Once upon a time, there was this project called AO that was running its life really iterative (aka Agile). However his friends, family members and co-workers, all were running their life with waterfall. AO finally found a friend in RA who really wanted to adopt the lifestyle and functionality of the AO project. They were both really excited.
However several rough weeks later, AO and RA both now started showing infighting and really getting on their throwts.
“That stupid AO project, they have no documentation, no plan, they are crazy, how can we follow them if there is no documentation” – complained RA. AO was furious, “ can it no see that we are not done with the project yet, can they not see that we are doing SIT, UAT, all at the same time, in different cycles, getting so many bugs.. can they not see how the requirements are still changing and we are running against the same deadline, how can we have time for documentation”…
The neighborhood leaders (also known as Project Manager/Change Managers) came in to rescue.. “No worries, we will help mediate between the two of you.. lets discuss on a 1:1 what problems that you are facing”.
They had their first 1:1 meeting with AO, and realized that AO lost a senior member in Zheng, who was replaced by a newbie Condi. AO was already furious; there was a net loss of knowledge and expertise…
The Change Managers just flipped their wings, “Well, according to Sicromoft Project, your resource leveling remains the same, and if you can just add some management hours, we you should be ok.”
The next 1:1 was with RA, who were very upset with not getting the proper documentations and support to start their journey.. “We need a Sr. Resource to walk us through the code. And a full the team member to develop with us. It’s crucial to our success.. we are being set up for failure.. we are so red”…
“Calm Down,” quipped the Project Managers, “we are going to get a great resource for you .. Condi.. he is the greatest”.
So it was settled. Everyone was happy, “1:1” style. AO knew it was getting Condi to replace Zheng, and RA knew Condi was theirs.
A face to face meeting was set up between Aao and RA.
AO asked Zheng and Condi to join the meeting, but since Zheng was out of the project, Condi decided to join.
RA asked Condi to meet with the Sr. developer of AO.
And then the meeting happened. Condi was sitting in front of a mirror!
Moral of the story, Agile needs steady team, and it’s never a good idea to double count.
PS. The author plays the Role of a Project Manager in real life.
No comments:
Post a Comment