Project Management Project Leadership in an Agile Development Environment Published on 11 June 2011 - Revised on This week, I had the pleasure of attending the Better Software / Agile Development Practices Conference in Las Vegas. It was a nice opportunity to check out some vendors in the agile arena, connect with a new potential client, and to sit in on some informative sessions on Agile and Better Software Development practices. One session that was particularly relevant to me – and likely to the readership of this site – was a session on the role that management plays …or should be playing…in the agile development environment. The presenter was Skip Angel, an agile consultant/coach from Big Visible Solutions. Skip presented many great ideas – most focusing on the need to toss aside the way we normally think about management and project leadership. We must move from directive leadership to catalyst leadership. Directive vs. Catalyst leadership The key concept really is to encourage or rather enable collaborative and creative thinking. While normal directive leadership forces analytical thinking, catalyst leadership encourages systemic thinking. Directive leadership makes us think in terms of either/or while catalyst leadership forces us to think in terms of both/and. Directive leadership enforces unilateral control while catalyst leadership encourages collaboration and creativity. Catalyst leadership blends chaos and order. The catalyst leader must be collaborative and flexible. He must be inclusive and adaptive. He must be a facilitator. He must be courageous. In troubled times he must be ready to examine his role in what went wrong rather than continually look for someone to blame. The utilization factor Rate this article: No rating Print Brad Egeland Brad Egeland is a Business Solution Designer and an Information Technology / Project Management consultant and author with over 25 years of software development, management and project management experience. He has successfully led project initiatives in Manufacturing, Government Contracting, Creative Design, Gaming and Hospitality, Retail Operations, Aviation and Airline, Pharmaceutical, Start-ups, Healthcare, Higher Education, Nonprofit, High-Tech, Engineering and general IT. Full biography Full biography Brad Egeland is a Business Solution Designer and an Information Technology / Project Management consultant and author with over 25 years of software development, management and project management experience. He has successfully led project initiatives in Manufacturing, Government Contracting, Creative Design, Gaming and Hospitality, Retail Operations, Aviation and Airline, Pharmaceutical, Start-ups, Healthcare, Higher Education, Nonprofit, High-Tech, Engineering and general IT. In addition to his accomplishments in IT development, resource and project management, he has also authored more than 6,000 expert advice and strategy articles and more than a dozen eBooks and videos on project management, business strategy, and information technology and best practices for his own website and for clients all around the world. Brad is highly regarded as one of the most prolific go-to authors on project management. x Contact author Google Plus Twitter Linked In
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