How can you lead an agile project?

I agree with understanding the agile mindset. One thing I've found beneficial is revisiting the Agile Manifesto with the team. It ensures alignment. A quick example: Once, we faced a major change mid-sprint. Thanks to our agile approach, we adapted without derailing our objectives. While customer satisfaction and collaboration are vital, I believe the heart of agile is adaptability and feedback. I'd also stress the importance of trust. Teams where members feel safe to voice concerns tend to excel. So, fostering psychological safety is key to maximizing agile's potential.

As per my opinion, when we say agile, we need to have the dynamic way of working mindset to improve our deliveries' successful rate and also team improvements. The project doesn't need to use pure agile framework to called agile.If we have adaptive mindset and know dynamic WOW to manage the project, that also can be said as we are leading with the agile way.

Leading an Agile project involves embracing Agile principles, forming cross-functional teams, defining clear objectives, and creating a prioritized product backlog. Plan in iterative sprints, hold daily stand-ups, and encourage constant collaboration. Prioritize customer feedback and conduct retrospectives for continuous improvement. As a leader, remove impediments, focus on quality, and monitor key Agile metrics. Adapt to changes, celebrate achievements, and foster a culture of continuous learning. Lead by example, embodying Agile values and practices to deliver value, adapt to change, and meet customer needs effectively.

Too often I've seen the "Agile Mindset" used as a mystical power that applies to the development team and no one else. In my experience the vast majority of software engineers are not evangelists and never will be, they roll their eyes at the aspirational language and dream of the day that they will be allowed to succeed. You do need to create a culture of honesty, safety and trust. And you also need to ensure that all members of the organisation understand their responsibilities. This especially applies to stakeholders and executives. No matter how agile you are you will never eradicate the unknowns, only minimise them, and every agile failure can be brought back to unknowns. Unknown scope, requirements, standards, approaches.

Leading an agile project requires a systematic approach and a flexible mindset. Here are some key steps to effectively lead such projects: 1. Define clear project goals and objectives 2. Build a cross-functional team 3. Prioritize frequent and transparent communication 4. Embrace change and adaptability 5. Break the project into manageable iterations 6. Encourage continuous improvement 7. Foster a culture of collaboration and trust 8. Monitor project metrics

Just because you use a framework doesn'tmake you agile. You can also work on the wrong thing with an agile framework. You should stopp to try to be agile the right way, do the right thing agile instead.

All agile frameworks should be adapted to the specific circumstances of the team. If your focus is on having the "right framework" or the "right process" over effective delivery then you're going to experience a beautifully managed failure. Select a general framework, find ways to assess the performance of that framework and adapt the framework rigorously until the team is reliably achieving their goals. What you end up with may not be "pure" but that doesn't matter if it is reliable. Whatever the framework your goal is always to ensure that engaging with the framework doesn't frustrate the team and that the framework provides the control needed to give confidence to stakeholders.

Unfortunately in most organisations the agile framework is defined by people who only have a high level understanding of the actual work. Additionally they feel obliged to stick to the official methodology chosen by the company. In these circumstances - when you can't change the framework itself - try to customize it as much as needed.

As a "project leader" you have the least idea about needs and constraints, if you are not the one who is actually building this and talking to customers. So do team a favour - stay aside, let them assess everything and choose an approach or framework they need.

I concur with the importance of selecting the right agile framework. From my experience, while Scrum might be perfect for one project, Kanban or XP might be more apt for another. For instance, in a past project with frequent changes and a need for continuous delivery, we found Kanban to be a lifesaver. It's crucial, as you mentioned, to assess the project's specific needs. I'd also emphasize that no framework is a one-size-fits-all. Regular retrospectives are key, allowing teams to tweak and adapt the chosen framework based on real-time feedback and evolving project dynamics.

This is incredibly important, and also an area that most businesses get wrong. Many businesses leave out technical/architectural requirements or plan the project around user features instead of technical features. In the majority of teams I've worked with there is a missing layer where the development team converts a user story into a set of actionable technical stories. What are the endpoints, what are the screens? A developer will struggle to estimate your wizz-bang feature but won't bat an eyelid to estimate how long 2 endpoints and a new page will take. Finally, standardise your estimates, this is an entire topic on its own but it allowed my teams to estimate 8 months in advance and deliver the full scope 1 week early.

Oh, my... if you want to screw the project - do as written, but if you wish it a success - accept a fact that you are a humble servant and go find a proper Product Owner with a vision and mandate to prioritize work for the team.

I've always believed that planning and prioritizing are the backbone of any successful agile project. In one of our previous projects, we realized that continuously revisiting our plans was as crucial as the initial planning. I resonate with the idea of breaking down the vision into manageable units. For instance, we once transitioned from broad features to specific user stories, which greatly improved our sprint deliveries. Prioritizing based on value and urgency, as you mentioned, is vital. I'd also add that feedback from stakeholders during each iteration can be a game-changer in refining this prioritization.

Familiarize your self with the cone of uncertainty, approach the project with a risk based assessment and be prepared for tradeoffs. Plan at the lowest level at the last possible moment. When you are furthest out know when to stop planning b/c it could be a waste of time.

Visualize the plan: Use tools like Kanban boards or task boards to visualize the backlog, sprints, and workflow. Estimate effort: Use techniques like story points or t-shirt sizes to estimate the effort required for each work item. Set limits: Implement Work-in-Progress (WIP) limits to avoid overburdening the team and ensure smooth workflow. Communicate effectively: Keep stakeholders informed about the plan, priorities, and progress through regular communication. Remember, agile planning is an iterative process. Embrace flexibility, continuously gather feedback, and adapt your plan as needed to ensure project success.

If you've standardised your estimates then your next step is stabilisation. Keep the team stable for a period of time, development and estimation are an art not a science. You're looking for statistical trends to make your projections. The fewer unknowns you have the more accurate your projections will become. When I estimated a project 8 months in advance, the team was comfortable with the architecture and was stable, all members had been on the team for 3 months. The velocity was extremely reliable and we had standardised estimates for the majority of the kinds of work we expected to do. Deal with unknowns using time boxes, an open ended task is a death sentence for productivity. Reconvene and decide how to proceed regularly.

I think this is confusing agile project management. Depending on the framework they be further removed and facilitation may fall on another's responsibility with unique skills to facilitate tot he strengths of that framework.

Celebrate successes: Recognizing achievements motivates the team and fosters a positive work environment. Be transparent with stakeholders: Regularly share project progress, challenges, and decisions with stakeholders to maintain trust and alignment. Adapt and improve: Don't be afraid to adjust your approach based on data, feedback, and learnings. Continuous improvement is key to agile success.

Recognizing project reviews as pivotal avenues for growth holds the key to unlocking significant improvements. While the notion of such assessments being too time-consuming persists in most teams I've worked with, reframing this perspective can yield substantial benefits. Commence by actively celebrating achievements and cultivating an environment where candid dialogues are encouraged. Focus on actionable insights and incremental enhancements, nurturing a sense of ownership and data-backed decision-making. Embracing diverse viewpoints and adapting the approach to team dynamics all contribute to reshaping these sessions into potent instruments for refining execution, elevating quality, and expediting delivery.

Your biggest challenge will be convincing your development team of two things. 1, that they can be open without being punished. That they can trust you, that sensitive comments will be confidential, that the review is a psychologically safe space. If you can't achieve this you'll never learn what's really wrong. 2, that it's worth talking to you, that you can actually effect change within the process and/or organisation. If you're just there to crack the whip on behalf of the executive then your team won't engage.

Celebrate successes: Recognizing achievements motivates the team and reinforces continuous improvement. Document lessons learned: Capture key learnings from each review and retrospective to inform future projects and team development. Embrace experimentation: View reviews and retrospectives as opportunities to experiment with new approaches and processes.

There is a danger with Agile - and that is - if not controlled - the risk of the "never ending project" syndrome. The key here is to manage the client - make sure that they understand what they want designed and implemented and stick to the objective. I have experienced a "dithering board" client all started off very well, a clear scope, a clear strategy. However the client started to let the tail wag the dog and allow its staff to keep moving the design scope goal posts, build a platinum model. The agile approach worked perfectly in managing the requirement movements, however to cut a long story short.......3 years later - yes - finally the client budget holders said stop! - End result an over designed bloated system.

Do not call everything "Agile": If you have a fix small budget and not a full-staffed team on the project, this is not doing Agile, this is just selling Agile :)