Session Recording: https://youtu.be/eRcWATSYYn8
The biggest obstacle to the successful adoption of agile project management is the organization’s culture. Management and many employees need help in unlearning the thought processes of traditional project management and learning how to think agile/lean. I have developed a three-part process in helping Federal agencies move from traditional project management to agile project management. The three steps are a gradual process that gently prepares the agency’s workforce to make the cultural transition. I start by explaining the Adaptive Project Framework (APF) which contains elements of waterfall and agile. Organizations temporarily use the APF to introduce agile concepts and project tools to workforce. The second step is to leave the APF and begin use small Scrum projects to convince management of the advantages of agile. The third step is an introduction to the Scaled Agile Framework which explains how to use agile enterprise-wide.
I have given this presentation to the National Institutes of Health, Social Security Administration, and the Federal Project Management Community of Practice with enthusiastic approval by the participants. I do not claim this is the only way to make the cultural journey. However, the biggest impact of this presentation is in learning how to unlearn the traditional project management mental model and learn a new mental model of agile project management.