simon-van-ipenburg-En Archives - Beacon | Masters in Innovation

SIMON VAN IPENBURG (PROJECT MANAGER BEACON) ON USING SCRUM IN PRODUCT INNOVATION

Claudia Marciano — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 14:40:42 +0000

“Scrum is very good for progress and team spirit.”

“We are excited about scrum as a tool for creating progress in product innovation. This method was originally designed for software development. Scrum allows you to work iteratively (step by step) with your team toward an end product, so you can make regular adjustments. It works especially well if you work with your team together in one room. Still, the “official” scrum method cannot be adopted one-to-one for product innovation. A crucial difference from software development is that within product innovation we face a hard line at some point. We are tied to the production process and aim for a product that ultimately meets all requirements. In execution, we deploy scrum in many of our projects as a tool for creating progress, oversight and team spirit in multidisciplinary teams. In the video, you’ll see how a scrum board not only provides an overview of shared short-term (sprint) goals but also the status of all team members’ actions. One to three times a week we hold a standup meeting. Then we stand around the scrum board with everyone contributing to the project and ask ourselves the questions, ‘Where are you at right now, what are you up against and where are you going?'”

Stick behind the door

“The beauty of a scrum board is: you all create it together, it gives an overview and it makes it clear where you stand. It all starts with creating a sprint schedule, where you set sprint goals and associated actions. We usually work with three-week sprints. In these, you can work toward, for example, a sample, a prototype, a test report, or a decision moment. Team members have to write, hang and move their own actions. This forces everyone to become very concrete and committed. The other day, for example, a team member had set a goal but not put up any actions. This gives me as a process facilitator the opportunity to ask, “Explain to the team how you are going to get to the goal, who or what do you need to do that? Because it is important that everyone can see on the board what is going to happen and what they might be able to help with. That visual overview with all the open tasks works very well as a stick.”

Open Mindset

“The scrum board also gives a clear picture of the relationships between actions and the various departments. If someone does or does not do something, it can affect the actions of others. For example, during the fine-tuning of goals and associated actions, fun discussions sometimes arise. ‘I’m going to test in the third week.’ ‘I can’t, because I still have to screw the parts together.’
I often notice that team members are not used to working together on actions and goals in this way. It requires a certain mindset because by being open about what you do on a day-to-day basis, you do give a glimpse into your kitchen. For some people, this feels like an open door for criticism or a restriction of freedom. Therefore, as a process facilitator, it is important to work to create a code of conduct and a safe atmosphere where team members are happy to share knowledge and are allowed to give each other feedback. At the end of each sprint, there is room for feedback on the team’s cooperation and working methods. We look back on the sprint during a so-called retrospective. Then we discuss: How do we work together and what could be better? The active involvement of the team members and the ownership of the partial actions really makes scrum a process of co-creation.”

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BEAUTIFUL THING: REMARKABLE TABLET

Claudia Marciano — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 14:39:09 +0000

Project manager Simon van Ipenburg on a product he gets excited about

In the category of “products that make business life a lot easier and more fun”: the reMarkable tablet. For several weeks now I have been using the tablet and she is truly remarkable. The versatility is enormous and perfectly suits my needs as a project manager. Gone are those wretched notebooks and paper documents, welcome tablets. This product combines best-of-both worlds of the “regular” tablet and e-reader: an e-ink screen and touchscreen control. The proposition according to the Norwegian manufacturer is “Here to replace your notebooks, sketchbooks, and printouts.

Tablets have been available on the market since 1992, starting back then with the first PDA (personal digital assistant) series, also known as Apple Newton, Palm Pilot, or Sony Clie. While these did not initially catch on tremendously, in the decades since these business gadgets have rapidly become available to the wider public. Who doesn’t have a smartphone or tablet these days? The brightly lit screens with multi-touch controls are getting bigger and bigger, of higher quality, and are even flexibly available today.

In the shadow of these fancy smartphones and tablets, over time the e-reader has also appeared on the scene, mainly suitable for reading documents and books. The e-ink technology of the e-reader is ideal because of its low consumption (because it consumes energy only when refreshing the screen) and its readability under bright sunlight. The reMarkable tablet combines the advantages of a tablet and an e-reader: an e-ink screen with touchscreen control. You can write and draw on it like on paper, with an endless number of pages, and it is super responsive. And with low power consumption, the battery lasts for weeks.

ReMarkable focuses on use for Business and Art (sketching). It is actually quite similar to the first PDAs. The big difference is that the technology has developed enormously in the meantime and this PDA works flawlessly. In my opinion, the tablet is therefore extremely suitable for business and very successful. Navigating through the menus of the reMarkable can be done by hand or with the supplied stylus pen. Writing and sketching can only be done with the stylus. The pressure and edge gel sensitivity of the stylus and the choice of different writing utensils (fineliner, ballpoint pen, pencil, marker, eraser), give a palette of possibilities for formatting your documents. In addition, the tablet includes many different templates, such as line paper, checkered paper and action lists. Through the reMarkable’s wireless connection, documents are automatically synchronized with a phone and/or laptop. Editing a document while on the train? No problem; PDF documents are opened flawlessly and can be commented on with the (marker) pen. At the end of the journey, you can send the document by e-mail to a colleague with one press of a button.

Ok, it is fair to say that the reMarkable is quite expensive, but in return, you get a great product. Only real disadvantage compared to an ordinary paper notebook: the tablet really needs to be recharged every now and then….

Want to know more or the Remarkable? Then watch the video.

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Beautiful thing Apple-airtag:

Margriet De Vriend — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 07:43:14 +0000

Project leader Simon van Ipenburg on recovering valuables

In my search for a fresh product for our “Pretty Thing” column, I was made aware of the release of the Apple Airtag. Only just a few days on the market, but practically nowhere in stock and mostly available to order by reservation.

The Airtag is a nice addition to Apple’s Find My iPhone feature, which now makes other items findable. Simple, just put an Airtag on your keychain, in your backpack or on your laptop and through your iPhone you’ll be on the trail again in no time. Of course, the Airtag is designed for Apple-lovers, so an Android fan like me will quickly turn to the Samsung SmartTag or one of the other competitors already on the market.

Community
Is Apple coming too late to position itself at the top of the market? Probably not. After all, the power of finding an object is not in the tracker itself, but in the community. Through the connected network of millions of iPhone devices worldwide, there is a good chance that the lost object will be found in no time. And once you track the lost object through the community, Apple has come up with a fun new feature to help you cover the last few meters with extreme precision.

Technology
Unlike the rest, the AirTag features Ultra Wideband (UWB) via its proprietary developed U1 chip. Whereas other wireless technologies can only distinguish between a weak and strong signal for a rough estimate of location, UWB is able to determine the exact location based on reflection time (total time of transmission, arrival in the AirTag and return). Because the range is limited to a few tens of meters, Apple calls it “GPS, but at the living room level.” Ultra Wideband has been around for a while, but only now has the technology found its way into smartphones. For a long time, Apple will not be able to enjoy the sole right to UWB, as Samsung’s latest phones are already equipped, and with that, other applications of UWB will soon follow.

Precision
Coming back to the AirTag, I strongly wonder what target audience is willing to pay a high amount for a smart button that can find lost objects with high precision. But maybe that’s more down to my own precision in not losing track of my valuables. Although Find My Kid in a busy supermarket would be quite an attractive option….
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‘FOR SUCCESSFULLY MANAGING PRODUCT INNOVATION, SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE IS A MUST’

Claudia Marciano — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 07:26:57 +0000

Simon van Ipenburg (Project Manager BEACON):

Many people assume that a good project manager is able to bring a project to completion, regardless of the field of study. At BEACON, we value management skills. However, we also consider experience and subject matter expertise in the field of physical product innovation a must. Product innovation is characterized by a lot of uncertainty, technical challenges and a limited time to market. Content knowledge helps to recognize the pitfalls and risks in the process, which is of great importance to our clients.

Right balance

Making such a challenging project a success requires cooperation from a multidisciplinary team. The team is central and sets the direction; the project manager monitors progress. For a project manager without subject matter knowledge, it is difficult to weigh the views of the various specialists, provide focus and set a course. On the other hand, there is also a real danger of going into too much detail, losing sight of the process. Where is subject matter interference important? And how does the project manager maintain the right balance between substantive direction and managing the overall process?

Puzzle
At BEACON, we focus on innovation projects involving the development and marketing of a physical product. This means that our teams usually consist of different disciplines such as R&D, marketing, quality, purchasing, production and logistics. You can think of this as a big puzzle, for which all team members have to contribute pieces. The project manager plays an important role in coordinating the shape of the individual pieces and the puzzle as a whole, and directing the placement of the various pieces. In practice, for example, this amounts to reaching agreement with various team members on:

User requirements versus technical capabilities

Suitable (production) partners versus impact on cost price

Technical solutions and design versus available production capabilities

Product characteristics versus cost price

Desired number of variants versus cost price and complexity in production

Sparring and tuning

It sounds simple, but it certainly isn’t always. To reach consensus on the shape of the puzzle with all these different disciplines and ensure that all the pieces stay within the boundaries of the project, subject matter knowledge and experience is indispensable. A project manager without content knowledge would have to rely entirely on the vision of the team members. In our opinion, a project manager must be able to ask critical questions about content, always be able to assess which issues are priorities, and spot issues that the team overlooks but which require attention. In our experience, in order to achieve extraordinary results and allow team members to excel, it is important to be able to regularly spar with team members in terms of content.

For example, a project manager must be able to think along:

With marketing on the definition of the value proposition

With engineers on technical constructions

With the quality department on drawing up a validation plan based on the program of requirements

With the controller about the business case

With purchasing on quotations and cooperation contracts

With the production manager on process improvement

Role of project manager

Although many a project manager will go a long way in separating the wheat from the chaff, being knowledgeable gives the project manager the desired authority in the team. It is precisely understanding the various substantive dilemmas and their importance to the puzzle as a whole that enables a project manager to maintain an overview and think ahead. A content expert project manager can build bridges between disciplines, clarify positions, ask critical questions, provide focus and priority, be a sparring partner for team members and steer the project in the right direction. In doing so, the project manager can position himself as a fulcrum and catalyst within the team. The focus on the puzzle as a whole provides guidance in finding the right balance between substantive depth and steering of the overall process.

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