This is a guest post by Tevis Holzer, P.E.
Image by DCStudio on Freepik
In Part One of this article series, keys to collaboration for engineering project teams were highlighted as Team, Communication, and Results. These three keys are fundamentals of the Scrum mindset for project management, promoting efficiency to meet market demand while encouraging growth of our engineering companies and team members.
If you’ve investigated Scrum since reading Part One, you likely realized there is an ocean of information stemming from (and catered toward) software development rather than the AEC industry. Though the techniques originated in software development, Scrum has been successfully adapted into several industries, AEC included. Not all Scrum methodologies are applicable in the AEC industry, but there are key concepts we can apply in our workplace. In fact, many teams are already using some aspects of Scrum, whether they know it or not.
How You May Already be Using Scrum Principles
Scrum Project Management focuses on frequent check and adjust cycles, preventing the team from going too far down one path or procrastinating on progress before being corrected. Many engineering and architecture firms already practice a form of this by implementing submittal reviews at 30, 60, and 90% complete. The design team provides progress documents, such as drawings and specifications, to the client or governing agency at these milestones for review and to ensure the design meets expectations. However, on large effort projects, several months can pass between each milestone, leaving the design team with minimal direction in between. Frequent Scrum or Huddle meetings help keep the team focused on incremental progress toward the same goals.
Scrum Meetings or ‘Huddles’
Huddle meetings are the pulse of the team’s efforts. These brief and direct meetings are intentionally designed to drive team progress. Each team member reports on the following three updates:
[Read more…] about Scrum Techniques for Productive Project Teams (Part 2)