Scrum – Don’t implement it without being trained in it

Imagine you are just about to start on a very important project – big budget, all eyes on the team, the kind of project you dreamed of. The whole team is all geared up and ready to get on with the work. When on the first day of the project, the project manager walks in with a lot of enthusiasm and says – ‘Guys, I just read this article about this really cool methodology called Scrum. Everyone has these daily standup meetings every day, decide what they will be working on, do it, and then meet again the following day. I think we should give it a shot.’
It just got better, didn’t it? A big project and a cool new methodology! Not quite, as is often revealed on so many projects. Admittedly, the dialogue of the project manager was simplified, but essentially, this is how a great methodology is set up for failure. Cut to a week later:
Team member 1: ‘Why do we need to stand around? There are chairs around. We can just sit, right?’
Project manager: ‘That is what the methodology says.”
TM 1: ‘But why?’
Project manager: ‘Something to do about if people stand, meetings are shorter’
TM2: ‘But our meetings typically last for an hour or so and it is so tiring.’
Project manager: ‘We have to discuss so many issues. Obviously it will take time. If it is such a big deal, then you can sit.’
Thus begins a slow, but steady twisting of the tenets of Scrum and the team embarks on a slippery slope. As the team now begins to sit during ‘Daily Stand Ups’, the meetings increase in length from 1 hour to 1.5 hours, and sometimes stretching to 2 hours. With less time available for actual work, tensions increase. Team members start questioning the need to meet on a daily basis when on earlier projects they met once a week and things were more or less fine. Then from ‘Daily Stand Ups’, the format changes to ‘Alternate Day Sit Downs’. This affects coordination and as the gap increases between meetings, the meetings start taking a bit longer, or issues increase.
Slowly, other changes start taking place – the whiteboard where tasks were updated in the first week stop being used by team members. Instead, they revert to sending email updates. The project manager, not realizing the critical importance of each of these tenets of Scrum, not trained in Scrum methods and never having practiced Scrum, also starts questioning himself and accepts these changes. He keeps a track of ‘To be done, In Process and Completed’, but only at his desk. Other team members start to become more confused.
Now as the team had dedicated itself to Scrum in the beginning, switching to alternate traditional project management methods in the middle of the project leads to an even bigger mess. End result – a poorly managed project which started off with good intentions of using Scrum as a methodology, but failed because of lack of understanding of Scrum.
Scrum is a simple methodology but needs training in Scrum and guidance for first time users. Without it, critical elements end up getting twisted and the project heads towards failure.
Moral of the story – Scrum training is not optional. If you want to get the best out of it, get expert help in the beginning and only after thorough training, should you use it at work.

 To know more click on: http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/

Agile and HR management

When you’re Agile, you’re nimble. You’re flexible and can adapt quickly.

Companies will often need to adapt to sudden change. They should be capable of boosting efficiency, productivity and innovation. Adopting the Agile approach can help any organization do this.

Agile is a popular methodology in industries such as information technology, manufacturing, supply chain management and risk management. One thing these industries all have in common is a human resources department. But, HR is one area where Agile has yet to make its presence known.

However, Agile methods could certainly improve the efficiency of human resources. In fact, one of the basic tenets of the Agile approach is “individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” Therefore, Agile is a people-centric methodology.

And which department knows more about people than HR? According to the Agile manifesto, adopting an Agile approach will make organizational structures simpler and better. This means that implementing Agile in HR should lead to overall improvements, while maintaining a positive relationship with the most important part of any company—its employees. Furthermore, adopting an Agile approach should result in adaptability, teamwork, innovation and swiftness. This may sound of track from your idea of what a human resources department should do, but the HR department is the department that sets standards, monitors performance and supports employees.

Agile in HR is not about creating a one-track, standardized method. A single, rigid approach often proves to be quite inefficient. Instead, Agile should be looked at as a business strategy with various channels leading to talent management solutions based on the changing business environment. HR leaders should simulate different business situations (both good and bad) and figure out strategies to handle each of them effectively. This will enable the HR department to adjust to rapid changes, making the HR team proficient in well-planned agility!

In the everyday work place, HR team members can assist in various ways.

Training: HR professionals should be coaches and leaders, not managers.

Designing: The entire organization is compartmentalized into target-oriented, high performance groups, each with their own functions and goals.

Mission: The HR team delivers a focused and motivating mission statement backed by strong values. The entire organization must be united to reach a common goal.

Transparency: The HR team is responsible for creating a system of transparency throughout the company. Nothing should be hidden, including the company’s goals and finances and individual roles and responsibilities.

Active engagement versus mechanical bookkeeping: The HR team should emphasize engaging teams and employees and recording the effects of such approaches at an organizational level instead of passively recording employee data at irregular intervals.

Constant improvement: The HR team should focus on building a strong culture of learning at all levels of the company. Continuous training, workshops or other professional development activities should form a part of the company’s culture.

Brand creation: For high-quality talent acquisition, the HR team should focus on building a powerful brand in terms of employment. The brand should highlight the positive features of the company from the employee’s point of view. This will attract the “right candidates” to the company.

Honest and positive feedback: The HR team should encourage the exchange of healthy feedback, which encourages the growth of the organization and alleviates problems and process bottlenecks.

R & R programs: From time to time, the HR team should organize programs that serve as a platform to recognize and reward deserving teams and employees to boost their morale.

Let’s not forget one of the easiest ways the HR team can help the organization as a whole become more Agile—hire people who are responsive to change. Hire new employees who are flexible, adaptable and who are ready to grow with the organization.

In this way, companies can adopt the Agile methodology from the inside out.

To know more : http://www.scrumstudy.com/blog/agile-and-hr-management/