The Evolving Role of the PMO in an Agile Organization - Catching Up With Jesse Fewell

I got a chance to catch up with Jesse Fewell at the start of 2019. In this Reluctant Agilist podcast Jesse and I talk about how project management continues to evolve as a result of the introduction of Agile and how the PMO continues to refine the role it plays in an organization that is making the transition to Agile. The whole conversation draws from the fact that we both got our start in traditional project management and were two of the initial people focused on helping to build a bridge between PMI and the Scrum Alliance.

As an added note, Jess is now the only person I have ever interviewed who has quote Suicidal Tendencies and then talked about reading the Bible within the space of 5 minutes on a podcast.

You can find the podcast on The Reluctant Agilist blog on ProjectManagement.com

Developing a PMO that is Actually Agile - Hearst Digital Media

Hearst Digital Media has an actual, real life, fully functioning AGILE PMO!

Developing a PMO that is Actually Agile - Hearst Digital Media

This is one of the most inspiring interviews I have had the chance to do in a long time. It features a conversation with Michelle Dennis, Director of Product Management, and Jacquelyn Talpalar, Director of Agile Operations for Hearst Digital Media. During the podcast we discuss what the've gone through over the past 4 years to establish an Agile PMO, the challenges they faced along the way, what makes it work and their advice for others who are on this path.

You can find the interview on The Reluctant Agilist blog on ProjectManagement.com.

Kicking off 2019 with Mike Cottmeyer

Shiny new episode of LeadingAgile Soundnotes... my interview with Mike Cottmeyer on what he's focused on for 2019 and what to expect in the Agile space.

https://www.leadingagile.com/podcast/kicking-off-2019-with-mike-cottmeyer/

Comparative Agility with Jorgen Hesselberg

“Agile is not something you become, Agile is something you become more of.”

(The podcast can be found on The Reluctant Agilist blog that is hosted on  ProjectManagement.com.)

For organizations that are engaged in Agile Transformation, it is often very challenging to get a sense of where you are with respect to successfully adopting a new way of working. Comparative Agility is a tool that has been designed to help Agile coaches and organizations get a deeper understanding of their progress towards Agile transformation. 

In this interview, Jorgen Hesselberg, co-founder of Comparative Agility, and I discuss how the tool has evolved since it was created in 2008 and how it is now being used by coaches and organizations to not only understand how their transformation is going, but how they are doing compared to others within their vertical, as well. We also talk about the work that Comparative Agility has been doing with the Scrum Alliance and how the tool has been extended to include things like Security and DevOps, in addition to discussing Jorgen’s book “Unlocking Agility.”

Links

If you’d like to check out Comparative Agility, you can find it here: https://www.comparativeagility.com

If you’d like to read “Unlocking Agility”, you can find it here: https://amzn.to/2setHly

Contacting Jorgen

Email: jorgen@comparativeagility.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jhesselberg

Scaling Product Development with Ellen Gottesdiener and Andy Repton

Earlier this fall at the 2018 Large Scale Scrum Conference in NYC, Ellen Gottesdiener and Andy Repton led a session called “What is Our Product” (https://less.works/sessions/2018-less-conference-new-york-what-is-our-product-88). During the course of their presentation they showcased many of the tools they use with clients to determine what the product they are building actually is. In this interview Ellen and Andy explain why this question is not as easy to understand as it seems and why it is so critical to product success. During the course of our conversation they walk through some of the tools they use to help clients deepen their understanding of the product, how to make sure it is strategically aligned, and how this can even be done with massive organizations that are developing infrastructure products. 

You can find the podcast and more details on their session here: https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog-post/49746/Scaling-Product-Development-with-Ellen-Gottesdiener-and-Andy-Repton

The Elusive Agile Enterprise - A Forbes Insight Report

The Scrum Alliance and Forbes Insights recently released a report called the “The Elusive Agile Enterprise”. The report presents the findings of a survey that involved over 1,000 C-level executives across the globe in a range of industries. 

In this interview, Scrum Alliance Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications, Renata Lerch  and I talk through the results of this survey and what they mean for organizations adopting Agile.  We also explore some of the more valuable insights that came out of the report including the 3 elements determined to be critical to a successful adoption of Agile and how the findings have helped the Scrum Alliance make a decision to target Human Resources as an area of growth in the future.

Download the Report

You can download a copy of the report at https://www.scrumalliance.org/forbes/

Contact Renata Lerch

Scrum Alliance site: https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/profile/rlerch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/limalerch?lang=en

Email: rlerch@scrumalliance.org

PMO Agility Canvas 3.0 - Redefining Your PMO for Agile

I had the chance to give a presentation last night at the NYC Scrum User Group Meetup. Despite the horrible weather, there was a really great turnout and I got to meet a lot of great folks.

Here are the slides I used during the presentation. It includes the brand new version of the PMO Agility Canvas tool I developed.

PMO Agility Canvas v 3.0 - NYC Scrum User Group - Nov 2018 from Dave Prior

If you'd like to download a Tabloid size of the canvas, you can find it here:
PMO Agility Canvas

An Interview with Scrum Alliance Chief Product Owner Howard Sublett

The Scrum Alliance recently made a very significant change in how the organization is run. After years of running with a traditional leadership model, the Scrum Alliance, whose mission is “Change the World of Work” has decided to shift to a model with a Chief Product Owner and a Chief Scrum Master. As you’ll hear in this podcast, it is a model that is already inspiring leaders from other organizations to make a similar change. 

This podcast features an interview with the new Scrum Alliance Chief Product Owner Howard Sublett. Howard is a dynamic an inspiring servant leader who was involved with the Scrum Alliance early on before moving into Agile consulting. He joined the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors several months ago and will now be helping to shape and define the role of Chief Product Owner. During the conversation Howard and I talk about the significance of the role, what it involves, how it has inspired others, what the Scrum Alliance is looking for in a Chief Scrum Master and some of the recent changes to the SA Board of Directors that came about as a result of him taking on his new gig. 

Contacting Howard

Email: hsublett@scrumalliance.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/howardsublett

WTF is Post Agile?

In this episode of The Reluctant Agilist, Dhaval Panchal, Michael Tardiff and I try to figure out what "post-agile" actually means.

Abby Fretz - Your Clients Are Your Students

You go to conferences… and there are moments when you pick stuff up that can help you do your job. But, once and awhile, there are those special moments when people share things in sessions that permanently change how you look at the work you do. It’s rare… but it’s awesome.

That happened for me this September in Memphis at the 2018 Digital PM Summit. I attended a session led by Abby Fretz called "Sustaining the Project Honeymoon Phase: How to Build Effective Client Education.” In the session, Abby drew a connection between the relationship we have with our clients and the relationships students have with teachers. She reminded everyone that all of our clients are not just emotional humans, but they are also family members, friends, and experts, and that we need to care for them as a teacher would care for a student. Moreover, she reminded everyone that as much as we are the teachers of our clients, they are our teachers as well.

I wish someone had said this to me 20 years ago.

In this podcast, Abby and I discuss her session from the 2018 Digital PM Summit, what led her to her metaphor, and how it has impacted her work. There is some powerful stuff in this interview and I hope it will be as valuable for you as it was for me. I am very indebted to Abby for teaching me something that seems like such common sense— I’m a little ashamed I had not though of clients this way before.


Here are some of the links mentioned in the podcast:
Digital Pm Summit: https://bureauofdigital.com/abby-fretz-1/
DPM Philly Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/DPM-Philly/
Louder Than 10: https://louderthanten.com
Eastern Standard: https://www.easternstandard.com


If you'd like to get in touch with Abby you can reach her at:
Web: http://abbyfretz.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abbyfretz
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbyfretz/