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Juliana Nogueira is an Agile Expert, Project and Portfolio Manager, Scrum Master, Facilitator, and OKR Coach based in the Federal District, Brazil. With experience at TJDFT and Universidade de Brasília, Juliana is an Agile Leader at the IT's Agile Project Management Office in Brasilia, where she coordinates a team that helps others adopt agile methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, SAFe and Lean Inception to deliver value more effectively. Passionate about the principles of adaptability, simplicity, collaboration, and focus on results, Juliana's Agile PMO also advises managers on IT project portfolio ranking and prioritization to improve transparency and governance. She also facilitates a cross-functional Kanban team, driving the digital transformation journey at TJDFT.
Juliana Sousa Nogueira, Head of IT PMO, TJDFT – Brazil
Through this article, Juliana explores the challenges and triumphs of implementing Agile Portfolio and Project Management (PPM) within the Brazilian public sector, specifically the Justice Court system.
The Challenge of Frequent Change: Public sector priorities are inherently dynamic, shifting with election cycles (often every 4 years) or even more frequently in specialized sectors like Justice (every 2 years). Aligning IT- Information Technology project delivery with these evolving priorities needs an adaptable approach.
Beyond ROI - Measuring Success in Public Service: Unlike the private sector, success in the public sector is measured by positive societal impact and enhanced public service quality. Every project funded through taxpayers must deliver tangible benefits for citizens. Aligning project delivery with this principle is paramount.
From Waterfall to Agile: A Transformational Journey: Before 2016, the Justice Court's IT portfolio relied on traditional, waterfall-based PM methodologies (PMBOK® Guide). Despite our dedicated efforts, project delivery remained sluggish, exceeding deadlines, and frequently falling short of quality. In 2016, the Court embraced Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban, prioritizing principles like:
● Continuous Delivery
● Adaptability
● Transparency
● Regular Review
Initial Stumbles -The Importance of People: The initial Agile implementation encountered resistance due to inadequate preparation and training across IT and business teams. This highlighted the Agile Manifesto's core principle: "Individuals and interactions over processes and tools." Successful project delivery hinges on engaged individuals who understand the "why” behind the agile approach.
Investing in People and Learning: Recognizing the importance of human capital, the Court invested in comprehensive Agile training programs. The focus shifted to team-by-team Agile adoption, meticulously measuring results, gathering user and team feedback, and continuously improving subsequent cycles.
The Birth of the Agile PMO in the IT area: Aligned with the Agile philosophy, the Court established an Agile PMO dedicated to supporting IT teams and stakeholders in adopting Agile methods and delivering tangible value.
Processes and Tools - A Supporting Role: While processes and tools are secondary to people and interaction, they still play a vital role. Utilizing Agile benchmarking across Brazilian public sector organizations provided valuable insights and accelerated the Court's Agile transformation journey.
The GPPTI Framework - A Game-Changer: The PMO developed the GPPTI - Agile IT Portfolio and Project Management Guide. This framework serves as a roadmap, recommending phases, roles, and techniques tailored to specific project types and teams, encompassing the entire journey from initial idea to service/product delivery.
“Artificial intelligence (AI) holds immense potential for Agile PMO functions, particularly in areas like project forecasting analysis and portfolio risk management”
Prioritizing the Portfolio: Aligning with National Goals: The GPPTI prioritizes the IT portfolio in accordance with the Justice Court's six-year National Strategic Objectives (2021-2026). Additionally, the Court aligns its IT and Cybersecurity objectives with the IT Director Plan (PDTIC), a single-year tactical document outlining IT plans, risks, budgets, and projected outcomes.
Transparent Prioritization with WSJF: The Court adopted the WSJF (Weight Shortest Job First) methodology for transparent IT portfolio prioritization. This model, popularized by the Safe framework prioritizes projects based on "Cost of Delay" (CoD).
Public Sector Adaptation of CoD: The Court adapted the CoD formula to align with public sector priorities. CoD now incorporates components such as:
● User-Business Value
● Time Criticality
● Risk Reduction
● Opportunity Enablement
These factors are assigned point values, with the overall CoD score determining a project’s position in the prioritization ranking.
Minimum Viable Products (MVPs): Collaborative Lean Inception workshops are conducted to define product/service MVPs before project commencement. These workshops engage teams and stakeholders in designing solutions that effectively address user needs.
Agile PMO: Sharing Insights with Leadership: Throughout the development lifecycle, the Agile PMO monitors project progress, gathering monthly data and generating comprehensive status reports presented to C-Level leadership via dashboards.
The Future of the Agile PMO and AI: Artificial intelligence (AI) holds immense potential for Agile PMO functions, particularly in project forecasting analysis and portfolio risk management. However, Agile Project Management is fundamentally about human creativity, collaboration, and emotional intelligence; these core competencies remain irreplaceable.
The Brazilian IT Justice Court's journey exemplifies the successful implementation of Agile PPM within the public sector. This approach allows for dynamic adaptation to changing priorities, fosters a focus on societal impact, and prioritizes people and interaction as the pillars of project success.
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