The term ‘project management’ is increasingly trending however it isn’t a new phenomenon. Truth be told, the study of the history of project management is a relatively new development. The present version we have come to know and love was officially defined in the 1990s. However, the 1950s marked the beginning of the modern project management era and the craft is still evolving.

But What Is Project Management? 

“Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve goals and meet success criteria at a specified time.” – Joseph Philipps, project management expert and author of Project Management Professional (PMP) Study Guide 

Without a doubt, you clicked to read this article because you are interested in project management (just like us!), along with the methods and approaches in the industry. You understand that finding and utilising a specific method can help make or break your projects and your company. 

Alternatively, you may have posed the question of whether to use an online project management tool (like Zenkit) or continue creating charts and diagrams with standard pen and paper or even use a whiteboard and markers in your workshop!

No matter how big or small your company is, how simple or complicated your project may be, or the amount of resources you may have, finding out which project management method suits your needs best will truly help you stand out above the rest.

Project management can prove to be challenging for large corporations as well as medium-sized enterprises, startups, freelancers, and private citizens alike.

With the right project management method, your project process can be made much easier and problems can be avoided at an early stage. “But which project management method fits me, my company and my project best?” you ask. 

Does an Agile Method like Scrum, Lean, or Kanban offer the most flexibility? Or would a classical method like the Waterfall Method make more sense in my situation? Maybe a variation of the classics like the Critical Path Method might fit best? 

We have often asked ourselves these questions as well. That is why we have created an interactive quiz to help you figure out which project management method best suits your needs.

Take this quiz to find out which project management method is a perfect fit for your company or your individual projects. 

The post Project Management Quiz: Best Method for Your Project? appeared first on Zenkit.

Are there just too many tasks to do in a short amount of time? Don’t even know where to begin, how to organize it all, or what to prioritize first? Find yourself working at a clean desk, but with a cluttered mind? You’re definitely not alone. 

We live in an information overload society that is riddled with people, information, and tasks competing for our attention, making it extremely difficult to eliminate distractions and noise from our daily routine. 

Prioritization is the key. The answer to doing more better lies in how we design our time. 

Time management solutions are efficient tools to measure and foster productivity. And because we can’t make more time, we need to learn how to make better use of it. Instead of focusing on the number of tasks completed in a day, start prioritizing those that matter.

There are countless time and project management methods and techniques to boost your productivity and help you do your job more efficiently. A simple, yet powerful tool that does just that is the Eisenhower Matrix. The Eisenhower Matrix is an excellent task prioritization matrix for practising better time management. Even if you’ve never heard of the term, you have probably been using the method. 

It goes without saying that most successful people are adept time and project managers. As key skills in any industry, time and task management require focus, prioritization, and planning to increase productivity and achieve your goals. 

However, if we’re honest, staying organized and on top of deadlines isn’t always that simple. Keep reading to learn about how the Eisenhower Matrix can help you get things done…

What Is the Eisenhower Matrix?

The Eisenhower Matrix (also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix, Eisenhower Box, Eisenhower Method, and Time Management Matrix) is a decision-making method that helps you sort out tasks based on the criteria of urgency and importance. 

Although simple in its makeup, this prioritization matrix is powerful. Use it to eliminate the noise and time-wasting activities in your life, help you combat the “mere-urgency” effect (more on this later), and increase your mental legroom to make progress on your long-term goals.

This method is particularly useful for people who:

• Find themselves merely running around handling daily crises 
• Are busy but feel inefficient and ineffective
• Have long-term goals but no time or energy to make progress on them
• Have trouble delegating tasks or saying ‘no’

With oodles of time management strategies and tools to choose from, what makes the Eisenhower Matrix so noteworthy? It is remarkable because, despite its simplicity, it has outlived the trends (having often been repackaged and sold as new!) and continues to produce results.

Where Does the Term Come from? 

For those of us more familiar with US History, the name Eisenhower probably rings a bell. The term does indeed derive from the 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Having served as a five-star general in the United States Army, better known as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces during World War II, Eisenhower had to continuously make tough decisions due to the nature of his job and responsibilities. 

“I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Fun fact: the method first became popular through its appearance in the genre-defining self-help book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The author, Stephen Covey, repackaged Eisenhower’s decision-making principles into a template to prioritize tasks, now known as the Eisenhower Matrix. 

How Does It Work? The Eisenhower Matrix Explained

The Eisenhower Matrix is an extremely effective way to prioritize and manage both your time and your tasks. Arranged into four categories, the decision-making method is based on two simple criteria: urgency and importance. 

The matrix is systematized with four quadrants, structured according to urgency on the x-axis and by importance on the y-axis. According to priority and urgency levels, the user organizes their tasks and activities into the following categories:

• Quadrant 1: Do first – get it done now
• Quadrant 2: Decide when – make a schedule, set a deadline 
• Quadrant 3: Delegate to – divide the workload 
• Quadrant 4: Delete it – eliminate unnecessary elements 

Why Everything We Know About Productivity Is Wrong: How to Decipher the Urgent from the Important

Being able to categorize your daily and weekly tasks into these four quadrants is a challenge and arguably the fundamental and most complex skill for utilizing this prioritization matrix. 

According to the Pareto-Principle, 80% of the planned results can be achieved with 20% of the total effort. Problem: most people often invest more of their time in miscellaneous activities rather than focusing on tasks that will produce the best results with the least amount of effort.

This is a consequence of “present shock” – a condition in which we lose our sense of the long-term narrative and direction, because of living in a continuous, always-on, ‘now’ moment. Research shows that we live in a pattern, dubbed the “Mere-Urgency Effect”, where we tend to prioritize tasks with deadlines over tasks without one regardless of the impact they can make in the long run.

It is, therefore, pertinent to be able to distinguish the urgent tasks and activities from those that are important. Urgent tasks are things that require an immediate attentive response such as a tax deadline, health scare, or scheduled parent-teacher meeting. According to Brett McKay, founder and editor-in-chief of the Art of Manliness, “Important tasks are things that contribute to our long-term mission, values, and goals.” Deciding which tasks you should or should not do becomes much easier when you are certain about what is important to you.

Rory Vaden, author and Self-Discipline Strategist explains that most people are trading their to-do lists for emergencies. In Procrastinate on Purpose, he describes most successful people as “time multipliers” who begin their day by posing the question: “What are the most important things that I can do today that would free up more time tomorrow?”

So instead of continuing your tiresome and likely unhealthy cycle of decision-making, begin making truly smarter, more conscious choices today.  Stop hustling without purpose.

Popular Youtuber John Green comments on productivity: “I would argue life is not about becoming the most efficient, problem-solving, value-creation machine you can become. To me, productivity is mostly a matter of recognizing that time is what we have and that it is imperative to be a steward of our most precious resource: time.” 

Start Doing What Matters Using the Eisenhower Matrix

1. Do first – Get it done now: Tasks that are urgent and important

Quadrant 1 tasks are inevitable, and characterized as urgent and important; they require direct and immediate attention. These tasks have a tendency to be more tedious and challenging consequently requiring more time and attention to complete.

Tasks that land in the first quadrant are often the direct result of procrastination. They should, however, be tackled first and completed as soon as possible.

Use Mark Twain’s Eat the Frog principle to master possible task paralysis. The term ‘eat that frog’ refers to getting your worst task out of the way first. Eating the frog implies you finish a task you don’t want to do, but know you have to do. These tasks ultimately give you a strong feeling of accomplishment once completed.

For those of us who work best under pressure or with clear deadlines, you can use the Pomodoro technique to help you focus on the task.

Types of Quadrant 1 Tasks include:

• Review a document for your manager
• Finalize the employee payslips
• Pick up the dry cleaning on Friday afternoon for the weekend event

2. Decide when – Make a schedule, and set a deadline: Tasks that are important, but not urgent

Not every important task has to be finished in one day. Tasks that are important, but not urgent are generally long-term projects or assignments that require sufficient planning and a certain amount of time to be executed properly.

Termed the sweet spot of personal time management, the second quadrant is the spot focused on personal improvement in terms of opportunities and growth. Quadrant 2 is the perfect location to write down a list of your meaningful goals. Remember to set realistic deadlines even for tasks that aren’t urgent.

Types of Quadrant 2 Tasks:

• Set up a marketing budget for the following year
• A restart of your fitness regimen
• Update your will

3. Delegate to – Divide the workload: Tasks that are urgent, but not important

Quadrant 3 is where the mere-urgency effect affects lives. Even if you and I were the best multi-taskers and extremely efficient in our jobs, we have to face the fact that we aren’t Superman.

The common phrase, “teamwork makes the dream work” isn’t famous just because it is catchy, but because it is true.

Good leaders and managers know when to do a task themselves and when to delegate the work to someone else. Sometimes it’s best to delegate a task you could do yourself to a co-worker knowing they might be the better person to complete the job.

Types of Quadrant 3 Tasks:

• Schedule a job interview
• Go food shopping
• Book flights for vacation

4. Delete it – Eliminate unnecessary elements: Tasks that are neither urgent nor important

Quadrant 4 is the quadrant of excess and immediate gratification. Tasks that are neither urgent nor important are to be placed in the trash, out of sight and out of mind. Depending on the situation, such tasks could reappear on your to-do list in a week’s time but do not need to be done yet and may even be considered a waste of time.

Types of Quadrant 4 Tasks:

• Buy a new coffee machine
• Renew magazine subscription
• Sort through junk mail

Best Practice Tips for Using the Eisenhower Matrix

• Add a splash of colour! Colour-coding helps give an overview of the categories and quadrants at a glance.
• Do not mix business with leisure! Create separate lists for your professional and personal tasks. This makes it easier to stay organized because you aren’t having to decide between scheduling a doctor’s appointment and booking an important business trip.
• Make it visual! Not a fan of the square layout? Why not organize the matrix Kanban-style! There are plenty of great tools you can use to do this. Here’s a template for implementing the prioritization matrix in Zenkit:

• Put a label on it! Labels are great ways to stay organized. This technique works especially well for tasks or activities that might fall in more than one category for a period of time. Alternatively, you can organize your tasks into the four categories using labels in the Kanban layout.
• Be environmentally friendly! Save paper. Go online! There are many online task and time management tools available nowadays that can help you to track your progress, whether for personal or professional use as a team. (psst! Zenkit!)

Convinced That the Eisenhower Matrix Is for You? Here Are Some Things to Consider

Advantages of the time management matrix:

• It’s free! It’s easily one of, if not the cheapest technique to use. The Eisenhower Matrix is a free resource and you need no special software or tools to get started. 
• UX approved! The method requires no previous knowledge or experience to use either. Since there are no predefined rules telling you what is urgent and what is important, you are free to decide which tasks go into which quadrant according to your preference. So, what are you waiting for? Give the method a try. 
• Designed for decisions! You will become better at making split-second decisions naturally because the method makes you consider the importance of your tasks and reevaluate what is urgent and what isn’t. 
• Review it! Tracking and analyzing your progress and habits after using the matrix helps you practice self-analysis and teaches better self-awareness.

Disadvantages of the Eisenhower Matrix:

• You only have two choices. The matrix is systematized based on two criteria: urgency and importance. It doesn’t take external factors like resources, complexity, or level of effort into account. 
• Not so easy does it. Like all good things, using the matrix takes work. On a daily basis, it can be difficult and time-consuming to categorize your tasks. The matrix serves as an aid to help you start each day with an action plan. Make sure that organizing your tasks doesn’t become the focus.
• No flex room. The grid can easily become overwhelming and quickly generate task paralysis when too many tasks are present. Limiting the number of tasks in each quadrant will keep the chaos contained.

Key Takeaways on the Eisenhower Matrix, Time Management, and the Universe

Staying organized in this time-pressured world can prove challenging due to overlapping commitments and spontaneous ‘urgent’ meetings. A recurring false pretence of urgency can also cloud one’s understanding or definition of an ‘urgent matter’. 

A common cause of stress and job burnout is improper time management. Utilizing this method helps you learn key principles of planning, prioritizing, delegating, and scheduling. The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple aid to help you increase productivity and complete tasks that matter. 

This prioritization matrix may not work for all, but it’s a great starting point. You can use it as a stepping stone to finding a more personalized, better-suited technique. So, what are you waiting for? 

1. Set yourself up for success.
2. Stop hustling without purpose.
3. Switch to prioritizing long-term goals over shallow task wins.
4. Start working on what matters.

Final Thoughts

We know that habits don’t happen overnight. Just like in sports, practice makes perfect. Sometimes it takes a little (or a lot!) of experimenting to find what system works best for you and your team. But the reward for finding the system that fits you best, whether for personal or business use, is incomparable. I think it’s safe to say that it’s more effective to invest enough time for the important but not urgent things now, rather than waiting until the frog has doubled in size. What type of productivity tools and time-saving methods are you using? 

Cheers, 

Jessica and the Zenkit Team

Image Credits: Carl Heyerdahl via Unsplash, fotografierende via Pexels, JESHOOTS.com via Pexels

The post The Eisenhower Matrix: A Task Prioritization Method appeared first on Zenkit.

You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality – Walt Disney

The hiring process, or recruitment process, you implement can have a great impact on the future success of your small business.

Your employees are a valuable asset to your company so you need the right people on board to influence your business’s performance and prosperity. This is why it’s essential to have an efficient and effective hiring process in place.

In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of maximizing your hiring process and how to do so using Zenkit.

The Importance of an Efficient and Effective Hiring Process

Hiring new employees can sometimes be a long and tedious process, and it’s not every manager’s favourite thing to do, however, it’s a significant procedure that can affect the direction of where your small business goes. The result of an efficient and effective hiring process can mean lower costs involved, saved time, and higher quality candidates.

The purpose of a hiring process is to find the most suitable candidate for a vacant position in your business. Not only do you want someone who is qualified for the position, but you also want someone who is reliable and has the right attitude.

Think about your current group of employees and the kind of person that will gel with them. If you truly want the best fit, you have to look beyond qualifications and consider the personality traits and characteristics that will fit well with your current staff.

A strong hiring process can also result in a higher retention rate. High turnover rates can be damaging to a company. It can lower morale and prolong the vacancy of a position. An efficient and effective hiring process will ensure the right person is hired the first time around.

While it’s important to optimize efficiency in the hiring process, you also have to be careful that you’re not compromising on quality when trying to speed things up. You need to find a harmonious balance between the two. 

7 Tips to Maximize Your Hiring Process

Hiring someone can get expensive, so it’s crucial to get it right the first time around. Here are some tips that could help you maximize your process:

1. Produce great job ads
Be specific with what you’re looking for when writing the criteria for the position. Use concise and inclusive language and stick to traditional job titles—don’t fluff around with imaginative titles.

2. Embrace social media
Sharing your job ad on social media demonstrates you’re a company that is willing to work with new technology to promote your brand. This can attract a group of tech-savvy candidates and widen your reach to a bigger audience. 

3. Scale back on resources
Minimize the resources required for the early stages of the hiring process. You could do this by conducting phone or video interviews as the first step of the process instead of jumping straight into a face-to-face interview. A phone or video call can last 15 minutes, whereas a face-to-face interview can be about an hour commitment.

4. Create checklists
Checklists are a great way to ensure the required steps for a standard process are being met. Creating one for the hiring process can improve productivity and make sure that no detail has been overlooked.

5. Visualize progress
Being the visual creatures that we are, the option to visualize anything makes it ten times better to follow. Being able to track a candidate’s development throughout the hiring process will let you know how things are progressing overall. You’ll know how close you are to finding the right person.

6. Ask for feedback
At the end of each interview, ask the candidates to fill in a short survey about their experience. Include questions that cover what they thought about the interview process and the things they would change. This is a great way to know the areas that need improvement. Speaking of improvement…

7. Review your process
Regularly reviewing your hiring process enables you to further improve as you’ll be able to see what works and what doesn’t. It can bring to your attention any parts that could be outsourced or automated. It can ensure you’re not working with a process that is outdated and ineffective.

How to Keep Track of Your Applicants

Keeping track of the hiring process ensures you don’t overlook an important detail. The easiest way to use Zenkit to streamline your hiring process is to create a collection to monitor the applicants. Here’s how:

Step 1:

Create a free Zenkit account by signing up here.

Step 2:

Once you’ve signed in and customized your profile, click on new collection (this will be your applicant tracking process), give your collection a name, and hit “create”.

Step 3:

The Kanban board view will automatically appear, which is what you want for creating your hiring process. The Kanban method is ideal for your process as it allows you to visualize a candidate’s progress. Moving each item on the board to its respective list will map out the development of each item.

By following Kanban’s “to-do, doing, and done” principle, create a number of lists that will represent the different stages of your hiring process and label them accordingly.

To rename the lists from the existing “To-Do, In Progress, Done”, simply click on one of the labels and go to the list name section in the menu box that appears. To add more stages to your workflow, all you have to do is click on “+ Add Stage”, give the list a label, and either click on “create” or hit enter – pretty self-explanatory, right?

To give you an idea of how you can map out your hiring process, we’ve gone with the following stages:

• Applied
• Interviewing
• Evaluating
• Rejected
• Offered
• Accepted
• Declined
• Reference check
• Hired

Step 4:

Next, you want to add some custom fields to give more context to a task or item. Every field in Zenkit includes 12 options which enable you to add extra information such as the applicant’s contact details, the position they’re applying for, and the date of their interview.

To add a custom field to an item, click on an item to open it. Then click on the “+” sign which is located above the comment section, and then select “custom field”.

Give your custom field a name, select what type it will be (label, text, number), and fill in the other details required.

The following are the custom fields we’ve added:

• Email
• Phone number
• Role/position applying for
• Files/documents (CV, portfolio, images)
• Phone interview date
• Phone interview notes
• Phone interview score
• In-person interview date
• In-person interview notes
• In-person interview score

Step 5:

To add an applicant to your new visualized hiring process, hover your mouse over the right side of your first list’s (should be the “Applied list”) label and a “+” should appear. Click on it, name the item after the candidate’s name, and fit create. Click on the newly created item and fill in the details in the column that appears on the right-hand side of your collection.

Tip: If you have images of the applicants that you want to add to the item, a good tip is to position the image on the top. This will make it bigger and allow it to stand out. To do this, click on “Kanban” on the top, right-hand side of your collection and click on “edit” that appears on the Kanban option in the menu. Then scroll down to “Image Position”, select “Top”, and voila!

What your visualized hiring process should look like once you start adding the applicants to it:

Of course, if you don’t want to start from scratch, you can head to Zenkit’s template page and use the recruiting template. It provides a ready-made workflow structure that you can still customize.

Final Thoughts

An efficient and effective hiring process can do wonders for your small business. It can lower costs, save time, and attract qualified, reliable, and approachable candidates.

Having your process mapped out visually can help maximize it as it allows you to keep track of an applicant’s progress and notifies you of the status of the overall process.

Remember, although you want it to be efficient, it’s important to tread through the process carefully so you get it right the first time around.

What key qualities do you look for in a good employee?

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post How to Maximize Your Hiring Process to Attract Top Talent appeared first on Zenkit.

Kanban and Scrum are two popular project management methodologies that are commonly used by teams looking for an agile approach to delivering a product. But do you know when to use which?

While this article is titled “Kanban vs Scrum”, our intention is not to battle the two methods up against each other, but instead, to detail the similarities and differences so you understand the best circumstances of when to use either method.

So, without further ado…

What Is Kanban?

Kanban is a scheduling system that visualizes the workflow process and the work passing through. Part of Lean and Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing was derived from the manufacturing industry by Toyota employee, Taiichi Ohno, in the 1940s. Since then, Kanban has evolved into the visual scheduling system that many of us are familiar with today.

The Kanban method aims to reduce waste, continuously improve the process, and increase overall productivity. While there are no established rules of how Kanban works, there are six general practices that should be applied to ensure optimized Kanban use. They are:

1. Visualization
2. Limit work in progress
3. Flow management
4. Make policies explicit
5. Use feedback loops
6. Collaborative or experiment evolution

The visual nature of Kanban allows you to identify any bottlenecks early on in the development process, enabling you to deliver a higher-quality product. It does this with the help of Kanban tools such as a Kanban board, Kanban cards, and sometimes even Kanban swimlanes.

Kanban board

A Kanban board is what is used to visualize the development process. A typical board features at least three columns, titled “To Do”, “Doing”, and “Done”, which represent various stages of the process.

The board can either be made with a whiteboard, sticky notes, and markers, or you could use an online Kanban board, for which there are endless software options.

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Kanban cards

Kanban cards are what are used to depict a work item or task within the work process. It can also represent information such as the item/task’s status, cycle time, and deadline.

Kanban swimlanes

Not every Kanban board uses swimlanes. Swimlanes are a visual element on the board that flows horizontally and are used for added organization. They categorize items or tasks and enable you to further distinguish them.

What Is Scrum?

Scrum is an agile framework which focuses on developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products through collaboration, accountability, and iterative progress. It encourages collaborative decision-making and constructive feedback so a higher quality product can result.

Scrum is known for its defined team roles which are self-organizing and cross-functional, and designed to optimize flexibility, creativity, and productivity. They are:

Product Owner

The first role is the Product Owner who is the product expert. They represent the stakeholders and the voice of the customer. They are solely responsible and accountable for managing the Product Backlog.

Development Team

The Development Team is a group of professionals who deliver the product and create the Increment which is the working product functionality that is presented to the stakeholders and the of the sprint and could potentially be given to the customer. It is usually comprised of developers, programmers, or designers.

Scrum Master

The Scrum Master facilitates a scrum project. Their core duty is to ensure the team successfully executes the project according to the principles and practices of scrum methodology, and that everyone on the team understands the core aim of scrum. 

They are responsible for making sure the development team is on track by providing necessary resources and blocking out any distractions that may hinder the development process.

A scrum workflow is made up of events. Each event is time-boxed, meaning they hold a maximum duration time that cannot be exceeded.

Scrum events

Sprint

Sprints are iterative time boxes in which a goal is accomplished. The time frame doesn’t surpass one calendar month and is consistent throughout the development process.

Spring planning

This event happens at the beginning of every sprint, and it’s when the scrum team gets together to plan the upcoming sprint.

Daily Scrum

A Daily Scrum is a 15-minute time-boxed meeting that happens at the same time, every day of the Sprint. The team discusses the previous day’s achievements as well as the expectations for the next day.

Sprint review

A review is an informal meeting held at the end of every Sprint. This is where the Scrum team present their Increment to the stakeholders and discusses feedback.

Sprint retrospective

The Sprint Retrospective occurs after the Sprint Review and before the next Sprint Planning. It’s a meeting where the team consider the steps and actions of the previous Sprint and set up improvements for the next Sprint.

Scrum Artifacts

Product backlog

This is where all the requirements needed for a viable product are listed in order of priority. It includes features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that authorize any changes to be made to the product in future releases. It’s managed by the product owner.

Sprint backlog

This backlog is a list of the tasks and requirements that need to be achieved during the next Sprint. It is sometimes accompanied by a Scrum task board that is used to visualize the progress of the current Sprint.

User story

A user story is a tool used to describe a software feature from an end-user perspective. They help to imagine the type of people that would use the product. The common format that is used to initiate discussion and thought is:

As a [role], I want [feature], because [reason]. 

Product increment

The product increment is the result of all the product backlog items accomplished during a sprint. It’s the working product that is presented at the end of the sprint to stakeholders and potential customers.

Kanban vs Scrum

Kanban and Scrum are work methods that aim to reduce waste. While they both adhere to the agile principles of collaboration, continuous improvement, and flexibility, you can see that Kanban and Scrum are their own methodologies. Their main differences include:

To dive deeper into the last point, a key difference between Kanban and Scrum is the workflow and how items are managed. In Scrum, the work you do during a sprint is determined before the sprint starts. Then you do all the work during the sprint and after a few weeks (no longer than a month), your queue is empty.

In Kanban, only the size of the queues is limited, known as the WIP (work in progress) limit. This means there are no time restrictions as to when you are able to change the items in the queue, and there’s no such thing as a “sprint end”. This allows the work to continue flowing.

Kanban is a tool that can be used to visualize project workflows to improve performance and quality. It doesn’t have a strict set structure in place, so it can be used with whatever process your team has already implemented. It can even be applied to personal productivity purposes.

Scrum, on the other hand, is iterative and incremental which means it’s ideal for teams who want a more enforced method of working. It’s also more suitable for teams with less than seven people.

Can Kanban and Scrum Be Used at the Same Time?

Kanban and Scrum can be used at the same time, most commonly by Scrum teams using Kanban. This method is known as “Scrumban”.

Scrumban is a workflow management approach that takes the structure of Scrum and combines it with the flexibility and the visual representation of Kanban. It can be used for teams who want to apply Scrum project management as a way of working and adopt the Kanban method as a way to visualize and continuously improve.

This method can also be used as an avenue for teams seeking to transition from Scrum to Kanban. Software development teams who may find an immediate shift too extreme can turn to Scrumban as it offers an easier transition period for teams. An example of the kind of projects Scrumban could work well for is maintenance ones such as a help desk or support assistance.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion to the Kanban vs Scrum discussion, it’s safe to say that they are different methodologies that appeal to different audiences. Where Scrum favours a more prescriptive process, Kanban leaves room for a more flexible workflow.

They both comply with agile principles but also have their own individual values and practices. Which side of the fence you sit on when it comes to Kanban vs Scrum really comes down to the kind of project your team has and what type of product you wish to deliver.

Have you used either Kanban or Scrum lately? If so, don’t forget to share your experiences in our comment section. We appreciate any feedback we get as it helps us to deliver the kind of content our readers wish to see!

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

Image Credits: Tim Gouw via Unsplash

The post Kanban vs Scrum appeared first on Zenkit.

It’s no secret that project management tools are an asset to many companies. Since their emergence in the 1960s, they’ve helped businesses across an array of industries achieve quality results by facilitating the planning, delivering, and administering of the project management process.

We at Zenkit are, of course, one of these companies. Not only is it our bread and butter, but as a team, we’ve found great value in using project management tools as part of our daily repertoire and for bigger projects as well.

In this article, we’ll be discussing what project management tools are and how they can be beneficial to the teams and people who use them.

What Are Project Management Tools?

Project management tools are resources that help project managers and teams deliver projects from implementation to completion. They assist in organizing and simplifying processes, which allows you to optimize productivity and achieve maximum results.

While you can consider anything that helps execute a project as a project management tool (even a piece of paper and pen!), it commonly refers to the software and applications that allow you to schedule tasks and provide a database for information. They can also refer to the resources and processes that help to execute a project.

You can get the tools as SaaS products, on-premise, and open-source project management tools. The features offered depend on the product’s level of sophistication, but common features of project management tools include the following:

• Planning and scheduling
• Activity monitoring
• Cost control and budget management
• Resource allocation
• Report generator
• Collaboration and communication apps
• Mobile ability
• Integration

Popular Project Management Tools and Processes

Kanban

Kanban is a scheduling system popularly used by many project teams as it provides a visualization of the workflow process.

The way it works is that you have a Kanban board with columns that represent the various stages of the project process such as “to-do, doing, done”. You then use Kanban cards which represent items or tasks and move them along the columns depending on which stage of the process they are up to.

The benefit of using a Kanban project management tool is that the transparency it provides of the project details makes it an efficient way for members of your project team to communicate and work well with each other. This fosters collaboration and can reduce the time spent on face-to-face meetings. The highly visual method is also great for identifying bottlenecks early on in the process, which can allow teams to deliver a higher-quality product.

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Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is another project management tool widely used within project teams. It is a bar chart that represents your project schedule by using a vertical task list against a horizontal timescale design to showcase the broken-down structure of the project work and the relationship between the activities.

The reason why Gantt charts are so commonly used for managing projects is that they can help project managers work out all aspects of the project, from how long a task will take to who’s accountable for it, to evaluating how much the project will cost. As well as planning the project, Gantt charts are also great for tracking a project’s progress. Its visualized structure makes it ideal for reporting information to stakeholders and customers.

Gantt chart project management tools come as specialized software products or all-in-one solutions. You can even create your own Gantt chart using spreadsheet-like applications such as Excel.

Work Breakdown Structure

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a visual project management tool that highlights all the deliverables of the project arranged in order of priority.

The Project Management Institute defines it as “a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be carried out by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.”

It serves as the foundation for planning and scheduling and outlines all the “what” of a project while prioritizing the deliverables. It allows project managers to break down the scope of the project into manageable and actionable chunks.

A benefit of having a work breakdown structure as part of your project management workflow is that it can help alleviate uncertainty amongst the project manager, team, and stakeholders as they’re all involved in the production. It also helps set the basis for the project schedule as once all the deliverables are established, it makes it easier to allocate deadlines and resources.

Project Roadmap

The project roadmap is a visual overview of the project scope which includes its goals, initiatives, milestones, and deliverables. Usually presented on a timeline, it’s information that the project manager can refer to as a guide throughout the duration of the project to ensure everything is on track.

This project management tool is useful for communicating project details to current and potential stakeholders. It can ensure everyone is on the same page and that expectations are understood and are being met.

Unlike a project plan which covers the details of everything involved in the project planning process from resource to risk management, a project roadmap displays information simply and without specifics so you can have an overview at a quick glance.

The Perks of Using Project Management Tools

Project management tools aim to help project teams achieve the best results possible. They do so by assisting with the following:

Progress Tracking

Tracking the activity of a project is simplified when using a project management tool. Having the details of each task, including what’s involved, the resources needed, and who’s accountable provided in a structured way can help you assess the likelihood of whether the project will meet its deadline and what measures to take in case it looks like it’s going to fall short.

Communication & Collaboration

Project management tools offer your project team a centralized platform where project details can be announced, shared, and updated on. This type of access to information makes it easier for team members to communicate with each other. Documents and files concerning the project can also be kept on the project management tool, which makes team collaboration more effortless as well.

Budget Control

One of the biggest concerns for a project manager is ensuring everything stays within budget. Using a project management tool can help manage and monitor all costs relating to the project. It can provide an overview of where the money is going, enabling you to analyze and cut costs if and when necessary to ensure you don’t go over budget.

Time Management

Meeting deadlines and milestones are important aspects of the project management process, and using a project management tool can help achieve them. The tool can help you prioritize tasks, estimate how much time it will take to complete them, and keep an eye on what causes delays.

Decision-Making

The transparency provided in project management tools can enhance decision-making. Because you have all the project details and information in one place, it can allow you to evaluate things easier and help make better decisions.

Client Satisfaction

Project management tools can bridge the gap between your client’s expectations and your team meeting them. These tools offer a more organized and methodical way of working which can help mitigate risk. Working with a more efficient process can increase your chances of client satisfaction.

Final Thoughts

While you don’t need the best project management tools of 2019 in order to produce the best results, having some sort of project management tool implemented is the best thing you could do for your project. It provides structure and can facilitate the project management process.

What kind of project management tool has worked favourably for you or your business? We always enjoy hearing from our readers, so don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comment section.

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post Project Management Tools 101: From Planning to the Perks appeared first on Zenkit.

On any given day, most of us are swamped with tasks. Whether we’re working professionals, students, or stay-at-home parents, our piles seem to be never-ending.

That’s why we need task management.

In this article, I’ll discuss how task management is beneficial for both teams and individuals, and several different approaches that can be implemented for improved organization.

What Is Task Management?

Task management covers the life cycle of a task, from the development of an idea, all the way through to completion. It includes planning, tracking, testing, and reporting. Whether you’re working in a team or completing tasks on your own—in the office or at home—task management can help you accomplish your tasks in the most efficient and effective way possible.

The Perks of Task Management

Having a bunch of tasks assigned to you without a plan of attack can leave you feeling overwhelmed, disorderly, and unproductive. How do you know which task to tackle first or which task is the most urgent or important? An effective task management system can help you answer these questions. It can help you to prioritize, coordinate, and delegate tasks. It can also help you manage your time so that you meet deadlines and keep your workload balanced.

Outside of work, many of us also have a lot to do when it comes to our personal lives. From managing household chores to running errands to keeping up with social events, task management is something that is inherently done outside of the professional sphere as well.

The beauty of task management is that while our professional and personal tasks may differ, the same principles can be applied to both. For instance, the types of task management systems and approaches that are used in the office can also be applied to our personal tasks. This includes using suitable tools to get things done.

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Tools for Task Management

There are many tools you can use to manage your tasks. The simplest form is using a pen and notebook. While this is a fuss-free, cost-friendly option that is accessible to most of the population, it can be rather restricting compared to using task management apps because you’re limited to only what a pen and notebook can offer.

In comparison, task management software comes in various shapes and sizes, from single-focused to-do list apps to all-in-one solutions that allow you to not only visualize your tasks but also track the time you spend on them. The price tags of task management software also vary, from hefty monthly fees to free and freemium packages. So, however, if you wish to manage your tasks, you won’t be short to find an app that will cater to your situation.

The benefits of using a task management app over pen and paper include:

• You can centralize your activity, which means that everything you are working on can be available in one place, making it easier to find information and collaborate with other people.
• You can keep track of progress, which can give you an idea of how long a task will take and will allow you to keep clients and stakeholders updated on how things are coming along.
• You can access your tasks anywhere by using an app that features mobile ability (let’s face it, you’re more likely going to have your phone on you than your notebook and pen).

Task Management Approaches

There are various approaches to task management. Here are some of the more popular methods that can help you keep on top of your workload:

Agile Management

Managing your task with an agile methodology provides you with an alternative to the otherwise rigid process of linear, sequential project management methods.

In 2001, 13 experts within the software development industry got together and came up with a solution that was created as a response to the inadequacies of the then popularly used Waterfall method. What they came up with was a process where demands and solutions evolve through a collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams, and iterative and incremental development stages, which proved to be a more fitting solution for software development.

Since then, agile methods have been adopted for all kinds of project and task management outside of software development. It offers a flexible approach which makes it ideal for anyone looking for a forgiving way to organize and coordinate their tasks. The flexibility accommodates last-minute changes and encourages collaboration with teams and stakeholders.

Kanban Management

Kanban is a highly visual scheduling system created by the management of Toyota factories in Japan in the 1940s. The method visualizes a workflow process with a Kanban board, Kanban cards, and sometimes even Kanban swimlanes. The main objective of using Kanban is to identify bottlenecks early on in the process, so as to stop them from seriously affecting the final result.

Originally intended for manufacturing, and then adapted for software development teams, it is now popularly used by any team or individual looking for a visual method of managing their tasks. While there are no solid rules of Kanban per se, its core purpose is to minimize waste, continuously improve your process, and increase overall productivity.

The most basic setup is dividing your Kanban board into three columns labelled “To-do”, “Doing”, and “Done”. Rather than self-explanatory columns, using Kanban requires you to limit the number of tasks in the middle column and focus on moving tasks into the last column.

Applying the Kanban method offers a lot of flexibility which is why it’s ideal for task management. Delegating, coordinating, and tracking tasks is made simple. Information becomes transparent, and it can also limit multitasking and reduce errors.

Eat the Frog

Sometimes, the hardest part of task management is actually getting started on your tasks. Eat the frog is a method designed to help you tackle your biggest, most difficult task first thing (and no consumption of amphibians required).

Eat the frog is a method that aims to overcome procrastination, a habit that most of us are guilty of and wish to conquer. How this works is that you prioritize your “frog” at the top of the list. The idea behind this technique is that once you have your most dreaded task out of the way, it will get the ball running and set the flow for the rest of your day.

To spot your “frog”, you can reference the Eisenhower method. By producing a matrix of need vs want, you can categorize your tasks into four groups:

1. Things you have to do and don’t want to do
2. Things you have to do and want to do
3. Things you don’t have to do and want to do
4. Things you don’t have to do and don’t want to do

Your “frog” falls within the first category. It is basically the task you need to do, but don’t have any desire to do, which is why you fall prey to procrastination.

We’ve all been in situations where we have a big task that we avoid because it’s either too daunting or boring to get started on. But this task management technique aims to help you overcome it. Imagine the sense of relief and accomplishment you will feel once the biggest task is completed first. It will make the rest of your tasks seem effortless.

Getting Things Done

Getting Things Done, or GTD for short is a framework for organizing and tracking tasks created by David Allen. The method propels you to add context and structure to tasks so that you have a higher chance of actually completing them.

The idea behind GTD is that because “your mind is for having ideas and not holding them” the method provides a way to turn your ideas into actions, and gives you a clear list of what you have to do. GTD involves following a workflow of 5 steps:

1. Capture: write down all your ideas on a list (the ‘inbox’).
2. Clarify: process your ideas.
3. Organize: determine which ideas you can take action on.
4. Reflect: assess your list on a weekly basis so that it doesn’t pile up!
5. Engage: once your ideas have been captured and processed, you can start knocking things off your list.

Note: if your tasks take more than one step to complete, then they should be considered a project. If your list has more than one related task, group them together and create a project.

We’ve all created to-do lists at some point in our lives. Finishing those lists, however, is a completely different story.  GTD provides a system for you to actually tick off the tasks on your to-do list. The concept is designed so that once you develop a system you can rely on, you won’t be so worried about keeping track of everything, which will then free up brain power for doing more productive things. In other words, things will get done.

Final Thoughts

While completing tasks is still doable without some sort of system in place, task management does make life easier. Whether you’ve decided on a Kanban board to visualize your tasks and follow their development, or refined lists to get things done, implementing a task management approach can ensure your tasks get done efficiently and effectively.

What’s your favourite task management approach? Don’t forget to let us know in our comment section.

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post Task Management Explained: 4 Approaches for a Balanced Workload appeared first on Zenkit.

It’s not just mothers and health enthusiasts that can benefit from planning their meals. In this article, we’ll illustrate the perks that can be enjoyed when planning ahead, and how it can all be done in Zenkit.

There are many reasons why people choose to plan their meals, from accommodating different dietary requirements, to optimizing time during the working week, or to prep for a special event. Whatever your reason, when done correctly, having this kind of structure can eliminate stress and allow you to truly enjoy the end result—eating.

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” – Virginia Woolf

Planning your meals ahead of time can also bring along the following benefits:

• Avoid food waste
• Save money
• Add more variety to your meals
• Keep a well-balanced diet

Visualize Your Planning

We humans love anything that looks pretty, so displaying data visually makes all the more sense when trying to get organized.

One of Zenkit’s biggest assets is its multiple view options. The choice to view your data in various designs, such as a mind map, table, Kanban, or calendar, makes it a flexible enough system to suit any task or project.

While complying with the Kanban principles may not necessarily work for our meal planning extravaganza, its board and card system does make for a practical way to organize recipes.

Weeknight Dinner Ideas

Since moving out of my family home and becoming an adult, I’ve realised how much of a drag planning weeknight dinners can be (shoutout to my mother for feeding me day in, day out during childhood, adolescence, and let’s face it, much of early adulthood). After working all day, the last thing you want to think about is what to cook, and it’s this very reason why I’ve decided to implement a weeknight dinner planner into my life.

Here’s how I created it using Zenkit:

Step 1: Create a new collection, select the Kanban view option, and give your planner a name—I went for the very creative ‘Weeknight Dinner Plan’. Then start adding your recipes and/or dinner ideas as items. My planner is a combination of foolproof favourites as well as new recipes I’m eager to try out.

As you can see, I’ve divided the recipes into dietary types—pasta, vegetarian, seafood, and build-your-own. Of course, you can divide your recipes up in different ways, from how they’re cooked (slow-cooker, wok, oven) to how many ingredients they require (5 or less, 1,000 or more). The choice is yours.

Step 2: For those who are avid readers of my how-to’s (it’s never too late to start folks), you will know how much I rave about Zenkit’s custom fields. And for very good reason!

Custom fields can not only bring function and formality to your items but also context. Use the 11 options on offer to include all kinds of extra information that could help you with your planning.

For instance, the following are fields I implemented onto my planner that I felt would help me organize:

• A label field to determine which day of the week I allocate a recipe to.
• A file field to upload an image of the meal #inspo (whether or not it turns out to look the same is another story).
• A link field to include the websites where I sourced the recipes from.
• Or alternatively, a checklist feature already included in each item can be used to manually write out the ingredients and method. (You can cut and paste this directly from the website.)

Adding a custom field is super easy. Simply click on an item, and then a panel will appear on the right-hand side or a box will appear in the centre of the page. This is where you can add all the extra information by adding new fields or renaming and changing default ones.

Tip: Do this before the working week starts so you can have all the ingredients ready and can prep ahead if needs be.

Note: The reason I chose to only include weeknight dinners is so that the weekend can be left open to enjoy going out to eat, take out, or spontaneous recipes to try.

Get this collection as a template: Weeknight Dinner Plan

Dinner Party Planning

Hosting a dinner party or some kind of special event that requires various meals for numerous people is another time having a meal planner could come in handy.

If you’ve ever hosted a dinner party, you know how much of a project it is. You have tasks to coordinate, people to satisfy, a deadline to work against, and usually a budget to stick to. The star of the show is the food you will serve. And being such an important element of your event, this is something you have to get right.

Here’s how I created a dinner party menu planner:

Step 1: My menu planner was created as a new Kanban collection with recipes and meal ideas divided into courses. Similar to my weeknight dinner plan, my dinner party menu planner consists of recipe favourites, as well as new recipes keen to be tested.

Step 2: Custom fields were once again used to include additional information for each recipe. Keep in mind that when hosting a dinner party, you have to cater to your guests, so I would recommend adding a label field that highlights dietary requirements.

In this planner, the following fields were used:

• A label field to determine which course a recipe belonged to, as well as the food/beverage type, and whether or not it’s a new recipe or a crowd favorite.
• A file field to upload an image of the meal #inspo.
• A link field to include the websites where I sourced the recipes from.
• Or alternatively, the checklist feature already included in each item can be used to manually write out the ingredients and method.

Step 3: In this planner, how I’ll determine what will be on the menu slightly differs to how weeknight meals were chosen.

Instead of using the label field, I added a column titled ‘Tonight’s Menu’ which selected recipes can be dragged to. Because hosting a dinner party usually entails more than one recipe, I figured this to be the most practical way to manage it.

Get this collection as a template: Dinner Party Menu Planner

Shopping List

Another Zenkit feature that could be of massive use to your meal planning is the checklist. Create your shopping list by starting a new task view collection, then simply add the items one by one.

The fun doesn’t stop there!

Just like the Kanban view (and all other collection views), you can add custom fields to your list items. Including information such as ‘where to buy the items from’ and ‘what part of the meal the ingredients will be added to’ can prove to be useful in your shopping experience.

And because the app is available on mobile devices, you can cross items off your list as you shop.

Final Thoughts

The two-meal planner templates that were created and featured in this article are exactly that, templates. So, remember, no reason is too outrageous for wanting to implement a meal planner into your life. Simply start off with the steps I’ve suggested and then build from there if need be. 

The beauty of Zenkit is that you can store up to 50,000 items in one account (that’s a whole lotta recipes!), use as many custom fields as you like, and switch up your design to create a plan customized to your taste.

If you have any other planner ideas, don’t forget to share your tips with us!

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post Eat, Plan, Love: How to Manage Your Meals in Zenkit appeared first on Zenkit.

Zenkit is a project management tool, but that doesn’t mean it’s designed for business purposes only! A tool that can also be used for personal productivity, its various collection view options make it great for planning personal tasks and projects—like a vacation.

Planning a vacation is most definitely a project. Think about it: you have activities to coordinate, resources to organize, a budget to adhere to, and a deadline to work against. This is why using a project management tool to put everything in order makes sense. You can track the progress of your planning, cross tasks off your checklist as they’ve been completed, and be reminded of important dates and deadlines.

Most project management products also offer free accounts for individual users, so becoming your own travel agent is as easy as ever.

How to Plan Your Summer Vacation with Zenkit

Where to go?

First things first, you have to decide where to go. There are many elements to consider when selecting your vacation destination. Do you want to go somewhere hot or somewhere tropical? Somewhere vibrant and lively, or somewhere more chilled and relaxing? A great tool to chart all your decision-making and to help you come to a conclusion is a mind map.

Mind maps are ideal to use for exploring ideas as they allow you to utilize brainstorming methods and can offer clear thinking. Here’s how you can use Zenkit’s mind map feature to help you decide on your destination.

Step 1: Create a new collection and select the mind map option. Give your collection a title such as ‘Where to go?’, and then hit the create button.

Step 2: Enter ‘Destination ideas’ as your focal point. You can then branch out with each node representing a place suggestion. We started off with two nodes, ‘Local’ and ‘International’, and then expanded from there.

Step 3: Zenkit users will already know that you can use Custom Fields to add extra information for each node. For instance, with every destination idea, we also included the type of holiday it would be and how the place would compare budget-wise.

Holiday planning

Once you’ve determined where to go, it’s time to pop out the Kanban view for the real planning to commence. A Kanban board visualizes your process—be it a workflow, schedule, or vacation plan—which is why it’s a great tool for documenting tasks, ideas, and activities.

Step 1: Create a new collection and select the Kanban option. Give your collection a title — the name of your destination is always a good idea — and then hit the create button.

Step 2: Your next step is to think about the things that you need to consider to make your vacation as perfect as it can be—things such as documents to organize, activities to book, and sights to see. It’s these factors that will make up the columns on your Kanban board, and within each column, you can list the items accordingly. 

To give you an idea, the things we included in our planner were: ‘things to organize’, ‘beaches to check out’, ‘restaurant recommendations’, and ‘attractions to see’. You can, of course, add as many (or as few) columns as you like. 

Step 3: Once again, you can utilize the magic of Custom Fields to add extra information to each of your tasks, ideas, and/or activities. Remember that there are 11 Custom Field options to choose from, ranging from hyperlinks to file attachments so that you can optimize your vacation planning.

Kanban best practice is to include a column titled something along the lines of ‘Done’ or Complete’ so that you can move every Kanban card that represents a task, activity, or idea there once it has been achieved. Alternatively, you could also create another column, title it ‘Scrapped’ or ‘Abandoned’, for the things you’ve decided to forgo. There are no cemented rules on how you go about using Kanban. It’s really just a great method that can be applied to help solve any organisation’s woes.

Last-minute checks!

Checklists are an invaluable tool when it comes to planning a vacation. Whether it’s for packing or a pre-flight assessment, here are the steps on how to create one:

Step 1: Like with everything you create in Zenkit, start off by creating a new collection—this time select the tasks option. Don’t forget to give it a name!

Step 2: Building a checklist is pretty straightforward. You just add all the tasks/items you need, then check them off once they’re done. You’ll notice the cool thing about Zenkit lists is that once you check an item off your list, it moves itself to the bottom, allowing the unchecked ones to be prioritized to the top!

A useful thing to note when crafting your checklist is that you can change the default ‘To Do’ and ‘Done’ stage labels to anything you want. Simply click on the Custom Field ‘Stage’, select properties, and enter whatever you see fit. We went for ‘To Pack’ and ‘Packed’ to accommodate our checklist’s purpose.

Planning is the most difficult part of your vacation, and now you’ve got that sorted, you’re ready to enjoy your trip! The beauty of using Zenkit to organize your vacation is that the planning doesn’t have to stop pre-take-off. With the app available to use on mobile and tablet devices, you can have it on hand to ensure that you’re always on top of things. And, if you’re off somewhere that has an unreliable internet connection, you also have the option to save your vacation planning collections and then still access them offline.

Now, go and enjoy your time in the sun, and don’t forget to slip, slop, slap!

We always love hearing the different ways Zenkit is used to help you organize daily life! So, don’t forget to drop us a comment to let us know. 

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post How to Organize Stress-Free Summer Vacations appeared first on Zenkit.

Those who work in or near the industry are aware that the art of software development is unique and distinct from other types of engineering projects. It requires the care and attention of a team who are adaptable and flexible. Software development also needs a team that’s willing to respond quickly to changes and won’t bat so much as an eyelid at a client’s overnight demands. This is what the Agile development methodology is all about.

In this article, we’ll show you why agile management is so popular in project development.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn from this article:

• How agile management compares to other popular management methods
• Variations of agile management
• Agile management principles and when to use it

According to Verison One’s State of Agile Report in 2020, Agile is here to stay. The principles and practices of Agile methodology have scaled cross-team and globally. Key takeaways from the report are:

• “95% of respondents report their organizations practice Agile development methods.”
• “81% of respondents said their organization has Agile teams where the members of the same team do not all work in the same location (i.e. not co-located).”
• “71% of respondents said their organization practices Agile with multiple co-located teams collaborating across geographic boundaries.”

Agile Methodology Definition

What is Agile methodology? Agile methodology is a project management process that is primarily used in software development. It’s used where demands and solutions emerge through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams and their customers.

The Agile methodology is a collection of principles that value adaptability and flexibility. Agile aims to provide better responsiveness to changing business needs and therefore focuses on enabling teams to deliver in workable increments.

Stemming from the values and principles of the Agile Manifesto, it was created as a response to the inadequacies of traditional development methods such as the Waterfall method. The software industry is a highly competitive market due to the fact that software is something that can be continuously updated. This means that developers need to constantly improve and innovate their products to keep on top of the game—and the linear, sequential approach of the Waterfall method just wasn’t cutting it.

Agile vs Waterfall Methodology

The agile vs waterfall methodology debate demonstrates that the two project management methodologies are polar opposites. The use of Agile and waterfall methodology largely depends on the project expectations, deliverables, and project owner vision.

The agile methodology in software development, for example, is extremely adaptable. Teams can respond quickly to project changes and customer needs. The structure of the Waterfall methodology, on the other hand, is more rigid.

Agile is ideal for software development as a project can take years to complete. As such, technology will often evolve rapidly during this time. Therefore, Agile methodology is a useful project management method due to allowing for changes in direction to be incorporated even late in the process. This flexibility also benefits the software development team by accounting for continuous stakeholder feedback.

In addition, in Agile, the team will work on project phases concurrently, frequently with tight deadlines. The team, rather than a project manager, determines the project’s direction. While this can motivate and boost overall productivity, it does require the team to be more self-directed.

Waterfall methodology, on the other hand, is a linear form of project management. It’s best suited for projects where the end result is clear from the start. The project’s expectations and deliverables for each stage should be clearly defined. This is because they are required to move on to the next phase. Waterfall methodology, for example, is a good system to follow if a project owner has a clear and specific vision of an app that will not change during project development.

Meanwhile, Agile allows for a lot of flexibility in adapting and changing course as the project progresses. It is better suited for projects where the outcome may need additional research or testing.

The budget for projects using Waterfall methodologies is also less flexible because the project is planned from the start. Because Agile allows for more flexibility in project direction as it progresses, the budget is also subject to change. Similarly, the Waterfall timeline is fixed from the start, whereas the Agile timeline is more flexible and dependent on how the project develops.

A Brief History of Agile Software Development

In the 1990s, software development faced a bit of a crisis. Referred to as ‘the application development crisis’ or ‘application delivery lag’, the industry realized that it couldn’t move fast enough to meet customer demands and requirements—the estimated time between a business need and actual application was about three years. See, traditional development models were based on a timeline approach, where development happened sequentially and the final product wasn’t revealed to customers until the very final step. This left little room for flexibility when it came to progress reviews and changes. So, by the time an actual application was finished, it was highly likely that the requirements and systems of the project’s original objectives had changed.

With time, money, and efforts wasted, and even some projects canceled halfway through, professional leaders of the software community thought it was time for a new, refreshed approach. Then in 2001, in a snowy, ski lodge in Utah, a group of industry practitioners gathered to discuss industry practices. Though the meeting was set up with a primary focus on the discussion of development cycles, some participants were already entertaining the idea of a new software development method. They all yearned to cement a process that legitimized what was being practiced, and so, came the creation of the Agile Manifesto.

What Is the Agile Manifesto?

The Agile Manifesto is a declaration of the values and principles expressed in Agile methodology. Made up of four foundational values and 12 key principles, it aims to help uncover better ways of developing software by providing a clear and measurable structure that promotes iterative development, team collaboration, and change recognition.

The values and principles of the ‘Manifesto for Agile Software Development’ are:

Agile Manifesto Values:

1. 1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
   2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
   3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
   4. Responding to change over following a plan

Agile Manifesto Principles:

1. 1. Customer satisfaction through early and continuous software delivery 
   2. Accommodate changing requirements throughout the development process
   3. Frequent delivery of working software
   4. Collaboration between the business stakeholders and developers throughout the project
   5. Support, trust, and motivate the people involved
   6. Enable face-to-face interactions
   7. Working software is the primary measure of progress
   8. Agile processes to support a consistent development pace
   9. Attention to technical detail and design enhances agility
   10. Simplicity
   11. Self-organizing teams encourage great architectures, requirements, and designs
   12. Regular reflections on how to become more effective

Those who apply any type of Agile methodology adhere to these values and principles. The manifesto offers a good overview of what is expected when it comes to the Agile development life cycle practices.

What Is Agile Project Management?

Agile project management is a methodology that is commonly used to deliver complex projects due to its adaptiveness. It emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, continuous improvement, and high-quality results. It aims to be clear and measurable by using six main deliverables to track progress and create the product. 

Agile Methodology Steps

These are the deliverables found in agile project management:

1. 1. Product vision statement: A summary that articulates the goals for the product.
   2. Product roadmap: The high-level view of the requirements needed to achieve the product vision.
   3. Product backlog: Ordered by priority, this is the full list of what is needed for your project.
   4. Release plan: A timetable for the release of a working product.
   5. Sprint backlog: The user stories (requirements), goals, and tasks linked to the current sprint.
   6. Increment: The working product functionality that is presented to the stakeholders at the end of the sprint and could potentially be given to the customer.

There are various frameworks within Agile project management that can be used to develop and deliver a product or service. Each framework highlights a specific approach and focuses on a determined outcome. Depending on the requested outcome, the particular approach of Agile is chosen and applied. While they each have their own set of characteristics and terminology, they share common principles and practices. 

Two of the most popular ones that support the Agile development life cycle are Scrum and Kanban.

Agile Scrum Methodology

Scrum is an Agile framework that is used to implement the ideas behind Agile software development. It is the most popular Agile framework used in companies. Created by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber (who were also part of the 13 individuals who cemented the Agile Manifesto), it comprises five values: commitment, courage, focus, openness, and respect. Its goal is to develop, deliver, and sustain complex products through collaboration, accountability, and iterative progress.

What distinguishes Scrum from other Agile methodologies are the roles, events, and artifacts that it is made up of, and with which it operates. Here’s what they are:

Scrum Team Roles

• Product owner: Product expert who represents the stakeholders, and is the voice of the customer.
• Development team: Group of professionals who deliver the product (developers, programmers, designers). 
• Scrum master: Organized servant-leader who ensures the understanding and execution of Scrum is followed. 

Scrum Events

• Sprint: In Scrum, a sprint is a brief period of time during which a development team works to complete specific tasks, milestones, or deliverables. Sprints in agile methodology, also known as “iterations,” essentially divide the project schedule into digestible time blocks during which smaller goals can be achieved. The time frame does not exceed one calendar month and is consistent throughout the development process.
• Sprint planning: Where the entire Scrum team gets together—at the beginning of every Sprint—to plan the upcoming sprint.
• Daily Scrum: 15-minute time-boxed meeting held at the same time, every day of the Sprint, where the previous day’s achievements are discussed, as well as the expectations for the following one.
• Sprint review: An informal meeting held at the end of every Sprint where the Scrum team presents their Increment to the stakeholders and discusses feedback.
• Sprint retrospective: A meeting where the Scrum team reflects on the proceedings of the previous Sprint and establishes improvements for the next Sprint.

Scrum Artifacts

• Product backlog: Managed by the Product Owner, it’s where all the requirements needed for a viable product are listed in order of priority. Includes features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that authorize any changes to be made to the product in future releases.
• Sprint backlog: A list of the tasks and requirements that need to be accomplished during the next Sprint. Sometimes accompanied by a Scrum task board, which is used to visualize the progress of the tasks in the current Sprint, and any changes that are made in a ‘To Do, Doing, and Done’ format.

Kanban

Kanban is a highly visual method popularly used within Agile project management. It paints a picture of the workflow process, with an aim to identify any bottlenecks early on in the process so that a higher quality product or service is delivered.

Kanban agile methodology has six general practices:

1. 1. Visualization
   2. Limiting work in progress
   3. Flow management
   4. Making policies explicit
   5. Using feedback loops
   6. Collaborative or experimental evolution

A concept that was developed in the production line of Toyota factories in the 1940s, Kanban achieves efficiency through visual cues to signal certain stages of the development process. The said cues are a Kanban board, Kanban cards, and sometimes even Kanban swimlanes.

• Kanban board: A visual management tool used to visualize the development process. It can be either physical (a whiteboard, sticky notes, and markers) or virtual (like Zenkit’s online project management tool), and can be used for personal productivity, as well as professional use.
• Kanban cards: Cards that depict a work item/task in the work process. Used to communicate progress with your team, it represents information such as status, cycle time, and impending deadlines.
• Kanban swimlanes: A visual element on the board that allows you to further distinguish tasks/items by categorizing them. Flowing horizontally, it offers distinction and provides a better overview of the workflow.

What Is Lean Agile Methodology?

The lean agile methodology is a development method that assists teams in identifying waste and refining processes. It’s a way of thinking that promotes efficiency, effectiveness, and continuous improvement.

Lean agile, also known as lean software development, is based on lean manufacturing principles. Instead of relying solely on increased sales, the concept was introduced into manufacturing to improve profits by lowering costs. A company can save money by eliminating waste and becoming more efficient, which increases overall profits.

The Benefits of Lean Agile

• Less time is wasted
• Reduced costs
• Improved quality of work

Lean Agile Principles

Lean agile methodology has 5 core principles:

• Identify Value
• Map the Value Stream
• Create Flow
• Establish a Pull System
• Seek Perfection

Other Agile Development Life Cycle Approaches

Below you can find other important types of agile methodology that can easily be overlooked. Other agile methodology examples include:

Extreme Programming (XP)

XP is based on the five values of communication, simplicity, feedback, courage, and respect. XP is a framework that aims to produce a higher quality of life for the development team, as well as a higher quality product, through a collection of engineering practices. These practices are:

• The Planning Game
• Small Releases
• Metaphor
• Simple Design
• Testing
• Refactoring
• Pair Programming
• Collective Ownership
• Continuous Integration
• 40-hour week
• On-site Customer
• Coding Standard

Crystal

Crystal comprises a family of Agile methodologies that include Crystal Clear, Crystal Yellow, and Crystal Orange. Their unique characteristics are guided by factors such as team size, system criticality, and project priorities. Key components include teamwork, communication, and simplicity, as well as reflection to regularly adjust and improve the development process. This Agile framework points out how each project may require a tailored set of policies, practices, and processes to meet the project’s specific characteristics.

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

DSDM is an Agile methodology example that focuses on the full project lifecycle. It was created in 1994 after users of Rapid Application Development (RAD) wanted more governance and discipline in this iterative way of working. Based on eight principles, its philosophy is ‘that any project must be aligned to clearly defined strategic goals and focus upon early delivery of real benefits to the business.’ 

It promotes the use of the following practices so that it can offer best practice guidance for on-time, on-budget delivery of projects:

• Facilitated Workshops
• Modeling and Iterative Development
• MoSCoW Prioritisation
• Timeboxing

DSDM is designed to be independent of and can be implemented in conjunction with, other iterative methodologies.

Feature-Driven Development (FDD)

FDD is a lightweight iterative and incremental software development process. With an objective to deliver tangible, working software in a timely manner, it is an Agile methodology that entails specific, very short phases of work, which are to be accomplished separately per feature.

Its development process is established on a set of best practices with a client-value aim. The eight best practices are:

1. 1. Domain Object Modeling
   2. Developing by Feature
   3. Component/Class Ownership
   4. Feature Teams
   5. Inspections
   6. Configuration Management
   7. Regular Builds
   8. Visibility of progress and results

Agile Methodology Best Practices

It’s always handy to know how to do things best. Here are seven things you and your team should be doing when implementing any type of Agile methodology:

Customer Collaboration

Customer collaboration is a vital part of Agile methodology one of the core values stated in the Agile Manifesto. Through consistent communication with the development team, the customer should always be aware of the progress, and the combined effort will result in a higher-quality product.

User Stories

A tool used to explain a software feature from an end-user perspective, the purpose of a User Story is to create a simplified description of a requirement. It helps to picture the type of user of the product, what they want, and the reason(s) for it. A common User Story format that is used is:

As a [role], I want [feature], because [reason].

Continuous Integration

Continuous Integration (CI) involves keeping the code up to date by producing a clean build of the system a few times per day. With a rule stating that programmers never leave anything unintegrated at the end of the day, it enables the delivery of a product version suitable for release at any moment. What CI seeks to do is to minimize the time and effort required by each integration.

Automated Tests

Performing automated tests keeps the team informed about which of the code changes are acceptable, and whether or not a function is working as planned. Regression tests are run automatically before work starts.

Pair Programming

Programming in pairs aims to enhance better designs, fewer bugs, and a sharing of knowledge across the development team. One of the least-embraced Agile programmer practices, involves one programmer ‘driving’ (operating the keyboard), while the other ‘navigates’ (watches, learns, provides feedback). The roles can be rotated.

Test-Driven Development (TDD)

TDD aims to foster simple designs and inspire confidence. Instead of a process where software is added, that is not proven to meet requirements, it is a method based on the repetition of a very short development cycle where requirements are turned into test cases, and then the software is improved to pass the new tests.

Burndown Charts

A burndown chart is a graphical representation of the work that is left to do versus the time you have to do it. Using one as part of your Agile project management plan enables you to forecast when all the work will be completed. A detailed burndown chart will also include the number of User Stories per unit of time.

Final Thoughts

Agile methodology is an effective process for teams looking for a flexible approach to product development. No longer exclusive to the software industry, it can be implemented in any business venture that requires a non-linear plan of attack that also needs to value customer collaboration, effective teamwork, responsive changes, and of course, quality results.

How has agile methodology improved your team’s way of working? Don’t forget to share your tips with us!

The post Agile Methodology: An Overview appeared first on Zenkit.

When you’re in the project management world, you’ve definitely heard the term ‘Kanban’ being tossed about. But whether or not you truly know what it is, and where it came from, is probably a whole other story. Keep reading if you want to know more…

What is Kanban?

Kanban is a scheduling system that many of us have learnt to use, and grown to love. Part of Lean and Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, it is a highly visual method that paints a picture of the workflow process, and the work passing through. The aim of Kanban is to help identify any bottlenecks early on in the process, allowing us to deliver a high-quality product/service.

FYI: the Kanban definition in Japanese translates to ‘sign board’, ‘billboard’

A Brief History of Kanban

The whole Kanban concept was initially developed in the 1940s by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer for Toyota, as a means to improve manufacturing efficiency. Ohno derived inspiration from supermarkets and their way of handling inventory — by only stocking by demand. He supposed that the way the rate of demand was used to control the rate of production, and how that maximized the flow between the supermarket and the consumer, could be applied to car manufacturing to match inventory levels with the number of materials consumed.

Once applied to the Toyota production line, cards were used as visual signs to indicate when inventory levels were low on the factory floor. This information was then passed onto the warehouse, which was responsible for replacing the consumed materials, and then the exact amount of materials was given back to the factory floor. The warehouse team would then create their own card signals to their suppliers when their stock was low.

Using visual cues to signal certain stages of the production process, and the quick response to observed demand proved to be a more efficient way to do things. However much Kanban has evolved since its early years, this type of efficiency is what it still aims to achieve today.

Kanban Boards

A Kanban board is a visualization of the work process. As visual creatures, our brains are able to process images 60,000 times faster than text which is what makes Kanban a great tool to document activity and help the development of a product or service run as smoothly as possible. The boards come in both physical format and digital versions.

Physical Kanban Board

All you need to construct your physical Kanban board is a whiteboard and sticky notes. A great and inexpensive way to start your Kanban experience, they are good for teams where all members are in the same location and have the ability to observe and add to the board. Compared to the digital version, however, they hold certain limitations.

Online Kanban Board

Like Zenkit, many project management solutions include Kanban software. Often with customizable designs, the virtual boards require less legwork compared to their physical counterparts. It’s ideal for teams who have members working remotely, as everything is accessible on a cloud. This harmonizes the development process by enabling team members to track the progress of the work and update in real-time.

Kanban Cards

A significant element of a Kanban board, Kanban cards need an honourable mention. A Kanban card depicts a work item/task in the work process. An efficient way of communicating with other members of your team represents information such as the item/task’s status, cycle time, and impending deadline. It encourages self-management and reduces time spent on meetings.

How to Use Kanban

The basic structure of a Kanban board has three columns, ‘To-Do, Doing, and Done’. Rather self-explanatory, the purpose of each column is to represent the stages of development from the beginning when ideas and a backlog are created, to the work in progress, and then finally, to when the work has been completed.

There are no set rules of how to use Kanban perse, but there are six general practices to remember when applying it.

1. Visualization
2. Limiting work in progress
3. Flow management
4. Making policies explicit
5. Using feedback loops
6. Collaborative or experimental evolution

The aim of these general practices is to ensure that you utilize the Kanban method to its core purpose — to reduce waste, continuously improve the process, and increase overall productivity.

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The beauty of a Kanban board is its flexibility. The simplicity of its structure means that it is not exclusive to office use only. Kanban boards are a great tool for improving personal productivity. They can be used for the processes we have to follow, and the goals we wish to accomplish in our personal lives. For instance, planning a birthday party is a project that has various tasks to accomplish, and several stages of development. Utilizing a Kanban board to organize it uses the same principles as when applying it to a project at work.

Benefits of Using Kanban Project Management

Having already made its mark on software development teams, Kanban is gaining traction in other industries as a great tool to manage projects. An added perk of Agile methodology, it adheres to the principle of continuously improving the development process. The Agile method uses six main deliverables to produce content and track progress, which provides users with the flexibility to improve their product/service throughout the development process.

Perks to be gained from using Kanban to manage projects include:

Fosters team collaboration

Implementing Kanban in a team project encourages shared responsibility. Team members have to work together effectively to ensure that tasks/items are moved into the Done column as efficiently as possible.

Provides information transparency

With project details centralized on a visual board, Kanban offers everyone involved in the project status updates and clarity on how the work is progressing.

Limits unnecessary multi-tasking

The priority of limiting the number of works in progress minimizes the risk of bad multitasking, which can result in work overload, jeopardizing quality, and slowing down delivery. There are also features, such as Kanban swimlanes, that can be added to your board to further organization levels.

Maximizes time

When wasted time is removed from a workflow process, it allows workers to focus their attention and efforts to matters that are important. The visibility of task progress enables team members to help those who are falling behind, boosting group productivity and efficiency.

Reduces error

The great thing about using a visual tool is that it easily highlights any bottlenecks or blockers in the process, allowing you to rectify any issues as quickly as possible. Kanban’s continuous-improvement-throughout-development approach increases the quality of work being produced.

Improves communication with stakeholders

Having a clear visualization of the entire project’s process makes it easier to communicate progress and issues with stakeholders. This can result in better decision-making and an overall better outcome.

Final Thoughts

So now when you hear the word ‘Kanban’ said out loud, you’ll know a thing or two about it. You can tell your colleagues what the term means in Japanese, or ponder further about what kind of supermarket Ohno was in when his spark of brilliance came about. But whatever tip you decide to take away from this, just remember that Kanban is a great method that can be applied to solve your organization’s woes.

How do you stay productive? We’d love for you to share your Kanban tips and tricks with us in the comment section below.

Cheers,

Dinnie and the Zenkit Team

The post Kanban Explained: What You’ve Always Wanted to Know appeared first on Zenkit.