The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) — the largest supplier of treated water in the U.S. — used innovative Agile project management techniques to comply with new regulatory requirements in its Water Quality Laboratory.
Impact
To meet new standards set by the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, MWD needed to enhance its Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Using a traditional waterfall project management approach, MWD estimated it would take three years to upgrade the LIMS database, system workflows and other components to comply with the mandates. Instead, MWD used Agile project management tools and techniques to cut the timeline in half, completing the project in 1.5 years.
Agile project management enabled MWD to satisfy project requirements through fast and continuous functionality implementation. Project requirements were prioritized and assigned to project sprints. Technical work for each iteration was performed in a test environment, prototypes were presented to relevant stakeholders for selection, user acceptance testing was conducted, training was provided and changes were implemented in the LIMS production environment. The Agile approach allowed for faster realization of business value and an easier learning curve for LIMS users because new system functionality was released in small iterations rather than all at once.
Sustained cooperation among team members was an essential element of the project. At outset of the initiative, MWD created a project charter and presented it to all key stakeholders. The district gathered signatures from more than 20 key stakeholders to ensure agreement with high-level project details and secure vital resources. Ambiguous project requirements were clarified through focus groups, interviews, process documentation (as-is and to-be), expert judgement, decision analysis, voting and benchmarking. A project portal was created to share the project charter, schedule, requirements and other important documentation among stakeholders.
Advice
MWD says the Agile approach was a better way to manage its large-scale regulatory compliance project, and it resulted in more collaboration among stakeholder groups. Splitting the project into digestible sprints gave stakeholders a better picture of project milestones and enabled them to provide tangible input. This ultimately facilitated collaboration, encouraged a continuous feedback loop, and leveraged the knowledge of subject matter experts to execute the project better.
MWD recommends the following steps to replicate its success:
- Create and present a project charter to key stakeholders. Receive signatures to ensure agreement with high-level project details and secure vital resources
- Adoption an Agile approach early in the project to:
- Break down a large, complex project into manageable and measurable sprints
- Gain business value faster and lessen overall project risk
- Apply the following techniques to clarify project requirements:
- Focus groups
- Interviews
- Process documentation (as-is and to-be swim lane diagrams)
- Expert judgement
- Decision-making techniques
- Decision analysis
- Voting
- Benchmarking
- Use prototypes to demonstrate new functionality and gain user acceptance early
- Ensure strong communication between the project team and project stakeholders
- After each sprint is completed, train users and implement functionality in production
- Create a portal to share the project schedule, scope, requirements, and other important documentation with various stakeholders
