{"id":9111,"date":"2020-12-07T11:01:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T11:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/?p=9111"},"modified":"2025-01-13T16:26:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:26:19","slug":"using-the-agile-methodology-to-create-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/blog\/using-the-agile-methodology-to-create-transparency\/","title":{"rendered":"Using the Agile Methodology to Create Transparency for Product Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“We need agile since we tend to wrongly estimate the time needed, engineers often get sidetracked into other features and the overall team needs more visibility on the tasks at hand.  What is a good, free and simple tool to start with? I have used Excel in the past but the planning becomes manual.”<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Upon reading the question above I can see that there\u2019s quite a lot to address. This is a pain faced not just by startups, it also rears its head for larger organizations, too. The Agile methodology is perfect for creating transparency and keeping product teams aligned, but (as always) I\u2019d like to break this question down into bits to get to the core issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agile vs Agility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first bit that caught my attention was the opening statement:\u201cWe need agile since we tend to wrongly estimate the time needed\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the Agile methodology is not the same thing as being agile. <\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to estimations and timelines, the Agile methodology won\u2019t help you work any faster, or allow you to estimate better timelines. If anything, timelines are against the very core of what Agile stands for. Agile is about this continuous loop of learning and iteration<\/a>, and setting due dates goes against that flow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d recommend looking at an Agile framework that allows for better estimations for work. This isn\u2019t about time, but rather understanding the capacity your team has to work on things in a given sprint. The types of frameworks you could adopt are Scrum<\/a>, Kanban<\/a>, or the hybrid Scrumban. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ProdPad's
ProdPad’s Kanban workflow supports the Agile methodology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Setting Direction and Creating Transparency for Your Product Teams<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Agile methodology is great for moving things along, and coupled with a framework that will allow you to understand the capacity of work and setting a structure will certainly help you. However, this is all focused on the output (delivery) process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If what you want is to make sure that your team knows what they\u2019re working on without getting sidetracked on random features, as well as create overall transparency for your team, you need to also set an outcome (strategy) process. In other words, you\u2019re helping your team understand what the current focus is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n