What makes the occupation of Agile Project Manager so special? What do you like about it the most?
I love project management because it requires organizing things. That suits me because I am a well-organized person. The agile approach appeals to me because of its flexibility and adaptability – that makes work dynamic. Moreover, the short development cycles enable our team to amass experience quickly, so we can design the product more optimally right from the start and continuously. I can immediately put this to use for the next sprint (development cycle - the editor). We grow with the direct feedback instead of not until the project has reached completion six months later.
Please describe a typical day at work.
When I get to work, over coffee, we in the project team review the events of the previous day and discuss our plans. We follow a very special process to then continue working with the service providers on our digital products. We have a so-called "backlog" in which all software requirements are collected by our product owner, the person responsible for the product. The most important backlog items (user stories) are at the top, while the less important ones are further down, so we know at a glance which task we must prioritize. We are organized in two-week sprints. Before a sprint can begin, we discuss the user stories in so-called "refinements" or “groomings” (denotes the continuous management and updating of the backlog). That way everybody knows what must be developed, and together we plan the next steps. Then the sprint starts and with it the development. A week later, we have another refinement and specify other user stories from the backlog. Once the two weeks are up there is a "review": The team demonstrates what was developed. We try out the result, and everyone is permitted to offer feedback that will be transferred to the backlog if necessary, so we can incorporate modifications in the next sprint. Then we have a retrospective in which everyone can say what worked well and what did not. From that we automatically derive action items that help us to develop digital products more efficiently and optimally. Then it starts all over again with the planning for the next sprint.
Communication takes place via various communication programs, whereby I prefer direct interaction – either a telephone call or a personal meeting. E-mails are mainly used for official matters. My daily work also includes workshops that I conduct with the project participants. They help to clarify complicated situations together in one place.
What project are you working on right now?
I’m not at liberty to say yet, because I’m currently working on an all-new digital product for an existing Vorwerk hardware product.
What makes you proud?
Being part of the way in which my team and I accelerate the agile transformation within the company. Change is the biggest challenge for us..