Being Agile: Eleven Breakthrough Techniques to Keep You from “Waterfalling Backward”

Breakthrough

Give up status meetings. Yes—give up status meetings.

Does the thought of giving up status meetings alarm or annoy you? If so, you may be more wedded to waterfall thinking than you’re aware. The primary purpose of status meetings is to share information so that the people attending the meeting can stay informed, get help if required, and act as a focal point for their teams. Although these needs and desires do not go away in agile, there are more effective ways to get the same results.

Status meetings require that someone collect status, compile it into a meaningful presentation, and deliver the findings. Project teams are constantly in motion and, thus, the “status” is always changing. If you are reviewing a team’s status, chances ...