“Scrum master” is how Kris Philippaerts describes his function at Cronos (near Antwerp). Actually it is just one of his roles because in this company you have to be familiar with many markets. As scrum master, Kris is particularly busy coaching and supporting project teams using adaptive methods. Not directly an activity you expect from an engineer, or maybe it is, because Kris is a Group T engineer.
Introducing e-business
”Our mission is to assist companies in developing and implementing ICT-solutions. The added value Cronos offers resides in its extended, integrated expertise concerning hardware, operating systems, databases, application servers, storage and server consolidation, business continuing, security, networking, EAI and data architecture,… Our consultants’ task is to translate the customers’ needs into concrete, tailored projects that have to lead to concrete solutions.”
Project management
Upon graduating as an Electronics engineer, Kris immediately took up a part-time assistantship at Group T while at the same time continuing his studies at the K.U.Leuven’s IT department. After that, he started at Cronos as a Java developer. Somehow, quality assurance became part of his tasks along with being a lifesaver whenever a project needed last-minute adjustments. “All these roles naturally lead to project management,” he explains. That’s when he decided to adopt a brand-new trend, the agile approach.
Agile approach
’Agile’ refers to dexterity, mobility, speed, alertness. Kris: “This approach focuses on the human factor of a project. Many of its ideas were taken from educational concepts concerning the guidance of learners, competence- and language development, reflecting on your own performance, peer-learning… The idea is to motivate team members and to give them as much freedom and responsibility as possible to enhance their commitment. This enables them to take ownership of the project and to take on responsibility without the need for supervision.”
Scrum master
Cronos applies this strategy in purely technical contexts as well as in the project management proper. This is where Kris the scrum master comes in. “’Scrum’ is a rugby term and we aim to generate the same drive, competitiveness, team spirit and desire for winning as would a rugby coach but without the aggressiveness that comes with the sport. My role is that of a facilitator, of someone team members can confide in and who solves, or better still, prevents problems.”
Technological expertise
But where does technology come in then? Kris is adamant: “We are a high-tech company and to be able to discuss the newest evolutions in ICT with highly specialized teams, you have to be an expert yourself. But as a Group T engineer I naturally have more than one string to my bow.”
- www.cronos.be
- Read the full story on Kris Philippaerts and the 'agile approach' in the June-issue of Interview, Group T's periodical.
