Hello Mr Höhn, would you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello!
My name is Richard Höhn and I was born and raised in Worms. After completing my high school diploma, my basic military service and later successfully obtaining my bachelor’s and master’s degree in business informatics, I decided to start my career at Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt.
There I was trained as a project manager and Scrum Master and successfully managed projects myself or as a Scrum Master as part of the Scrum Team.
What were your motives for joining Agile Radicals GmbH?
During the instructive and exciting time at Deutsche Bank AG I had a lot of contact with external consultants who told me about their project and industry experience and the “consultant life” as such. These reports made me think and for a long time I had the idea to change into the consulting business myself, so that I could expand my technical and methodological knowledge.
However, the stories of the external colleagues were not only positive, so it took me a long time to find the right consultancy for me. On the one hand, I wanted to use the project and industry diversity to gain as many differentiated impressions and experiences as possible, but on the other hand, I also wanted to have a say in upcoming projects. Therefore I decided to work for Agile Radicals GmbH, because the organizational structures are very flat, the direct line to the managing director is maintained and my personal preferences can be taken into account. Furthermore, I am responsible for my own project acquisition and can therefore apply for a pre-selected selection of projects directly to the project brokers and thus gain further important knowledge.
What expectations do you have of Agile Radicals GmbH as an employer?
As already mentioned in the previous answer, I hope to benefit from the advantages of the consulting industry. This means very concretely:
A variety of new experiences in different industries, e.g. technology, health care, finance, automotive, as well as the pharmaceutical and chemical industry
An even stronger build-up of knowledge regarding general methodologies and soft skills for a wide range of clients (e.g. consulting, presentation, conflict resolution, strategic negotiations)
A broader knowledge and even more experience in the field of agile approaches and classic project management, but also the impression of how other companies interpret and live the agile principles
Parallel to this, as already mentioned, I have the expectation that the possible disadvantages, as well as my personal preferences such as the industry, but also the distance to my place of residence, will be taken into account, if possible.
What does a challenging project look like to you?
For me, the question arises even before the project is initialized. I always find it exciting when which companies decide on which type of project method for implementing the project content. This means that choosing the right project management method, be it agile or waterfall, is already a small challenge in itself. Often, an already sub-optimal choice can influence the entire course of the project. But I don’t mean to say that some projects can only be successful using the waterfall method or only agile.
Besides the choice of the appropriate project management method, I always look forward to alternating technical contents of projects. I myself have the claim to understand what exactly is to be implemented in the project and how, for example, the basic technical concepts work. Of course, I am well aware that this is not always possible in the level of detail that is required, for example, by technical experts.
The biggest challenges always occur when the so-called “unknown-unknown” risks occur and you have to react accordingly to keep the project on track and not to endanger it. This applies to agile projects in the form of obstacles that nobody expected and have to be resolved so that the team can continue to work efficiently and undisturbed. In a waterfall project, this could be the result of an insufficient specification phase, for example, and it could be discovered during implementation or even only during testing that there is a need for changes to maintain the project goal.
You said at the beginning that external consultants made you think. Do you have an example of what you particularly liked?
I was particularly impressed by the fact that my colleagues had a wealth of experience with different approaches. This refers to project management on the one hand, but also to requirements analysis. One example from project management was the way the weekly jourfix was held and how processes regarding project management (e.g. conflict resolution), which did not yet exist or were not explicitly emphasized, had to be created and followed.
In the long run, this simplified the cooperation and established clear basic rules for the project. With regard to the requirements analysis, I was impressed by the diversity of different training possibilities. Every business analyst had his own way of familiarizing himself with topics without violating the given methodology. The colleagues have built up this experience over many diversified projects. That is also my goal!
Thank you very much for answering the questions, last but not least: How are you in your private life?
I am a very humorous person who values harmony. My family, my friends and my health are my top priorities.
Furthermore, I am very interested in sports, be it strength training in the gym or, due to the current Covid-19 situation, also in running in the great outdoors.
I am also interested in diving, which I discovered in 2014 and combine with my summer vacations. Here I try to enjoy the great variety of diving spots, the underwater life and the feeling of weightlessness.
Thanks for the interview
With pleasure!
You can find the introduction of Mr. Hilgersom here Meet the Team – Dennis Hilgersom.