DSM Employment Ready with Matt Elmore

As a solutions architect in IT for the Palmer Group in Greater Des Moines (DSM), Matt Elmore uses the Agile Manifesto to streamline and create efficient work processes. Matt shares the principles of agility that can be applied during the COVID-19 pandemic in the latest episode for the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s DSM Employment Ready podcast.

Agility in the Face of Uncertainty

The Agile Manifesto relates four key values and 12 principles for IT teams to use to guide their work. Matt explains how during this current crisis, one of the most important things a company leader can do is to take care of its employees. If employees are taken care of, they are better able to take care of clients. This means trusting people to do the job and giving them the right tools to complete their work in a timely way.

In IT, the shift to the agile approach from the waterfall approach, allowed for developers to move from having to complete rework because of how quickly the IT world evolves. Some of the principles of agility that can be applied across industries — not just in IT — include:

·        Choosing the Right Team Size — teams that are too big are inefficient

·        Limiting the Work in Progress — cut back on multi-tasking

·        Breaking Work Down — figure out task switching for a limited time

·        Giving Status Updates — daily standup meetings of 15 minutes and only the doers speak (project managers/stakeholders only listen)

·        Being Retrospective — take a look at what went well, offer team members praise, look at what wastes time

Matt also references how to ensure meetings are not a waste of time by: creating an agenda; implementing a rule that if there is no agenda, there is no meeting; scheduling the meeting for the shortest possible time; and considering one day per week with absolutely no meetings.

Listen to the entire podcast: DSM Employment Ready— Matt Elmore

The DSM Employment Ready podcast is brought to you by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The podcast features insight into employment in Greater Des Moines (DSM) during the COVID-19 crisis. To listen to more Partnership podcasts, click here.

The DSM Employment Ready podcast series has concluded. For more talent development information and conversations, visit the Future Ready DSM podcast.