Have you ever wondered where the term "Agile" came from? This word has been thrown around as a buzz word frequently of late. As in: "We need to be Agile," or "Our organization's agile approach allows us to be flexible." This article discusses the origins of Agile, what it is, and our key take-aways about what Agile means.

Agile is actually a collection of frameworks that have their roots in Lean manufacturing. Using Agile, just like Lean, should be part of an overall execution strategy - and should be considered in the right context. If your company has knowledge workers, there is a good chance that some Agile frameworks that are focused on planning and execution and can help visualize capacity, especially when it is hard to "see" work in the form of tangible goods, work-in-progress, or materials.

Given the inevitability of change, creating a static “Waterfall” schedule with all tasks and dependencies fully known at the outset of a project seems antiquated at best. Here is how we recommend generating a tried-and-true Milestone Schedule in an Agile fashion – specifically by creating an Agile Project Backlog.

This describes AJC’s value of Foster Accountability. We have executed projects and change before and can help our clients’ teams create and visualize the path. At first, all they need to worry about is visualizing working with our team. We will help them create and follow the path so that over time, they will be able to see the path for themselves and can execute on their own the next time.

If a project is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Project Management does not just “happen” without intention. Here is a 5-step Process to starting your project out on the right foot.

Leaders think that Project Management will just “happen” even without a designated Project Manager. We talked to an Executive the other day who said that most of the details for 75% of their initiatives aimed at developing capacity to manage their explosive growth, were “in the head” of their President. The Executive asked us if they should consider a Project Manager to handle these projects?

It is very important to note that helping others succeed does not necessarily feel good in the moment. Helping others succeed sometimes means having uncomfortable conversations. We are fans of having these conversations in an empathetic way. This is pretty nebulous because it's hard to quantify what "an empathetic way" really means. Here is a pretty simple way to check if one is in an empathetic frame of mind when discussing uncomfortable topics.

This story from one of AJC’s clients shows how an effective project manager can save more than nine stitches in time, particularly when Plan A doesn’t go according to plan. We also share these three Reasons to Hire an External Project Manager: 1. Experience anticipating and preparing for contingencies 2. Objectivity 3. Saving time and costs