Agile Project Management often comes up when talking about efficient business operations. While understanding its principles is valuable, the best approach often involves adapting or even evolving beyond standard methodologies to fit real-world needs – something we know well at FunkPd.
Led by founder Nolan Phelps, whose background spans over two decades in development and 15+ years in the trades, FunkPd takes a pragmatic, no-nonsense approach. We focus on building robust digital systems that deliver tangible results, cutting through the fluff often associated with complex methodologies.
Understanding Agile Project Management: The Concept
At its core, Agile is about flexibility, collaboration, and delivering value iteratively. Instead of one massive launch, projects are broken down, built in cycles (often called “sprints”), and refined based on continuous feedback.
The Bicycle Analogy: Visualizing Value
A popular way to grasp the core benefit of Agile is Henrik Kniberg’s illustration, often adapted as the “Agile Bicycle.” It contrasts two approaches to building a car:
- Top Row (“Not like this”): This shows the traditional “Waterfall” method. You get unusable parts (a wheel, an axle) until the very end. The customer isn’t happy until step 4 when the full car is delivered.
- Bottom Row (“Like this!”): This is the Agile/iterative way. Start with a basic, usable solution (skateboard – MVP or Minimum Viable Product) that addresses the core need (getting around). Then, improve it step-by-step (scooter, bike, motorcycle, car). The customer gets *value* much earlier and provides feedback along the way, ensuring the final product is what they actually need.
Common Agile methodologies like Scrum (using set sprints and roles) and Kanban (visualizing workflow) aim to implement this iterative value delivery.
FunkPd’s Experience: Evolving Beyond Standard Agile
While FunkPd utilized elements of Agile and tools like Trello/Monday.com in the past, we found that strict adherence to specific Agile ceremonies or platforms wasn’t always the most efficient path for us or our clients, particularly those in the trades, construction, and industrial sectors who need reliable, robust systems without unnecessary overhead.
Our “Burning Plastic” philosophy demands cutting complexity and waste. Sometimes, the prescribed meetings or separate project management tools of standard Agile frameworks felt like they added layers rather than streamlining. We observed instances where rigid sprints could lead to repetitive planning cycles instead of direct progress, conflicting with our core value of “Excellence” – getting the job done right and efficiently.
Furthermore, as a “Digital General Contractor,” managing everything end-to-end, we thrive on centralized information and clear, direct communication – principles better served by integrating project management directly into our core development environment.
Our Current Workflow: GitHub & AI-Driven Management
Today, FunkPd manages projects primarily through **GitHub**. This allows us to keep all project communication, task tracking, code management, and documentation in one central, developer-centric hub. This aligns perfectly with our lean, global remote-team structure and ensures maximum transparency internally.
Leveraging our “Automation Edge,” we integrate **AI tools** to assist with project tracking, summarizing progress, identifying potential roadblocks, and streamlining communication based on GitHub activity. As illustrated above, this centralized system avoids the pitfalls of fragmented, unusable early steps (like the ‘Not like this’ part of the bicycle analogy) and instead fosters a direct, efficient path to happy, well-informed stakeholders. This AI *assists* our human oversight, allowing our team (like Nolan, Deniz, Sophie, and Axel) to focus on high-impact tasks, strategic decisions, and direct client collaboration, rather than getting bogged down in administrative project management rituals.
This GitHub + AI approach allows us to remain highly adaptable (a core Agile principle) while maximizing efficiency and maintaining the robustness required by our clients.
Conclusion: Finding What Works
Understanding Agile Project Management concepts is valuable background. However, the most effective approach is often one tailored to your specific context, team, and clients. FunkPd’s evolution from standard Agile tools to a streamlined GitHub and AI-driven workflow reflects our commitment to pragmatic, results-focused execution and continuous improvement – finding the best way to build “Internet with Soul” for businesses that rely on performance and reliability.
nolan@funkpd.com
Built FunkPd from scratch. 15+ years in trades, 20+ years coding. Full-stack dev, SEO tactician, server-side operator. Rebuilt over 20 sites; most under 3 seconds load time. Clients span mining, manufacturing, e-comm, and local services. Specializes in fixing sites that fail under pressure. Works async. Ships fast. No fluff.
