By Lucy McCarthy, Operations Manager at Hive Business
To my friends, I am Chandler Bing from ‘Friends’. Not just because of my hilariously quick sarcasm but because they have no idea what my job is. It’s not their fault, I’ve explained to them on many occasions but every time I explain it, I use current examples which makes it sound completely different!
That’s because my job role is diverse. In short, my goal is to make sure everyone at Hive can deliver the best job they can. As you can imagine, that can present quite the challenge working with creatives, accountants and consultants. 12 months ago I was introduced to Agile project management which means I can help all departments work together to reach their goals. It also means my friends are more confused about my role as the Scrum Master!
Here are some reasons why you should consider implementing Agile (or elements of it) in your practice:
DAILY MEETINGS MAKE FOR GREAT ROUTINE
Our daily, 15 minute, stand-up meeting (yes, I make everyone stand) takes place every morning. One by one we discuss:
- What we did yesterday
- What we are working on today
- What is blocking us
We use a board and colour coded post-its as visual prompts. The meeting itself encourages people to take ownership of their prioritisation and daily targets (within a structure that helps guide them). Everyone needs to come to the meetings prepared – or they will be quite embarrassed when it comes to their turn and they don’t know what they’re doing! It also means people can plan what is doable rather than being told what to do every day.
YOU CAN SEE WHAT EVERYONE IS WORKING ON
Agile helps you quickly see when someone is stacked full of tasks and another team member is doing tasks that aren’t urgent. This means we can easily distribute tasks evenly to ensure the goals are met. Often, everyone feels they are busy, this process enables your team to have perspective.
PEOPLE CAN RAISE ISSUES QUICKLY
The morning meeting (and scheduled ‘project review meetings’) enable people to say what is working, what is blocking them, what isn’t working and how the process could be improved. When something doesn’t sit on one team member and the whole team is responsible, it means issues raised aren’t someone’s ‘fault’ but observations or recommendations on how to better reach our team goals. If we all agree, we implement changes straight away and we review later.
EVERYONE WORKS TOGETHER
When teams pull together it makes it so much easier to delegate, plan and implement changes. Everyone can see who is struggling, who has capacity and what the priority is. There is no room for egos in the Agile meeting and so it isn’t up to one manager or one team member to solve issues, the whole team are working towards the same goal that they have set. Nothing makes me happier when I see the team helping each other out, rather than someone struggling or sticking their head in the sand hoping it all goes away.
If you would like to find out more about how you can implement Agile into your dental practice for your practice management, business management and/or administrative tasks, get in touch on 01872 300 232 or email hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.
