How IHG is Using Agile for Hotel Room Redesign

LeadingAgile is working with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to apply Agile in a project that is completely outside of technology. In this interview, LeadingAgile’s Enterprise Transformation Consultant, Russ Pena and IHG Project Manager, Daniella Huang discuss how they’ve been using Agile in a project to redesign guest rooms for the Holiday Inn brand. This is the first of four podcast interviews we will be posting on how IHG is using Agile outside of IT to deliver value for their customers.

Show Notes 

1:48 – Interview Start

2:20 – How IHG is using Agile to redesign guest rooms for Holiday Inn

6:54 – The level of complexity involved in hotel redesign compared to software development

10:05 – The hardest aspect of transitioning to Agile from doing this type of work in a traditional manner

11:20 – How IHG decided to switch to Agile for this project

12:50 – How LeadingAgile helped IHG establish a team to understand their own internal challenges before starting with Agile

15:35 – What IHG learned in those initial meetings and how the core team was established

18:40 – Defining the initial roles for the Agile team

20:00 – Daniella’s switch from traditional PM to ScrumMaster

23:00 – How IHG modified the Scrum framework to include Office Hours and why that was so beneficial

25:04 – How the Product Owner works with the team and contributes to getting work done

26:10 – Advice for people working in a traditional environment who want to make the switch to Agile

28:50 – Getting in touch with Daniella and Russ

Russ Contact Info:
Email: russ.pena@leadingagile.com
Twitter: @russpena

Daniella Contact Info:
Email: Daniella.Huang@IHG.com