Effective Agile project delivery during COVID-19 in South Africa

The global Coronavirus pandemic has impacted a number of areas of business, most notably it forced businesses into a remote delivery model many were not ready for. With many organisations having recently made, or in the process of making the change to an Agile delivery model, remote delivery was far from their minds. 

Collaboration enabled by co-location is a cornerstone of the Agile delivery model. So, how do business leaders and Product Owners ensure their Agile teams continue to deliver value while working from home? 

There’s no one answer, no magic silver bullet to ensure success, but by supporting five key principles true Agile remote delivery is indeed possible.

1. Focused and intentional communication is key

One of the reasons co-location is so central to Agile delivery is because it enables clear and uncomplicated communication. When we were co-located, if a team member needed clarity or further direction, they could simply walk over to their colleague’s desk and ask. But, when teams are distributed, this becomes more onerous. Many people feel more apprehension over phone or video calls than they would about popping up at a colleague’s desk or chatting to them at the coffee machine.

Transparency and empathy are key to successful remote communication and collaboration

This ultimately results in a lot more meetings for distributed teams, decreasing the amount of time available for core tasks – which we’ll cover in more detail a little later. To ensure meetings are effective, and the volume of them doesn’t become overwhelming, distributed teams need clear, focused and intentional communication to be successful. To overcome this, BSG’s Product Owners are checking their teams have received the message as intended by asking for playback from team members. 

Nuances of communication are often lost when non-verbal communication is not possible. To ensure continued quality delivery to our clients, at BSG, we have used videoconferencing tools, such as Microsoft Teams, help to ensure non-verbal cues aren’t missed by our teams.

2. Don’t lose team culture 

Culture develops organically when teams occupy the same space. This is another reason co-location is central to Agile, but it doesn’t mean you have to forgo culture where teams are distributed. In fact, fostering the right culture is even more important with distributed teams. Culture is a critical component for success and all too often, it’s diluted – or lost completely – when teams aren’t co-located. 

To overcome this, at BSG, our Product Owners and Team Leads must ensure they are empathetic to one another’s realities. More than ever before, EQ is a critical component of successful leadership. Teams are grappling with challenges they’ve never faced before – balancing delivery with 24/7 family requirements, creating a work/life balance in this new normal, connectivity challenges and feelings of isolation to name a few. 

Leaders, and team members alike, must be empathetic to the realities others are facing.

Leaders must ensure they are open and transparent. Open, transparent communication has never been more important. The volume of uncertainty is causing enormous additional emotional strain on team members. 

To combat this, BSG’s leaders have ensured they are open with our people. This has helped to create trust and affinity across the organisation and within individual teams, something that is critical for success – whether the teams are distributed or not. Being transparent about the needs of the business and our clients, has enabled an outcomes-focused understanding that has helped keep our teams on-track, while giving them the space to work without micromanagement.

3. Ensure teams spend time on core tasks

To overcome not being co-located, we have seen a significant up-tick in meetings, as teams adjust to distributed delivery. It’s critical to keep an eye on this to ensure meetings don’t become overwhelming and all-consuming. We found some of our team members were spending five, six – sometimes seven – hours a day in meetings. With this reality, expecting them to stay on top of their delivery requirements was unrealistic, especially given the additional challenges many are facing with family requirements. 

Be prepared for an initial dip in productivity as teams adjust to remote delivery

At BSG, our project delivery teams are using tools, such as Microsoft MyAnalytics, to enable team members to effectively track and manage collaboration time (i.e. time spent in meetings) versus focus time (i.e. time spent working on delivery), and understand and optimise their work patterns. This data is then also used to ensure meetings times are optimal for team members.

Focus on delivering complete pieces of work each day to keep teams motivated

The continuous improvement model can just as easily be applied to the team structure. We have adjusted the team structures as needed to ensure effective collaboration and delivery. For example, at BSG, we have found some items are better delivered by smaller teams. It’s a lot easier to facilitate collaboration between three to four distributed people than it is with 7-9 team members. Through these ‘special forces teams’ we are able to ensure continuous, incremental delivery through effective collaboration.

We know that siloed teams don’t deliver business benefits the way that cross-functional teams do, this has been proven countless times. We also know the performance of siloed teams is even poorer when they’re distributed because the friction of hand-off is compounded by distance. This makes the Agile delivery model even more compelling.

At BSG, we are leaning toward Agile and keeping in mind that everyone is distributed during this time. By adapting and establishing what combination of tools and approaches works best for your teams, you will position yourself for distributed Agile delivery success.

We know that siloed teams don’t deliver business benefits the way that cross-functional teams do, this has been proven countless times. We also know the performance of siloed teams is even poorer when they’re distributed because the friction of hand-off is compounded by distance. This makes the Agile delivery model even more compelling. At BSG, we are leaning toward Agile and keeping in mind that everyone is distributed during this time. 

By adapting and establishing what combination of tools and approaches works best for your teams, you will position yourself for distributed Agile delivery success.