Last Friday, we hosted a Virtual Think IT Event on Applying Agile Principles in the New Normal. A huge thank you to our facilitator, David Cherryhomes, SVP of Technology at Wex for sharing his insight on embracing Agile principles while working remotely. Thank you to everyone who joined the event and participated in the discussion!
Below you will find an overview of the most popular questions from our members and a summary of what was discussed.
How would you describe what the word agile means in relation to technology?
To our facilitator David, the word Agile within technology refers to delivering business value quickly, without any restrictions or barriers. David has had experience working with DevOps at many different levels. DevOps is an evolution of Agile into an organizational culture achieved through the persistent application of continuous improvement ideals. From big teams at big corporations to small teams at small companies, Agile principles are intended to make teams work BETTER (Increase quality), FASTER (Increase product delivery speed), and STRONGER (Increase resilience).
In the post-COVID world, how do we embrace Agile principles with a 100% remote workforce?
One of the biggest aspects of Agile methodology is team collaboration. In 2021, collaboration is limited to virtual interactions. The lack of face-to-face collaboration has been one of the biggest challenges in trying to encourage Agile principles in a virtual environment. This leads to less dynamic interactions between teams. The Agile manifesto states that business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. In a virtual world, the only way to get daily collaboration is through Zoom. Although Zoom meetings have proven to be an effective option for working together, the team dynamic can feel forced and can make it challenging to create relationships with one another.
How have you embraced this new normal?
Our members have embraced this new normal by carving time out of their busy schedules to create and foster relationships with their teams. One person had the idea of no “No Meeting Fridays”, this would give employees the chance to connect with people that they don’t always have meetings with. Being able to have free time to connect with people on a more personal level is very important and will help improve the virtual team dynamic.