Agile
4 tools you need to build an agile program management powerhouse
Sep
4 tools you need to build an agile program management powerhouse
via Work Life by Atlassian by Kyle Foreman
If you’re a program manager, or are lucky enough to work with great ones, you know they’ve got a tough job to do. They bring teams together, establish and facilitate communication and planning best practices, and are always looking around corners to make sure future roadblocks can be removed and teams have their best chance to deliver work on time.
Tip
For more information on the differences between project-style program management and agile program management, check out this article on the Agile Coach.
In an agile environment, program management presents an even bigger challenge – keeping track of many simultaneous pieces of work being delivered across teams working in parallel. Program managers are the soul of servant leadership on scaled agile teams. They need top-to-bottom transparency and insights into all aspects of their programs or release trains. This can only be accomplished when all the elements of the program and associated data can be intelligently connected.
To expose and enable what’s truly important to running successful programs and release trains, we’ve spent time collaborating with customers as they transform their companies to uncover unique insight into the best way to work with these groups across PIs.
Tip
For organizations using the Scaled Agile Framework, or SAFe, a program manager typically plays the role of a Release Train Engineer (RTE). They are responsible for the success of an Agile Release Train (ART), roughly equivalent to a program.
Based on plenty of challenges, successes, failures, learnings, and iterations over thousands of hours, we’ve identified the four key tools needed to create a powerhouse that helps the PM or RTE keep programs and release trains moving. Following the model of a well-organized workshop, all the tools for successful agile management should be designed for tackling the key activities involved in programs and ARTs.
A robust agile program management powerhouse should have four key tools: