Practical Project Management for Agile Nonprofits: Approaches and Templates to Help You Manage with Limited Resources - Softcover

FROM CHAPTER 7: BECOMING AN AGILE NONPROFIT

What Does It Mean to Be Agile?

There is much being written these days about the need for agility in today's businesses, especially in projects related to the development of strategic differentiators, such as a new medical facility or dormitory. Yet, it's not clear that there's a true understanding or appreciation for what's meant by the term agility. To the dismay of some managers, agility does not mean unmanaged or undocumented. Rather, agility means the ability to quickly adjust and respond to changing business needs. It means achieving goals before the loss of a donor's attention or commitment. It means being responsive at the local and global level to immediate needs. It means that "do more with less" now translates into "achieve it faster," whatever "it" is.

Agile project management reflects the ability to apply just enough of the project management practices to ensure that the business objectives for the project are achieved. This usually translates into just enough planning to know that the budget is sufficient, to identify the risks likely to occur and what the team will do when they occur, to determine who has what decision-making authorities, and to know how information about the project, especially project status, will be communicated.

Agile project management is not for the inexperienced project manager, but if you work at it you'll find that you become more agile with every project you manage. It relies as much on the ability of the project manager to read individuals, to make quick decisions when needed, and to know when to let the team take the lead and when the team requires specific direction. Agile project management is more about active leadership than about bureaucratic management.

Acknowledge Dynamics and Change

Project sponsors frequently do not dig deeply enough into resolving an important issue - that is, they don't sort out the difference between "wants" and "needs." Only after the project starts does the sponsor begin to realize that what the organization really needs may not be exactly what they requested. That's why you need an approach to project management that allows you to deal with the reality of change. You need to be able to break down the final, long-term objective (which is subject to change) into a series of near-term objectives (which are less likely to change), incorporating discovery and learning throughout the project life cycle.

By applying agile project management you actively work with your sponsor throughout the project life cycle. You jointly make adjustments and even redirect the project by using an iterative approach to managing the project, an approach that deals with the level of uncertainty that you encounter. You use agile techniques to supplement the traditional project management practices that you already use (see Figure 7.1).

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FIGURE 7.1. KEY CONCEPTS OF AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

- Active leadership

- Close interaction between the project sponsor and the project team

- Less time dedicated to planning at the beginning of the project

- Smaller teams and more highly skilled team members

- Delayed decision making

- Elimination of waste

- Integrated quality activities

Agile project management is based on the concepts above. Agile nonprofits demonstrate the ability to quickly adjust and respond to changing business needs while managing their projects.

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Glossary

Strategic differentiators are those projects that result in outcomes that differentiate the non-profit in the marketplace, such as the capital campaign that funds the development of a cancer center within a healthcare system.