Case Study: How a LongServing DOJ Employee Became a New Agile Practitioner (Adapted from 18F’s blog post, “Building product management capacity in government part 3,” written by Lalitha Jonnalagadda and Bill Laughman) Background: The Justice Department (DOJ) needed to find a better way to intake the 100,000-plus civil rights reports it receives every year. Due to the dozens of reporting pathways for the public, the process was “confusing and inconsistent” for those who tried to file potential violations, 18F said. “Without clear guidance and expectation setting, many people submitted reports that required extensive follow-up to collect missing information, or submitted reports that fell outside the purview of the Division altogether,” 18F said in a blog post. Working closely with 18F, a tech and design consultancy within GSA, in June 2020 the division launched a new and improved portal with the help of Agile processes. Here’s the story of the experience for one DOJ employee, the portal’s product owner*, who evolved from an Agile skeptic to Agile champion over the process. Who? Bill Laughman, DOJ Civil Rights Division “I’ve been with the Civil Rights Division for about 20 years serving various roles, with my latest role in leading complaint intake and processing violation reports for the Administrative Management Section. I’m the primary correspondence liaison for Division-wide report triage. I also serve as the main point of contact for congressional inquiries to the Department.”
← Before
After →
* A product owner is the “voice of the customer,” the person who is accountable for ensuring business value is delivered in a product (GAO Agile Assessment Guide).
A GovLoop Guide 18
