Software engineering has a lot in common with building design. A diverse, technical team of individuals work independently on a series of tasks that are intended to lead to an integrated product. In some cases, these technical individuals support multiple projects at the same time, have different managers and “clients” and need to manage time accordingly. The individuals employed are highly skilled technically but their time and focus is not always well managed. The philosophy of project managing teams of software engineers effectively is rich with new ideas. Unlike building project management, where the focus is usually on the macro (large teams of disparate firms), project management techniques in software have focussed mainly on the micro (how to make small teams of engineers highly productive). This presentation explores techniques used at the micro-level in software which could potentially dramatically improve the effectiveness of engineering teams in building services.

Learning Objectives:

Understand what an agile workflow is
Assess the potential benefits of considering implementing an agile process in their consulting work
Explain the potential benefits of applying agile project management ideas to high performance design consulting
Begin the application of agile workflows to their own projects