Edward Kay, the Founder of Tall Projects, has been managing software and digital projects for over 14 years. A few months ago Edward posted an article on The Digital Project Manager called “Agency Agile: 10 Agile Methods for Agencies”. In this interview, Edward and I discuss his article, some of the key things you need to do in order to get agile to work in digital, and why Scrum may be the one thing that just won’t work in an agency model.

04:04 - Interview Begins

04:48 - Background on Edward and Tall Projects

05:55 - How Edward got started doing agile

06:31 - How Edward’s clients develop a desire to try Agile

09:11 - Are the clients who want to “Go Agile” aware of what that will require and willing to take the steps needed to implement the change?

11:25 - Where in the organization is agile getting started?

12:17 - Why the clients bring Edward in

13:34 - There is no one true way

14:50 - Critical challenges facing Digital Agencies trying to adopt Agile

16:32 - Understanding how to look at work across the portfolio

17:32 - Different ways of measuring work in agencies that are using Agile

20:07 - “Why don’t we just smoke crack at work?”

23:52 - Tracking Happiness

25:10 - Quantifying value and limiting WIP

28:26 - What is the client actually paying you for?

30:50 - Determining value at the project deliverable level

32:40 - Having a conversation about limiting WIP

35:38 - Getting the client to trust the practices agile team’s employ

36:16 - Multitasking is bad and doesn’t work… but it is still expected

37:45 - What Agile practices just do not work in an Agency model

38:49 - “The on system that is not well suited for Digital Agencies in Scrum”

41:15 - Kanban as an alternative for Digital Agencies

42:10 - What Agile tool/technique is the key to making it work in an Agency model?

43:17 - What is the piece that is missing when trying to make Agile fit in an Agency model?

44:18 - How to get in touch with Edward

Contacting Edward

Website - https://www.tallprojects.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardkay/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edwardkay or https://twitter.com/tallprojects

Edward’s article on The Digital Project Manager: Agency Agile: 10 Agile Methods For Agencies http://www.thedigitalprojectmanager.com/agency-agile-process/

CSM Training and the 2017 Digital PM Summit

For information on the Certified Scrum Master class being held right before the 2017 Digital PM Summit, go to https://www.leadingagile.com/event/certified-scrummaster-training-nevada-10-14-17/.

Special Discounts are available for conference attendees. Contact [email protected].

For information on the 2017 Digital PM Summit, go to http://bureauofdigital.com/summits/digital-pm-2017/.