sion, help teams prioritise and plan their work efficiently, and ensure that the team is constantly delivering value to the customer.
At a major federal agency in Australia, I led the project initiation effort on a complex IT project delivered under the SAFE Agile methodology. As a consultant, I worked with 10 product owners and three IT teams to develop the product roadmap, define the program backlog, agree on the definition of done and acceptance criteria. We achieved clear goals and objectives, obtained early feedback, effectively planned, collaborated strongly, and mitigated risk by creating these documents. Based on my observations, the role of product owner is key to successfully initiating a project because they need to understand and manage both the IT and business aspects of the project.
To sum up, project initiation for projects delivered under an Agile methodology can be challenging because IT delivery needs to be more fluid. To tackle this, product owners should consistently collaborate with the IT project manager and stakeholders to articulate the product roadmap and program backlog. Product owners are vital to Agile project initiation as they must align both the IT and business aspects of the project.
This is the third in a series of nine blogs on Agile methodology. In my next blog, I will look at the importance of backlog prioritisation in successfully delivering Agile IT projects.
Agile Framework
In the below agile framework, I am sharing a visual one-page diagram on how to implement Agile on a large scale. This framework is based on the process that was implemented at a large Federal Government Agency in Australia (who employ over 20,000 staff). I worked with more than 10 highly mature Scrum Teams at this Federal Agency who have been successfully delivering projects under large scale SAFe Agile methodology for more than 10 years. Please reach out to me at kirtan.jamnadas@aclivity.com.au if you would like to receive this document in PowerPoint format which can be updated.
About the Author
Kirtan Jamnadas is a management consultant with over seven years of experience successfully delivering complex IT projects at four large federal government agencies in Australia.
Kirtan is passionate about initiating and driving projects forward while ensuring that all stakeholders are engaged and on board with the project’s goals.
With his employer’s support, Kirtan established the company’s project management practice – this included developing all the frameworks, tools and templates to ensure projects are set up for success.
Kirtan’s mission is to provide current and aspiring project managers with simple and practical tools to help streamline operations, optimise performance and achieve project success.
