Agility and project management

What do sector disruptors in the banking sector, or Amazon in retail have in common? Much, but Agility is a key factor. As for software development, Agility is almost the norm although for some a poison chalice. It is NOT a magic bullet but can deliver great value, IF adapted and used well.

In his session Adrian, author of the book Agile Beyond IT will outline what Agility looks like when applied to the project profession. He will show why it has been around for a long time and you may well discover you are already agile, whether you knew it or not. Come along and find out.

Whether we like it or not, Agility is part of the organisational zeitgeist now that it has moved well beyond its IT origins of the 2001 Agile Manifesto. Consultancies from Gartner to McKinsey to PA Consulting all similarly describe agile business operating models and the culture needed to sustain them. All based on the 4 Values and 12 Principles of the Agile Manifesto. Agility has also been applied to marketing, engineering, finance, even construction and yes even to project management. Understanding agility is understanding where your organisation may already be heading, especially if Digitalisation is on the cards.

Unfortunately, despite it’s apparent simplicity, in practice agility it is often simplified, misunderstood or misused leading to expensive mistakes. Such as agility is defined by iteration, it is not, even for software development let alone project management. Adrian Pyne has spent nearly 15 years helping organisations to get agility right and adapting it for success. He also writes and lectures extensively to dispel myths to help people use agility wisely. Most recently via his Agile Beyond IT LinkedIn newsletter.

Along the way Adrian will ask what makes a project professional? And how important is the organisation to project success? Both of which are closely allied to agility.

Adrian Pyne, Director, Pyne Consulting Limited

Adrian is a 35 year project professional and consultant whose practice for more than 20 years was the delivery or rescue of transformation programmes and the design, build, operation of portfolio, programme and project management capability. Most of these recognisably agile.
Starting in telecoms he has led change in commercial and public sectors: e.g. investment/retail finance, central & local government, diversity, nano & renewable energy technologies, aviation and mining. Adrian is a visiting lecturer at Nottingham & Southampton University Business Schools. He has always specialised in and championed the people aspects of our profession, notably leadership, stakeholder management and behaviours.

In recent years much of Adrian’s practice has focused on developing cultures and organisations in which programmes and projects can thrive and not merely survive. Usually, this means building Agility into the project capability. Adrian is currently head of Governance for MyMelanoma, a new cancer research organisation. Adrian has been a long time contributor to the APM, is co-author of APM guides on Agile Governance and Assurance, member of APM’s Agile Working and research groups and on APM’s Audit Committee for four years. He is a frequent speaker, in the UK and internationally, the author of Agile Beyond IT and co-author of the Gower Handbook of Programme Management (1st edition). He was an RPP Assessor and is a Fellow of the APM.

Adrian says “I am still learning”. He lives in Dorset with his partner, a retired architect.

Adrian’s book, Agile Beyond IT has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Business Book Awards.

Agenda:

18:00: Registration, refreshments, networking
18:30: Welcome and introduction
18:45: Presentation
19:45: Q&A
20:15: Networking
20:30: Close