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How can Innovation and agile methodology go beyond product development?

Data: 26 August 2021 | Categoria: Methodologies

Carrying out medium and long-term planning, both in personal and professional life, has always been part of our routine, and we were taught to act that way, but with the pandemic we were forced to reinvent ourselves and provoked to change quickly and efficiently, so, Can we raise the question and think about how innovation and agile methodology can go beyond product development? Now, the adaptability has been put to the test to ensure our safety and socioeconomic factors in the places where we work. 

Given the changes and uncertainties we are experiencing, what can we do to keep our physical and mental health in good condition? And still guarantee the result that companies expect? As a Scrum Master, I would like to discuss how innovation and product development methodology can contribute in this context. 

I start this reflection with an interesting phrase I heard the other day about the home office or face-to-face work model, so discussed today, “Are we working at home or are we living at work?” 

The World Health Organization defines mental health as the state of well-being in which the individual fulfills his/her potential, is able to deal with the stresses of life and to work in a productive way, being able to contribute to their community. 

Thus, a subject that has gained prominence lately and is being discussed in companies is the burnout syndrome, which portrays a psychic disturbance caused by extreme exhaustion, always related to an individual’s work. This condition is also called “work burnout syndrome” and affects almost every facet of people’s lives…

The adoption of the work model in the home office format brought great benefits that we can easily mention, such as: proximity to the family, reduction of stress in traffic, self-management, reduction of costs and burdens for companies, option to hire professionals from different places. On the other hand, we have people who prefer the face-to-face model and point out some disadvantages in the home office, namely: lack of focus, excessive schedules that compromise the execution of activities, lack of a leisure routine. Situations which negatively affect our mental health. And to what extent are we prepared for both? Is there a suitable model that appeals to all employees? Are we using our time with quality? 

Post pandemic trends

With the advance of vaccines, surveys show that the companies’ desire to resume face-to-face activities, even if in a hybrid way, is clear. According to a study carried out by the KPMG consultancy in the first half of the year, 66% of companies were interested in returning to face-to-face work in 2021, and the remaining 34% in 2022.

The situation, however, has changed since the survey. “Now we are seeing that it is at a level of 50% to return this year and 50% next year.” It is not by chance that 74% of the companies interviewed by the consultancy claim that the plans for returning to face-to-face work have changed at some point because of the emergence of new strains. In addition, complete vaccination is still around 20%, which also hinders the resumption.

The hybrid model has been discussed not only for a work model, but also for the resumption of events, classes, and is seen by both companies and specialists as a way of no return. A survey conducted by the coworking company WeWork with the consultancy Workplace Intelligence indicates that 53% of employees want to work three or more days at home per week. “Exame Magazine – article published on 15/08/2021”.

Here at Brain, we have adopted the “anywhere office” working mode, where brainers can work from anywhere, in a hybrid way, whether in offices located in Uberlândia, Recife and São Paulo, or in their homes. We respect the safety and needs of our employees, so we are open  to the format that guarantees their productivity and meets their reality. In addition, we promote constant discussions on the topic, providing a real and collaborative debate, ensuring actions that contribute to the well-being of members.

At Tribo SAMPA it is no different, we seek to motivate our team to have their moments of leisure, physical activity and we share our moments to reinforce the importance of the theme.

How can we apply agile methods in personal life? 

You’ve probably seen or heard the terms MVP (Minimum Viable Product/Produto Mínimo Viável), pivot, soft skills, among others, and why not use these terms practiced in projects and organizations for our personal life?

The concept of MVP defines a simple and streamlined form of a solution/product to be launched to the market, with basic functionalities and minimal resources, in order to validate the idea’s value proposition before its definitive launch. With this, the MVP is tested and, if necessary, adaptations are made according to the return of use of the target audience, and if it does not have adherence, the project and the direction of the business are pivoted (changed).

In this context, the soft skills, aAlso known as people’s behavioral skills, they are essential for the development of projects, as they can positively or negatively influence the work environment. We can mention numerous important soft skills such as: creativity, communication, empathy, ethics, collaboration, interpersonal relationships, flexibility, resilience, organization, negotiation, etc., present in our daily professional lives.

And since we use all of this in our professional life, why not use it for our personal life as well and thus achieve the much desired mental health we want? Have you tried creating your own OKRs (Objectives and Key Results/Objectives and Key Results) and following the evolution through a Kanban board? 

If we want to change some habit to improve the quality of life, start little by little (remember MVP), test your idea, put it into practice and see the results, use and develop your soft skills and be able to learn new things, adapt , get organized, be creative, and if something doesn’t go right….pivot, but don’t give up and change the course of things.

By Marco Fabri, Scrum Master of Brain

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