We believe it is interesting to explain how we organize the development of new functionalities together with our clients by following our version of agile methodologies. This allows us to enter a cycle of continuous improvement with them, avoiding time losses with endless estimation sessions.

On the other hand, we strive to be transparent with our clients and improve our relationship with them. We ensure that the client is always aware of where the time is being spent and the status of each task throughout each work cycle (sprint/month).

TEFIPRO.core is a system that audits and monitors industrial performance indicators with the aim of continuously improving our clients’ production. The installation of our equipment on production lines is at no cost to our clients.

So, how do we bill?

We issue a constant invoice at the end of each month (we will talk about recurrence in another post) for the following:

  1. Utilization of our equipment.
  2. Access to our web platform and monthly generation of specific reports (if you are interested in seeing a demo, you can email us at vguardia@tefipro.com).
  3. Monthly analysis of data collected by TEFIPRO.core equipment.
  4. Proposal of improvements to optimize production.

It is worth noting that there is no long-term commitment with TEFIPRO. We understand that clients will use our products and services as long as they are useful to them. We always use the analogy:

We don’t want to sell you a washing machine; we want to deliver your washed and ironed shirts to you month after month.

To carry out our month-to-month (cycles or sprints), we use a project management and task management tool called Asatefina.

Within Asana, we have created a project for each client, ensuring that the information is confidential to each one of them and only we have access to all of them.

If we select a specific project, for example, the company Forga, a specific panel (marked in red) for that client opens up for us:

In the central part, you can see a task list, which we divide into two types:

  • Tasks for the current sprint/month (monthly priority, and once created, it is not changed that month)
  • Task backlog (task drawer, where tasks can be added at any time)
  • To view the history of each task, you can click on it, and a dropdown will appear on the right panel where the client/we can leave comments, upload documents, request feedback, etc.

At this point, agile organization with the client comes into play. To coincide with the billing period, we have estimated that the sprints should be 4 weeks long.

In the last week of the month, we meet with the client to evaluate the status of the tasks selected for the current sprint/month within the monthly consulting hours we offer our clients (the number of hours varies depending on their needs). Possible scenarios:

  • Completed tasks are marked as such.
  • If there are any incomplete tasks (due to lack of time) and the client considers them still relevant to complete, they are left for the next sprint/month.
  • If there are any tasks that (due to complexity) could not be fully completed, they are re-evaluated, creating several smaller tasks if necessary.
  • If time remains, the sprint/month is completed with tasks from the backlog (in order of priority).

Thus, we conduct a retrospective along with planning the next iteration to save time in meetings.

It is worth noting that both the client and the TEFIPRO team are responsible for continually feeding the backlog (whether after an idea, phone conversation, or a “would be nice if…”) and keeping it prioritized (with the most important tasks at the top to be taken in upcoming sprints).

Note: TEFIPRO has Certified ScrumMasters®, and we are aware that we have applied only the procedures and meetings that we find useful (for example, we do not hold a Daily Meeting because clients do not find it necessary).

What do you think of our way of organizing? Help us improve!