3 Ways to Use the Agile Methodology at Home and Stop the Chaos

In the software development industry, the agile development methodology is something we are all either aware of, or making use of on a daily basis. To many of us, it is our daily work structure and guide to how to successfully contribute to a project. We all know how beneficial agile can be for a project team but have you considered using the Agile Methodology at home?

Bruce Feiler presented a TED Talk on this concept, and told the story of the Starr family:

“At 7 p.m. on a Sunday in Hidden Springs, Idaho, six members of the Starr family are sitting down to the highlight of their week: the family meeting. The Starrs are a regular American family with their share of regular American family problems. David is a software engineer. Eleanor takes care of their four children, ages 10 to 15. One of the kids tutors math on the far side of town. One has lacrosse on the near side of town. One has Asperger syndrome. One has ADHD.

‘We were living in complete chaos,’ Eleanor said.

What the Starrs did next though, was surprising. Instead of turning to friends or relatives, they looked to David’s workplace. They turned to a cutting-edge program called agile development that was just spreading from manufacturers in Japan to startups in Silicon Valley. In agile, workers are organized into small groups and do things in very short spans of time. So instead of having executives issue grand proclamations, the team in effect manages itself. You have constant feedback. You have daily update sessions. You have weekly reviews. You’re constantly changing. David said when they brought this system into their home, the family meetings in particular increased communication, decreased stress and made everybody happier to be part of the family team. When my wife and I adopted these family meetings and other techniques into the lives of our then-five-year-old twin daughters, it was the biggest single change we made since our daughters were born. And these meetings had this effect while taking under 20 minutes.”

Just like the Starr family, you can remove some of the chaos surrounding your family unit by implementing these three agile methods:

Accountability

One key aspect to Agile Methodology is accountability. Teams create boards and utilize software to keep each member accountable. Each task is described, assigned and given a status. Families can adapt this concept to their household by creating a list of items to be completed by each “team member” in the mornings, for example. As each chore is completed, it is checked off the list for all to see. This allows for the team members to know what to expect each day and gives them satisfaction and acknowledgement from others when each task is complete.

Team Meetings

Teams using the Agile Methodology have frequent meetings with subset groups as well as daily standups, which are short meetings dedicated to providing team members with a status update. Following the agile model, your “team” meetings should answer three questions:

1) What worked well in our family this week?

2) What didn’t work well?

3) What do we agree to work on in the week ahead?

Family members can throw out suggestions and then two items are chosen to focus on.  Did feeding the dog before school work well? If not, what will we do to change it this week? You will find that, similar to how agile teams manage themselves, your family will also manage itself, identifying and working on new problems each week.

Adapt All the Time

Agile builds in a system of change so you can adapt in real time. Just like an agile project team, your family cannot possibly be prepared for every scenario and bump in the road that may happen. If the all-important family dinner is just not possible, move that quality time to breakfast. Instead of using the Waterfall model of setting concrete expectations and rules from the beginning, having an agile mindset allows for you to get the results you want, even if the way you planned it is not working.

Agile Methodology has changed software development forever. Teams are more productive and project success rates are higher. If using these methods at home can produce the same results, why not give it a try?