The Agile Builder

When we started this build choosing a builder was a daunting task. They had to be sympathetic to our way of working and flexible enough to work around us as we continued to live in the property. We need at least one bedroom, bathroom and kitchen available at all times in order for us to live. Luckily, a friend’s husband was just about to finish a job and was interested in taking on our project.

We had a call then he came round to discuss the project. At about 3,000 square feet the two-storey extension also has a cellar and a roof terrace. It is quite unlike anything he has ever done before. He said that he was initially daunted but then when he thought about it the project was no different to any other house he had built. He knows how to build foundations, walls and roofs so his approach was to break the project up into weekly work blocks and concentrate on them.

We sat down and planned the next few weeks work. He likes to have a good idea of the next five days activities with a definite goal for the week and some slack for the unexpected. We are always talking about the longer-term goals and how the weeks work fits in. We have had some unexpected issues (such as the architects drawing for the roof being impossible to build) but these have been highlighted and new drawings produced to resolve the issues.

After a short while this struck me as a very Agile way of working. We are using one-week sprints, starting on a Monday. We have a stand-up most mornings to discuss the status concentrating on yesterday, today and blockers. My scrum team are builders, plumbers, electricians and roofers. I’ve tried to get them to use Jira and to split the jobs into Stories, but they are having none of it! Other than that, we are running a very effective Agile development team.

Only the end product is a HOUSE