Brad Gagnon

Infrastructure Systems Architect

Project Management

time management

Prioritizing Tasks

Scrum / Agile

Agile focuses on benefits that are continuous throughout the project lifecycle; there isn’t a giant “release” at the end of the project, it’s iterative and non-sequential. It’s idea is to promote “agility” and “velocity”.

Waterfall

Waterfall is a straightforward project management methodology. It maps projects in to sequential phases – the next phase can only start when the previous is completed.

Kanban

Kanban is an “Agile” style framework, but with less restrictions and ceremonies as Scrum or Agile itself. Ideally it reduces wasted time, promotes transparency and helps prioritize work.

They can all work.

These are obviously not the only project management methodologies out there, but are three of the most common.

Time. It becomes a precious commodity in active environments. Managing that time can become a challenge and it may become stressful.

Prioritizing that time becomes critical. Prioritizing tasks based on urgency and a potential deadline is an effective way to keep on track.

I also believe that transparency and over-communication also helps push deliverables. If there is a deadline for something I’m not familiar with or need help with, communicating that is very important. Likewise, if it’s something I’m intimately familiar with and can do with very short time, communicate that.

My Approach

  • Make a list or “add it to the board”
  • Separate the “musts”, “shoulds” and “coulds”
  • Constantly re-evaluate priorities, projects and communications
  • Transparency the entire way
  • Consistently estimate time and effort for each task
  • Split large workloads to smaller and simpler “stories”
  • Document progress in an accessible and inclusive place

Project Management Experience Overview

I’ve used a variety of methodologies, software and platforms for project management. Below are specifics that I’ve professionally used:

  • Agile / Scaled Agile (SAFe)
  • Kanban
  • Waterfall
  • Critical Path
  • Lean Management
  • Microsoft Project
  • Atlassian Stack (Jira, Confluence)
  • Trello
  • Kanboard
  • Taiga
  • SmartSheet
  • Redmine
  • Epics / Stories / Sprints
  • Scrum Ceremonies (Standup, Sprint Planning / Review / Retrospective)
  • Burndown Charts
  • Backlog Management
  • Product Owner / Scrum Master

My opinion is that pure Scrum does not translate well to infrastructure. There are too many unpredictable dependencies on things that you may not have control over – lead times, procurement, contract review, audits and a host of other things. At the end of the sprint, you don’t really have a deployable or shippable product.