Once you’ve selected your Agile project management tools, it’s time to start creating your first Agile workflow and project plan.
It’s often easiest to start developing a project plan before you create your workflows, as the plan will help you identify which workflows and phases your project will need.
The role of the project plan in Agile is similar to that of any traditional project plan in many ways. First of all, an Agile project begins with a pre-planning step where the project vision is both defined and documented. This is also where known business and technical requirements are documented.
This phase of basic project planning is also when your project team members will be assigned. High-level estimates for budget, time, and scope should also be gathered and documented in this phase. You and your project team will then determine the number of sprints or iterations required for the project, as well as the length of each sprint, and the expected deliverable or outcome that should result from each sprint.
The big difference in project planning methodologies between an Agile project and a traditional one comes after the high-level planning is done. At this point, for an Agile project, you’ll plan only the initial sprint in detail, rather than the entire project. Under the Agile methodology, it’s only after each sprint is completed that the details of the next sprint are planned. This iterative process enables your project team to adapt the plan for each sprint based on the outcomes of the previous sprint(s).
The sprint details of your plan should be input into your Agile project management tool. If your software comes with templates, you may be able to use a blank Agile template or a sample Agile project plan to create your new project plan.
Here’s an Agile project plan example that can be used as a template:
Once your project plan is complete, it’s time to set up the proper project management workflows within your new Agile project software. For instance, if you’ll be using the Scrum framework you’ll now need to create your Scrum workflow.
Workflows simply ensure that tasks and activities move through the right people at the right time and the work is properly completed and tracked. Since Agile best practices outline an iterative and incremental approach to work, your workflows need to be able to accommodate cycles of work.
A standard workflow would often assume a task would move from “in progress” to “in review” to “complete.” But with Agile project planning, you may need to be able to send tasks between “in progress” and “in review” several times before they ever get to the “complete” phase. It’s critical that your software can handle this without losing visibility of progress.
Here’s an Agile workflow example:
Once created, you can use these workflows, along with a project dashboard, to easily track your overall project progress.
As we discussed in the first section, two of the most common setbacks to adopting an Agile methodology is due to the culture of the organization being at odds with the values of Agile and/or there being a general resistance to change across the organization.
Therefore, it’s critical that Agile be viewed as not just a project methodology but also as a holistic approach to projects. In other words, Agile impacts the entire organization, even those not directly working on projects. And to be successful, the overall environment of the company needs to support the values and principles of Agile.
The four pillars of Agile that any Agile environment needs to support are:
The bottom line is that companies with Agile environments typically accept and promote change, innovation, and process improvement. They understand the different Agile frameworks and support important Agile practices, such as planning in sprints and working collaboratively. These workplaces support their team members. They also view engaged employees and customers as more important than following documented processes and contracts.