Agile and remote? Process is paramount.

4 minute read:

Even before the coronavirus crisis, more teams were working remotely. And now, as we look at how to manage collaboration and focus between dispersed teams working within an agile framework, the importance of embedding a sound process is key.

Agile is, simply put, a methodology to help you understand a changing environment and the challenges that brings, and manage your response incrementally. It means working in small, definable chunks, rather than focusing on the eventual outcome of a long and complex process.

It works, and works brilliantly, provided your team embraces the process you’ve adopted. Unlike other working methodologies, it focuses on the individuals in a team and the way they collaborate and deal with uncertainty and disruption. Because of this, remote working can be implemented with few, if any, hiccups.

We’ve worked remotely from the UK for some years and understand how teams best collaborate and thrive. Below are some key points to help you achieve a well-oiled agile process that works for every member of the team to drive a successful end result.? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ??

1. Educate. ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ???? ????

Set a simple and easily digested reading list. https://www.agilealliance.org is a good place to start. Make sure everyone knows your process, why it’s in place and how to achieve their part in it.? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????

2. Schedule. ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ????

Set core hours that you expect team members to work on the project. They can be reviewed if necessary, but make sure everyone understands how much time per day/week/month they should allocate.? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????

3. Communicate. ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ????

Set up communication statuses so everyone in the team knows who is busy or away. This saves a lot of wasted energy trying to communicate with someone who is unable to respond.? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????

4. Process. ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ????

Adopt a workable process and use the systems you have available. Make sure the process you embed is tried and tested and not one rigged together quickly. Adherence is more important than ever if the team is working remotely.

For example, working on a task that hasn’t been ticketed on the board will throw the process out of line. If the team is co-located, this may be manageable, but not when it is remote. In this case, stop and get a story created for the next sprint. If the task has to happen immediately, the process has failed and should be fixed at the next retro.? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????

5. Adjust. ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ????

Don’t be afraid to modify the process if parts of it aren’t working as you would like. Adjust to the team’s needs and availability. If communication lines are correctly set up, it should be easy to flex the process.?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????

6. Ceremony. ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ? ????

Set your standup meeting for the same time every day. Keep it quick and relevant – in this way it will retain importance and validity in a busy working day. Keep retro and sprint planning productive and timely. It helps to invite the team to the retro at the beginning of every sprint. This will maintain focus and aids the team’s efficiency.?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ????

7. Tools. ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ???? We’ve listed below some tools that will help your remote team:

• JIRA / Trello to manage your agile boards
• Reetro for your retros https://reetro.io/
• Slack / Teams for collaboration and stand-ups
• Email for longer form action points
• PlanItPoker for story estimating https://www.planitpoker.com/

A sound agile process is the key to launching, running and concluding projects efficiently. It plays to your team’s strengths; problem solving and responding in sprints, keeping communication tight and focused, reviewing and adapting on the go.

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Originally published on https://tinyurl.com/ybw6cx3x