How to Use Agile Methodology to Organize Household Chores (And Make Your Kids Happier)

Last Updated January 15, 2020

Motivating kids and organizing their chores: it’s the bane of every parent’s existence.

Unless life has blessed you with the most responsible, self-starting child a mom or dad could hope for, getting them to handle their chores presents a challenge day in and day out.

What’s a parent to do? The solution might exist in Agile methodology.

Oddly enough, software engineers invented it for the workplace. But it just may work for you at home, too. And the reduced stress and chaos can make for more relaxed parents and much happier children.

The Start of Agile Methodology

Agile methodology began, and is still primarily used, in software development. It sprang from the Agile Manifesto, written by a group of 17 software engineers in 2001 who wanted to change the process of getting software designed and in the hands of consumers.

The manifesto and the 12 principles that guide it contain powerful ideas, but two statements in the manifesto stand out in terms of Agile methodology and the family. The group of software engineers said they had come to value:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Responding to change over following a plan

Basics of Agile

The system emphasizes self-governance rather than a top-down, “waterfall” approach (directives cascading down from the C-suites). Teams manage themselves. The methodology also emphasizes working faster to find the good and the wasteful in a process, maximizing the former and eliminating the latter.

Typically, it works like this:

• A development team receives a project and creates a product backlog, essentially a list of all the items to be delivered during an entire project. The log is prioritized and available to all members of the team.
• The product backlog gets broken down into smaller sprints (sometimes called iterations) which generally last one-to-two weeks. During this time, small teams focus on completing one element of the overall project. What gets created is a potentially shippable product increment (PSPI).
• A PSPI is a “release-quality” slice of a larger project that gets shared with all project stakeholders, offering them a chance to give feedback. That feedback then gets incorporated into the rest of the entire project.
• During the sprint, a team also meets in a daily Scrum or stand-up meeting to share successes, roadblocks and potential solutions. These meetings are short and to the point.

In this manner, a project evolves as it goes. The goal is to refine and speed up processes to the point that each sprint results in a shippable product.

Applying Agile to Family Life

So how does this translate into handling the Moby Dick of parenting, the organization of household chores? As it turns out, not only can Agile help organize everything better, it also can reduce stress and anxiety.

Here are a few ideas to incorporate:

Assign sprint tasks – Hold an initial meeting to agree that completing all the household chores in a timely manner is the overall goal before the house completely sinks into chaos. Divide this into smaller tasks. Decide who will do what and when, then set a time to revisit the list. Consider a week for the first sprint.

Accountability – Remember that Agile is self-governing and should empower kids to accomplish goals. Place a checklist in a well-traveled part of the house so everyone can check off their assigned chores when completed. Consider giving some form of reward for completing goals consistently – and a penalty if they are not completed.

Morning meetings – Get together briefly every morning and talk about what is working, what is not and what resources are needed.

Evaluate – After the first sprint, a week into the process, evaluate what went well and what needs changing. Remember, this is about maximizing the good and getting rid of the wasteful. Decide what issues needs addressing in the next week. Everyone can make suggestions, but ultimately just two or three issues should get the focus.

Make improvements – As schedules change, parents should adapt. Just because Timmy fed the dogs the last three months doesn’t mean he will do it forever. Stay flexible. In this way, you build a system that responds to change, rather than a set plan that does not adapt to new information.

Happy Parents, Happy Kids

Remember that Agile can empower kids. Children who get input on setting their own goals and planning how to achieve them can become stronger, more independent individuals. And it can also make them happy.

In a TED Talk on the subject of using Agile methodology in the home, author Bruce Feiler, the father of twin girls, told the audience that adopting Agile in their household when the girls were five years old, “was the biggest single change we made since our daughters were born.”

Feiler told the audience about a recent survey by the Families and Work Institute – 1,000 kids were asked if they had one wish about their parents, what would it be? The top answer: that their parents would be less tired and stressed out.

Applying Agile methodology to household chores can lead to less stressed parents, happier kids and chores actually getting done on time. Why not give it try?