journey of digital enablement integrated into businesses by the company leaders, stakeholders, CEOs, CIOs and other decision making C-level executives. Digital transformation is an ongoing process – by establishing a culture of innovation and an environment of continuous improvement across organizations.

So What Does Digital Business Transformation Actually Involve?

Digital transformation involves the acceleration of business processes, activities, leveraging processes, digital tools such as data, competencies, and optimization of business models through digital technologies. There are three key drivers of digital business transformation:

• First is the business strategy and its key objective – to improve business performance.
• Second is digital technologies – to transform any product or service into something significantly better.
• The third is the organizational change—a change that includes processes, people, and strategy.

Let us try to relate this with a couple of examples about digital transformation;

A fitting example witnessed by us in this rapidly changing real-time landscape is Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” – the largest professional network in the world in terms of revenue and by several professionals. The Deloitte digital transformation method involves assessing their current technology landscape, developing a digital transformation strategy, and building and integrating new systems. 

Another name which is on everybody’s palette is Domino’s Pizza which has undergone such a tremendous digital transformation with its innovative ‘Anywhere’ ordering platform. It allows customers to place orders in a variety of ways besides the main website. Customers can simply tweet or text emoji’s or use any computing device to order their favourite pizza, even via smart TV as well as through their smartwatches!  These are all big changes and part of the transformation framework that helped improve business outcomes and operational efficiency for the brand moving forward.

Digital Transformation Initiatives are the New Business Model

From large international businesses and e-commerce retailers to startups, building effective Digital Transformation efforts have become a core strategy for all parties, from vendors, third party suppliers and consultants. As the Digital Age continues to progress, the challenges for both leaders and organisations are increasing as transformation involves the integration of social and digital technologies into an organisation’s operations. 

There are three key performance indicators (KPIs) for digital transformation; profitability, customer satisfaction, and increased speed-to-market according to a recent Forrester research.

Organisations are these days increasingly getting agile to deliver digital solutions and build delightful customer experiences. Bringing in the fundamental shifts in employee mindset to team up into clusters of assorted skills and technologies and learning to collaborate brings new opportunities to the team members too when it comes to career development. 

So these are some of my thoughts on where we are heading. Do you agree that Agile is the way to go forward? Is there something you wish to add? With big data, cloud computing and machine learning powering most initiatives, many business leaders have focused on change management in the coming years.  This is a chance to be ahead of that wave and lead the digital disruption overall.

Digital Transformation Success with Leadership Tribe

Stay tuned in for more on this journey of successful digital transformation and learn to build a agile methodology and improve the ecosystem, whether in a new products supply chain, a restructuring international business or start up staff growth, with Leadership Tribe. Contact us for more info on how to be a digital leader today.

Agile Marketing is a Faster Way to Digital Marketing Success

by Krishna Chodipilli | Dec 10, 2020 | Leadership Tribe

Traditional digital marketing methods require months of planning and tedious efforts for promoting the business and achieve a high conversion rate. Sometimes there will be instances where the plans that were made initially during the digital marketing process will be rendered redundant by the time they get executed. A complex and month-long digital marketing process will not only eat your time but there is a bigger risk of facing failure. The answer to overcoming this challenge is ‘Agile Marketing’, which is a more dynamic and systematic way of digital marketing.

What is Agile Marketing?

Agile marketing is working out the given project into smaller plans or chunks and achieving each one of them in minimal time frames of a week or two weeks called ‘Sprints’. It can also be termed as an effort based on data and analytics to source opportunities or solutions to problems, conducting tests, evaluating results and implementing decisions.

Some business organizations think that they are Agile because they follow stringent test methodologies or depend on cross-functional teams. But this is not true as ‘Agile Marketing’ requires adopting Agile methodologies completely throughout the process. The marketing department might not have the necessary coordination with the IT Department or the Finance Department or the Legal Department, which hinders the Agile process. The technology partners or the agency might not be in sync with the speed required for Agile processes. Hence, a company should have all the necessary infrastructure and facilities for conducting the entire Agile marketing process for improved business results.

Prerequisites for an Agile Marketing team are:

• The organization needs to focus on what needs to be achieved by using Agile marketing techniques.
• Should have ample data and analytics and the right type of marketing technology infrastructure to support Agile marketing.
• Senior market leaders of the organization should extend complete support to the shift towards Agile methodologies as there may be inevitable resistance.
• Depending on the outcome expected from the Agile marketing team, its team members must be specialists in multiple functions, available round the clock, must be highly skilled, fast and are expected to have a host of other dynamic qualities.
• This Agile team must have proper communication with other groups in the organization and should be able to reach them quickly.

Most Marketers avoid Agile methods because:

• The organization might lack the necessary infrastructure to support Agile methodologies.
• Employees may not have any training or knowledge regarding Agile processes.
• Higher management may be too wary of trying a new approach.
• Current methodologies might be working well according to the organization and the employees are not willing to accept anything new.
• Lack of time is a major constraint which prevents the organizations from adopting new agile techniques.

PROCESSES INVOLVED IN AGILE MARKETING ARE:

Adopting an Agile culture

The first thing that the Agile marketing team will do is preparing itself for embracing the Agile culture. There is no room for delay and speed is something that matters the most. A high level of collaboration is expected from the team members and the usual ‘day to day hushing up’ is not entertained. Making decisions depending on solid data, working to attain simplicity and high level of accountability are the virtues that are encouraged among the team members.

Give results by analyzing data

Vast amounts of user data are collected through various channels in a business organisation. In the next step, the Agile team analyzes these large amounts of data to skim useful insights, key advantages, weak points, issues, and opportunities. Each member of the team should give effective reports regarding the tasks that the member is going to do the next day and should educate the team manager regarding how much is achieved from the previous day’s promise list. This method helps the team to achieve targets faster and get the desired results.

Arriving at Hypothesis

When analyzing the data and identifying the problems and issues, the team devises ways to improve the experience or solve the problem. Each such hypothesis is subjected to testing in order to derive key performance indicators. Once all the probable tests are conducted the ideas are divided into two categories namely ideas having high business impact and ideas that are easy to implement. High priority ideas are pushed to the top of the list for immediate execution for a stronger and positive business impact.

Change the course of action

The Agile team runs the project in sprints (a cycle of one or two weeks) and tests the entire process for any loopholes. It analyzes whether an offer on a particular product segment is working or not and whether a call to action is bringing in the necessary conversions or not and so on. At this stage, the team should operate with high efficiency and should have short and sweet meetings, which are to the point and should not curtail the speed of the team.

The various tests for arriving at fruitful results are conducted in sprints and after each sprint, the scrum master reviews the various tests for their outcomes. After analyzing them, the scrum master decides on scaling up the tests which have given fast & positive results and killing the tests with a negative outcome. At the end of each sprint, the agile team conducts a meeting to incorporate the lessons learned and inform the stakeholders regarding the results. The scrum master will prepare a contingency plan after each sprint to assimilate positives and discard negatives based on the results of each test involved in the process for the next sprint.

We can come to the conclusion that agile marketing method is the most polished, accurate and quick way of getting desired marketing results like increased conversion rates, brand recognition, and highest ROI.

Result-oriented approach