How to improve the effectiveness of project implementation and completion? It is simple – give up e-mail communication. Sounds like a heresy? At a first glance it may seem that without e-mails everything will end up in an absolute chaos and the project will fail.
How to reconcile all the stages of service performance, from planning, through programming and testing, to implementation and maintenance? How to make teams communicate effectively and quickly as well as improve their performance instead of reducing it?
Corporate e-mails? No, thanks!
Until recently, specialists taught effective e-mail communication. Arrangements, conditions, plans, discussions, setting tasks and goals – all this in writing, in black and white. This used to be the way. E-mails reigned and were much more convenient than telephone arrangements or notes from meetings. They WERE.
This is a thing of the past. Now it is time to introduce better service and project management systems as well as a new and more effective work methodology. At INDEVOPS, we replaced e-mails and the whole related mess, among others, with Easy Redmine, a project management system. It is a powerful tool which considerably simplified the performance of even the most advanced and complicated services.
The Kanban board allows us to divide each project into single tasks which we perform in a given time (the so-called sprints). We have been testing this product since 2017, and there is virtually no chance for a holdup, somebody failing to receive something or some information about each stage of the project gone missing. This does not happen.
Easy Redmine helps us to visualize tasks within the project on a timeline. We can easily plan, set project milestones and subtasks, assign tasks and add notes to each performance stage. A short glimpse is enough to understand what the project is about and how advanced the works are.
This is what the work based on DevOps methodology and Scrum process looks like. Not only is it agile, but also exceptionally effective for both the development team and the customers.
Endless irritation
We all know that effective communication is in 80% responsible for any successful implementation and even more in providing continuous services. E-mails did not meet our needs. We plunged into chaos.
This was not the way we wanted to serve our customers. After all, knowledge and experience are all part of the success. Available tools which ensure better work performance, safety and transparency also matter. We want to improve our everyday work in order to provide our customers solely with the best quality.
When we analyzed our projects, it was difficult to find the moment when things went wrong. E-mails did not give us such possibility. Our frustration kept growing and this sparked a permanent change. And for the better.
In 2017 we gave up standard communication methods such as e-mails. We use e-mail boxes only for occasional external and customer communication.
Which engine do you invest in at your company?
Particular tools serve as components of our company “engine”. When taken together, they make INDEVOPS a fast, safe and premium class car. You know – better performance, faster acceleration, fewer breakdowns and… lower costs. Nothing but benefits.
On the other hand, you can endlessly invest in repairing old, unreliable methods and wonder why projects contain errors. Sometimes things go lost, or there is a data leak, or somebody does not receive things on time. Costs are growing and the customers are even more frustrated. Is this was we aim at?
Fast or well? Maybe both?
In everyday work we combine carefully selected tools and work methods with our skills, experience and positive approach. This configuration guarantees quick and effective performance of tasks, exchange of knowledge between departments and learning. The perfect communication.
Quick sprint to reach the goal
The Scrum framework is our guidepost. It consists of individual sprints of our teams which resemble a task relay. Each stage is carefully planned and discussed.
Thanks to this approach we are able to complete many tasks at the same time, communicate effectively and quickly solve current problems. It gives us comfort and flexibility to work more effectively and achieve more.
Appropriate project management means an efficient team
Each project includes a set of tasks, and each of the tasks is combined of activities which we list and complete step by step. Classic customer service management methods highly limit communication and creativity. As a consequence, you lose precious time and find it difficult to meet the deadlines as you constantly fight errors and omissions.
In traditional companies one project is usually performed by a single person. If an obstacle appears, they have to ask for help, explain and describe the entire process. It takes time and causes irritation.
INDEVOPS – simply efficient
Such frustration almost never happens here. By using appropriate tools such as Scrum and Easy Redmine, each team member has insight into all tasks, subtasks, milestones, deadlines, explanations, activities and notes, which show our way towards the goal. If needed, they can quickly join the process and help.
We do not waste time on explanations, meetings or calls. Everything is clear and easily available in the form of notes in the project management system. Each team member may follow progress and activities performed on an ongoing basis.
Also the project manager’s task is easier. They do not have to ask such questions like: “What stage are we at? What has already been done and what is to be done yet?”. Everything is updated in the system on an ongoing basis.
It also ensures a more effective customer communication. When they call to ask about the progress of the project, a quick look at the information in the system is enough to find out the answer. This is why we are so effective as INDEVOPS and our customers obtain high-end quality services without wasting their time.
A company that is constantly learning
Thanks to this model of internal communication we constantly learn from each other and exchange experiences at INDEVOPS.
By sending project messages and analyzing each stage of the process, we quickly discover potential errors and failures. In this way we create a pool of good practices and our own solutions.
Solutions not for everyone
Scrum and DevOps offer an effective approach towards project completion, but not for everyone. Open and honest team communication is necessary.
If you inspire a rat race and create an atmosphere of constant competition, these tools will be of no use. Conservative e-mails and formal arrangements will do better. And the competitive spirit will simply prevail over the good of the team and customers. Ultimately, it is the promotion to a higher post that matters the most.
Only real and open team work with people who are able to both share their knowledge and accept criticism constitute conditions under which you may to set ambitious goals. You cannot achieve your greatest goals and dreams on your own. This may happen only in a team.
Tools are not everything (but without tools everything fails).
They help to improve work. They increase safety and automate processes. Shorten the project cycle. But without a knowledgeable and skilled team, they are only tools. They are worthless.
Therefore, at INDEVOPS we care mostly about people. Both the employees and the customers. Before each project we carefully examine the customer’s needs. We try to establish the root cause of the problem. What we offer to our customers are not regular services that are easily available on the market. These are professional solutions which provide measurable business advantages.
The tools are to serve us, but the key aspects are skills, approach and willingness to work in a team. No system or program can replace over 10-years experience and knowledge in IT monitoring and automation that we have.
If you want to check how effective we are, let us know how we can improve your IT activities. Regardless of whether you need monitoring or consider automation. We will be happy to help contact us! >
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