publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/231030
AGILE — A NONTRADITIONAL APPROACH TO LEGAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT most effective. However, every matter is different and may require a customized cadence. Regardless of the time allocated to each sprint, the true value of a sprint is the assurance that the team is responding to current, near-term client needs. Once the plan and sprint are defined, the team interacts with regular frequency throughout the project. Daily standup meetings empower self-organized teams to continue moving the ball forward. These meetings do not necessarily have to be daily, but they do need to be short and to the point, usually no more than 15 minutes. At the standup meetings, each individual is asked to respond to three questions: •What did you accomplish yesterday? •What will you work on today? •What is keeping you from completing your tasks? SeyfarthLean Agile Daily Scrum DELIVER At the end of each sprint, a sprint review meeting is conducted to assess the work that was completed during the sprint time period. The team will review planned work that was not completed, and the completed work is presented to the key stakeholders. Inevitably, the client will have feedback. This is the time to collect the feedback, reassess the client's needs, the matter's strategy and any other relevant information to plan for the next delivery. Collecting feedback at this stage cultivates the art of listening and building a strong relationship with your client. These opportunities to present and review deliverables with the client are also opportunities to demonstrate commitment to results. IMPROVE Yesterday? Today? What's in your way? Daily Scrum Meeting — 15 Minutes Involving clients in standups is another way to demonstrate the team's collective focus on all the moving parts. It also builds trust among all parties involved and often increases efficiency. Kanban boards are an effective tool to track item backlog, work in progress and completed tasks. They are beneficial in visualizing and optimizing workflow in real time, and whether electronic or whiteboard with sticky notes, they often act as a centralized hub for team collaboration. Agile project management focuses on continuous improvement. It does not matter what you call this review with the team — a retrospective, lessons learned or post-mortem — the idea is to generate ideas and strategies for the next sprint. It is the time to inspect the process and improve it. Our SeyfarthLean Agile approach ensures we incorporate client feedback into regularly scheduled meetings, not just at the end of a significant piece of work or end of matter. Many of our teams have incorporated a feedback agenda item into their regularly scheduled team and client meetings. We encourage this approach within all of our projects, and this