Successful conclusion of the interdisciplinary project with great results for an “Agile Toolbox”
August 30, 2019
The third University Practice Summer Camp once again took place with the participation of encoway. In August 2019, an interdisciplinary, international team of seven students from the University of Bremen worked for three weeks on the project “Agile Toolbox”. They were given a fascinating insight into the (agile) practices at encoway and developed an encoway-specific online catalogue of agile methods and tools, which was met with great enthusiasm.
There are no end of methods and tools for agile project management and agile working. Anyone can find plenty of results using a search engine. A Google search for “agile methods” produces almost 1.5 million results. But what are the ideal resources for the individual application?
Some impressions of the University Practice Summer Camp at encoway. All photos by: Timo Cielo – timocielo.com
At encoway we are fortunate enough to have an agile coach on board with Kristiane Stotz who helps us to ensure that we remain on the right track: “Together with a team of 5, I work to provide processes, structures, and guidelines to help the encoway teams work in an agile way.” However, as the size of a company grows, this can become a challenge for an expert like Kristiane. One way to address the increasing number of inquiries is helping people to help themselves and this is how the idea for the project for this year’s summer camp was born – the development of an agile toolbox.
During the three-week project period, the 7-member project group laid the foundations for its own online catalogue at encoway as part of the University Practice Summer Camp. It combines agile methods and tools that suit the work of the encoway teams. With its clear structure, users can find the right resources for their specific application in a quick and solution-driven way. In future, encoway employees will find it easier to themselves answer questions such as “I will be moderating a workshop in the near future. Can you suggest some methods that will help make it a success?” Or “We want to work iteratively in our project. Can you suggest any tools that we can use for this?
Once again, the value of close collaboration between science and industry was demonstrated. Kristiane Stotz, who supervised the project over the entire period, said: ”I am thrilled with how motivated and committed everyone in the project has been, and I really wasn’t expecting such a tremendous result. Although the students did not know each other and came from different courses, they organised themselves very well in a short space of time and were really enthusiastic. With this project we have created a great foundation on which to continuously expand the topic Agile Toolbox.”