So we know why, what we need to do, and now we need to figure out how we execute. Who do we need? Who should be involved? A team of business owners are needed to execute the project contract.
You might have heard, Think twice, do once (perhaps controversial!) .. Thorough planning and agile methods, reduce wastage, cost. All in all, our action plan needs to be ratified with teams and individuals that are key for executing the actions. The handshake needs to be made eventually on the timelines and deliverables, but those key individuals are responsible for providing the ‘How’. Typically agile methodology is the best model for providing the ‘How’. ‘Product Owners’ take responsible for the development and delivery of actions. Learn more about agile methodology here. In small businesses, it can be a simple as a post-it note mapping out everything that should be done and prioritised by the delivery team. Solutions [the how] are proposed by the team, for the product owner to approve and liase with their business owners.
There are two primary models of agile development, Scrum and Kanband. My opinions are that Scrum is most effective when there is a very solid project plan with increments (deadline, cost, scope, resources, dependencies, risk). Scrum is closely matched with a pace setting style of leadership and is organised by blocks of timeline (i.e. 3 weeks). In those 3 weeks, there are contracts made for what is to be delivered. Overall, there is a delivery train which brings us closer to the target state. Kanban in my opinion is best suited for eCommerce in small / medium businesses or for corporations maintaining an existing solution. I would like to make clear, there are always pros and cons either way. Gate project management (or waterfall) is something I do not recommend for eCommerce delivery but agile and gate project management can be compatible with each other. For example if a company whishes to have program management with projects listed across departments.
Program Increments (P.I.) are a favourite of mine, and it can be combined with Scrum or Kanban. You can more here about the methods and models for delivery.
Program increments are designed to look at the spectrum of developments in different products but it is my opinion they can be used to manage large movements of actions. For example, I suggest 4 P.I.s a year, and roughly 4 sprint within each. The P.I. is concerned by identifying the actions (or features) that should be delivered within say .. Q2 2023. The ‘delivery’ team is responsible for ensuring the ‘features’ have solutions and a plan for meeting the needs, ready for a P.I. planning session where business owners can approve the solutions and implementation for the given period.
But as I mentioned, the agile methodology is designed to keep the value chain intact. And offer the flexibility to adapt during the implementation and structure resources when they are needed.
Agile is traditionally software development methodology but it works very well in a business context, when say for example, we need stakeholders in Logistics, Sourcing, Procurement, Customer Service, etc.