Remaining Agile After COVID-19
One of my favorite methodologies is agile. As you know, it comes from the software industry and has been around the better part of 20 years. Agile principles and values have driven much success in the past by cutting to the chase of what matters.
Many of my colleagues who work at laboratory-based or healthcare-based companies are living examples of how teams are stepping up to meet COVID challenges. I marvel at how the private sector has marshaled resources following these principles
We are rewriting the rule book for responsiveness in the face of extreme unknowns. Laboratories and health care systems are collaborating to share meaningful data quickly. Manufacturers have retooled to meet need and provide deliverables quickly. In short, the focus has been on adding value versus volume. This has all been accomplished with astonishing speed relatively speaking.
How do we adapt these principles at the intersection of “here and now”?
Agile values include:
- Responding to Change
- Interactions Over Processes
- Focus on What is Working
Collaboration (Face to Face or otherwise)
Below is a list of modified principles adapted from the Agile Manifesto for your consideration:
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of value.
2. Welcome changing requirements to harness change for the end user’s competitive advantage.
3. Deliver work product frequently, with a preference for well thought out aggressive but realistic timescales.
4. Business people work together daily via updated communication system to ensure delivery.
5. Build deliverable around motivation. Give individuals support they need and trust them to get the job done.
6. Understand and implement the next most efficient and effective method of conveying information within a team vs face-to-face conversations. Plan to retain this functionality going forward.
7. Working solutions are the primary measure of progress, (vis hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, etc).
8. Agile promotes sustainable and constant pace indefinitely, (aka re-thinking geo-political supply chain risks.)
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence enhances agility.
10. Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done. Practice “essentialism.”
11. The best work products often emerge from self-organizing teams. Trust them, especially in remote mode.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then adjusts its behavior.
We could greatly expand on each of these points. I will add optimism to the list above. It is a crucial factor in how people are choosing to navigate the crisis.
Remember, we had awesome momentum before COVID put the economic breaks on. Sentiment was very high and I believe showing optimism will help lead to the incremental “wins” that replenish confidence as we re-open for business as un-unusual.
Suffice it to say, if there was ever a time for leaders to lead, it is at the intersection of “here and now.”
