Agile methodology is one of the most popular concepts in project management. It has been widely adopted by engineering, retail, and software development teams. The practices can be implemented by any team with a reliable technology partner such as Asana software. It provides multiple helpful features such as Kanban boards, sprint scheduling, and templates that incorporate the Agile philosophy. This article outlines how teams can make their projects more Agile with the help of the Asana demo.
Plan Sprints
Sprints are the most common function of an Agile framework and it includes the Scrum methodology too. During an Agile sprint, the team spends a specific amount of time, for example, two weeks working on a specific task or project phase. The team refers to the backlog and tracks all progress through the Kanban-style boards available on Asana software.
The software provides free templates for planning sprints which means the project manager can easily keep the team structured. The single source of truth can be shared with everyone on the team as well as external stakeholders. Using the template requires the users to follow a series of steps to be successful.
Any new work requests are made through an intake form so all pending tasks are added to the scheduling template. The manager can then decide how much time it will take the team to complete a specific task by overviewing the capacity. They can also use automation rules to automatically shift tasks from one column to another. Asana project management software also has a bug tracking template for software development teams so they can add those tickets to the backlog as well.
Meet Regularly
Agile teams usually meet every day to discuss priorities, brainstorm new ideas, and remain up-to-date on important announcements related to the project. This standup meeting can be organized with the Asana software meeting template that allows teams to take notes, reference previous meeting minutes, and create an actionable list for follow-up.
Before the project manager sets up the project, they can decide which department will be meeting on what day of the week. When the week is divided amongst the employees, it is easy to add tasks in their dedicated section and any details that need to be discussed during the meeting. Employees can also tag each other in the comments when they want to direct their attention toward a specific item.
It is also the project manager’s job to encourage team members to add relevant tasks from their sprint planning to the meeting schedule. When everyone has access to the updated agenda, they will be able to follow whatever is being discussed during the meeting. Any actionable items on the meeting notes can be created into subtasks with just a click on the Asana demo.
Plan Retrospectives
The most important aspect of any sprint is the retrospective which refers to the time when teams get together and review the project’s progress. This is the time to evaluate the successful initiatives, those that need improvement, and how the team can continue to grow and develop into a lean project management machine. Asana top project management software has templates that make it easier for teams to collect insights, feedback, and constructive criticism. These can easily be converted into structured tasks or subtasks.
The best way to use this template is to divide it into sections dedicated to relevant questions and feedback. These can be specific questions or aspects of the project that you want to discuss. Each retrospective meeting should begin with a group activity where members are encouraged to add tasks they think went well. They can also include what needs to be improved and answer any additional questions they might have related to the project.
Each team member should be given a chance to share feedback and also listen to everyone else’s. This can also happen virtually on the platform with every individual adding comments on the board. A “like” on the comment can indicate that others have read it and agree with the message. The sections can then be sorted according to the number of likes so the agenda for the retrospective meeting is set.
Collect Feedback
Every time a new feature is launched, a bug is fixed, or the product is tested, it is important to get customer feedback. Agile methodology is built on the tenets of continuous improvement and teams can only improve if they have a third-party evaluate their work. Feedback is an irreplaceable tool that can help teams determine how to continue to evolve. With the right information, the project management team can launch new initiatives that are meant to better the product.
The trick to making sure teams have access to all the details they need is collecting feedback through the Asana project management software template. These include customer feedback forms that the users can disseminate amongst their clients. They include relevant questions and the most important feedback is consolidated through the software. These can help create new tasks on the dashboards with actionable items to implement the feedback immediately.
The forms can also include custom fields for contact information in case the team needs to follow up with the person to get more information. Collecting customer feedback does not mean that the team has to take action on every suggestion. The completed forms should be divided into categories according to their importance. The team can capture information and refer to it in the future when they are discussing improvements.
Conclusion
Efficient project management by Agile principles requires the support of a fast and flexible tool. Asana software helps teams act fast and build better products. It is a collaborative platform that brings everyone on the same page. When the entire organization has access to a single source of truth, it can deliver better solutions to clients. It is much easier to deal with a dynamic market and changing customer requests with the Agile-based solution. It ensures that the customers do not miss out on anything during planning.