CIW Lab Attendees Get Agile with Cars.com
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| Agile master Steve Young teaches Lab attendees how to get things done. |
In less than an hour on Oct. 17, Chicago Ideas Week (CIW) Lab participants in the Cars.com: An Intro to Agile event created colorful, comprehensive Chicago travel brochures using a unique work method the company practices.
The CIW sponsor uses the Agile work method, where projects are divided up into two-week sessions to make it easier to divide and conquer tasks and avoid having anyone feel overwhelmed. Lab host and Agile methodology expert Steve Young and other members of the Cars.com team helped three groups of six to seven participants live out how the car sales website accomplishes marketing, strategy and coding tasks with that method every day.
“It’s easier for employees to think in this fast-paced, focused environment,” Young said. “Every day, we learn something new.”
This insider experience was one of about 100 CIW Labs taking place throughout Chicagoland during CIW’s annual weeklong innovation festival Oct. 14 – 20.
The Cars.com Lab room looked like an art classroom: on each table sets of glue sticks, markers, stickers and construction paper were set out for participants to use to create their brochures. It was here that attendees tackled about two work days’ worth of projects in a matter of minutes. They gave people roles of a producer, team leader and workers—and from there, the team leader divided up the necessary tasks from design to research.
As part of the Cars.com work strategy, those tasks are separated into three categories: To Do, Work in Progress and Done. This allows employees to visualize what needs to be accomplished – a tactic Lab attendees implemented by moving sticky notes between columns as tasks were completed. Within 20 minutes, they all finished their brochures.
While this might have been fast for some of the participants, other groups actually finished with time to spare.
Dahriian Espinoza, who works in economic development in Chicago, said the highlight of the event was definitely the simulation exercise.
“Really quick and exciting, and it’s effective to actually see the format in action,” he said.
While this might have been a highly condensed version of the Cars.com Agile method, participants came away with an understanding of how new products come to life.
“Every day, we learn something new,” Young said in the closing moments of the Lab. “And part of that is learning the value of interactions and individuals over negotiations and documentation.”
*Learn more about Cars.com by clicking here!*
