ISPG Hits It Out of the Park with IP Week
Rama Sistla, Cyber Risk Adviser and Product Owner in the Information Security and Privacy Group (ISPG), has a heavy workload. That’s why he appreciates the opportunity to pause periodically to reflect on his work and its progress during Innovation and Planning (IP) Week.
IP Week, a time for planning and reflection, allows a workforce to pause non-mission-critical work to prepare for the next quarter, align priorities, and refine strategies.
“Innovation and Planning Week gives us a more Agile way to ‘plan the work, then work the plan’ to achieve the desired outcomes,” says Sistla.
ISPG’s Agile Program Management Office (PMO) began hosting IP Weeks on a quarterly basis in June 2021. In the past year, they have hosted training courses, retrospectives, and planning sessions on an optional basis at all levels of ISPG. Besides the opportunity to reflect, teams and divisions have set aside time to interact directly with ISPG leadership and their external stakeholders.
"IP Week has been extremely beneficial to the Policy Team because it fostered greater understanding and collaboration among team members, which led the team to be more productive," reports Shane Gainer, Technical Program Manager for the Division of Security, Privacy, Policy and Oversight.
The PMO is continuing the implementation of an Agile framework as part of ISPG’s transformation, focusing on Agile principles rather than on a specific tool or methodology. This framework emphasizes customer value, simplification, and periodic reflections to improve work effectiveness. IP Week is a key part of that transformation.
“IP Week is such an exciting time because it gives all of us in ISPG a chance to pause, celebrate our teams and accomplishments, reflect on continuous improvement, innovate, learn, and focus on what’s ahead," says Melissa Greller, ISPG PMO Agile Coach. "It’s with an Agile mindset that we’re continuously learning, evolving, and delivering the highest valued work collectively and collaboratively.”
Rachel Schreiber, Senior Technical Advisor in the Division of Implementation and Reporting (DIR), says, “IP Week has enabled DIR to look at our divisional goals and consider how they support ISPG’s strategic goals holistically. It also has helped us streamline our communications with (other) ISPG divisions, stakeholders, and workstreams who are invested in the mutual success of achieving our objectives and key results.”
Gita Ollange, Reporting and Data Integration Lead in DIR, concurs with Schreiber's assessment.
“IP Week has helped our team collaborate across divisions and workstreams to address stakeholder needs and plan future dashboards,” Ollange says. “This collaboration has helped the team increase our focus on developing more customer-oriented, solution-based dashboard reporting for our community.”
This quarter’s IP Week will be held from June 21 to June 23. ISPG-wide activities will include a strategic overview from ISPG Director and CISO Robert Wood as well as training courses in the Agile mindset; OKR fundamentals; the role of product owners; and sizing, capacity, and prioritization. These sessions are offered in addition to regular division-level planning sessions, workshops, and retrospectives.
To learn more about ISPG IP Week activities, visit the IP Week Confluence Page