In Scrum or Waterfall or just plain wrap road map...don't forget about grooming, your team is depending on it!
Once at last... the perfection of the methodology, conversation, leading the team and staying on track is here for the future. And the future is found in the grooming. Even in the quietest of moments and the days were nothing seems to be happening, don't fold the deal there is lots to be found when "grooming" around.
Project Managers need to stay involved by thinking through the work of each team and integrating their work through out the project plan. The project plan is really an relationship data base of elegance showing dependencies, and the work of sophisticated professionals greatly involved in their day to day work. The visionary project manager continually looks forward and anticipates their needs, much like a family. Here is an idea of what daily grooming looks like in any methodology:
- Review the project plan in various configurations and keep it fresh and up to date
- Review and maintain the Actions, Risks, Issues, and Decisions
- Know the most important events of the week, and report emergent events to the project stakeholders
- Give the team a rest by minimizing and consolidating meetings, and make sure meetings are purposeful
- Know what your team is working on and what their obstacles might be
- Be a resource for opening doors and removing roadblocks
- Publish every meeting's events to the team
- Archive. Keep the project repository up to date with key artifacts that demonstrate the workings of your proficient team.
Grooming may be a Scrum term, but it applies to any methodology. Good grooming makes for a fresh look at every week, and keeps the project manager in a position of leadership and the credible voice of the project.
