The New School of Agile with Mike Richardson

Mike Richardson Mar 28, 2019

Have you been hearing about Agile, Scrums, MVP 1.0, Traction Plans and more? You may have even noticed more stuff on the walls, drawings on windows, and white boards in offices. These are all signs of the New School of Agile. In the short video clip below, Mike Richardson, Vistage Chair/Consultant, will give you a quick glimpse of what it all means. But first, here is a little background on this new management approach.

Agile Project Management is a methodology that is helping companies all over the world manage important products and projects more efficiently and effectively. Companies like National Public Radio uses this management approach to create new programming. John Deere uses it to design and create new machines, Saab to build new fighter jets, and Intronis, a leader in cloud backup services, uses it in marketing. Mission Bell Winery also uses the Agile Methodology, everything from wine production, to warehousing and management.

The Agile approach is based on a company’s set of core values and principles. These values give employees a common foundation. A common foundation, in turn, creates consistency, and an environment where employees not only feel supported and trusted to make decisions and get the job done, they feel valued.

Agile is unique in that it allows for the following:

  • more face to face conversation time
  • promotes sustainable development
  • focuses on excellence and simplicity
  • all with the goal to not only keep up with the fast-changing market, but to thrive.

From Harvard Business Review some of the benefits of the Agile Methodology include:

  • increases team productivity and employee satisfaction
  • minimizes the waste inherent in redundant meetings, repetitive planning, excessive documentation, quality defects, and low-value product features
  • improves visibility
  • adapts to customers’ changing priorities and improves customer engagement and satisfaction
  • brings the most valuable products and features to market faster and more predictably
  • reduces risk
  • Engages team members from multiple disciplines as collaborative peers
  • broadens organizational experience and builds mutual trust and respect
  • reduces time micromanaging projects
  • increases cross-functional collaboration and removes impediments to progress

OTA is excited to embrace this exciting management approach.