Just shortly after writing a few posts about Agile documentation, I received an invitation to this seminar in Atlanta…
Applying Agile Project Management to Information Development
I don’t know if they have some search-engine magic going on (like Amazon) or (more reasonably) it was just a coincidence in that they were announcing their seminar a couple of months before the event.
It’s great to see that Agile project management is getting some attention in the documentation realm. At the same time, it’s important to understand that Agile isn’t something you can just bring back from a seminar or learn from a blog post.
When I first jumped into an Agile development shop as a tech writer with a solid background in plan-driven project management (a.k.a. Waterfall), I talked to a few Agile coaches and consultants. They all said a 5-year time frame was a reasonable expectation to move from a plan-driven to change-driven methodology. It might happen more quickly, or it might never happen, no matter how hard you try, because requires changing how many people not only view projects, but, literally, think about the world. That was 5 years of constant coaching and encouragement, by the way.
But, in any case, it’s good to see it’s getting some attention. You can’t get to the end of a 5-year transition if you never start.