This week on the AgeTech Collaborative™ blog, we are pleased to welcome a guest post by Rodrigo Matos, head of delivery at Avanti Studio, an ATC business services participant helping innovative startups stay focused on impact by providing Agile project management as a service.
For those less familiar, Agile project management is a flexible approach that breaks big projects — like developing a new caregiving app or piloting a health monitoring device for older adults — into smaller, manageable pieces. Teams check in regularly to track progress and make quick adjustments as priorities shift. Instead of relying on rigid, long-term plans, Agile emphasizes collaboration, transparency and continuous improvement, qualities that are especially relevant for AgeTech founders juggling lean teams and complex challenges.
Drawing on his experience guiding healthtech startups, robotics companies and digital platforms, Rodrigo shares five clear signs your team may be ready for project management support. Let’s dive in!
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Have you ever seen a dragon boat race? Imagine those vibrant canoes speeding gracefully across the water, powered by synchronized paddlers. But what keeps everyone rowing at precisely the same rhythm, maximizing efficiency and speed? It's the drummer at the front setting the pace, keeping alignment and ensuring the team reaches the finish line smoothly and swiftly.
In the business world, your agile manager (or project manager, program manager, Scrum Master; pick your favorite term) is your drummer. They're the heartbeat of your team, the ones who maintain alignment, communication and focus so that everyone moves together toward your goals.
I've seen this role in action across several client projects, especially in complex or cross-functional teams, and had the opportunity to help healthtech startups, robotics companies and digital platform teams unlock surprising efficiencies with just one key shift: bringing in project leadership to coordinate delivery.
So how do you know when your business needs help managing projects? Let’s take a look at five clear signs.
1. Projects Frequently Go Off Track
Misaligned Goals and Expectations
One of the most common reasons projects veer off track is misaligned goals and expectations.
Often, stakeholders and team members enter a project with different views of the project's scope, timeline or intended outcomes. Without clear alignment, confusion arises, leading to duplicated efforts, missed milestones and, ultimately, failed objectives.
Project leads bridge these gaps by facilitating early, frequent conversations that align everyone's understanding and expectations. They employ tools such as kick-off meetings, sprint planning sessions and transparent documentation to ensure all stakeholders and team members share the same vision.
In both software and hardware-focused teams, this misalignment can easily lead to things being built twice or delivered out of sequence. When clarity is introduced, companies can avoid costly rework and accelerate delivery.
Inefficient Resource Allocation
Another critical issue causing projects to stray from their intended paths is inefficient resource allocation. Companies often underestimate or overestimate the time, people, effort and budget required for projects. This leads to team burnout, delays and spiraling costs.
Skilled delivery managers apply agile frameworks such as backlog refinement and iterative development to help identify resource needs early. This proactive approach prevents costly overruns, boosts productivity and ensures resources are used effectively.
The result? Teams that can make accurate trade-offs, adapt to new information, and avoid the common trap of having too many priorities and too few people.
2. Communication Breakdown Is Common
Lack of Clear Responsibilities
When team members frequently assume someone else is managing certain tasks, important work falls through the cracks.
Project managers bring structure by clearly defining roles, ownership and accountability. Frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban reinforce this clarity through visibility and recurring check-ins.
Information Silos
Teams working in isolation create knowledge gaps and misaligned objectives. Great project leads foster open communication and collaboration through shared documentation and regular syncs.
This creates a transparent environment where everyone has access to critical updates, improving cross-functional collaboration.
When silos are removed, software and operations teams that were once disconnected can suddenly move in unison. Issues are spotted earlier, and solutions arrive faster.
3. Teams Feel Overwhelmed or Disorganized
Priority Paralysis and Workflow Bottlenecks
When everything feels urgent, nothing gets completed effectively. Project leaders help teams prioritize tasks based on strategic business goals.
Teams struggling with bottlenecks experience constant delays and decreased morale. With continuous improvement and regular retrospectives, these roadblocks become visible and fixable.
Just mapping the workflow and setting up a working agreement often dramatically improves flow and collaboration across teams.
4. Stakeholders Regularly Ask for Updates
Poor Visibility of Progress
Frequent requests for updates usually point to a lack of transparency. Project managers
implement visibility tools such as task boards, sprint reviews, and demos to provide real-time insights. These tools not only reassure stakeholders but also build trust and alignment.
Ineffective Reporting
Project leaders bring consistency and reliability to inconsistent or unclear reporting practices. They ensure that reporting matches stakeholder expectations and provides actionable insights.
When updates are timely and focused, stakeholders can make decisions based on facts, not assumptions. This is critical in fast-paced product environments where timing often determines success.
5. Innovation has Stalled
Administrative Overload
When teams are bogged down with administrative tasks, innovation suffers. Agile managers take charge of operational responsibilities, freeing engineers and creatives to focus on what they do best. In tech teams, this might mean shielding developers from unnecessary context switching or centralizing vendor coordination.
Fear of Failure
Innovation thrives in environments where experimentation is encouraged. Project leaders create a safe space for learning by enabling agile practices like rapid prototyping, continuous feedback, and early validation.
When failure is seen as part of learning, creativity returns, and with it, momentum.
The Value of a Project Manager or Agile Lead
Hiring an Agile Manager isn’t an expense; it’s an investment. Like the drummer in a dragon boat, this professional ensures your team moves efficiently and purposefully. They prevent costly mistakes, increase team happiness and help organizations do more with less.
And if you're not ready for a full-time hire, consider bringing in a contractor project management team. It's a flexible option that brings rhythm, clarity and accountability to your delivery pipeline.
So here’s the real question: What’s the rhythm of your team right now? Are they rowing in sync, or just splashing around? You might already have the talent and vision, but maybe what’s missing is the beat. Start listening.
Want to dive deeper with Rodrigo and Avanti Studio? ATC participants can log in to the platform and connect directly. As part of the AgeTech Collaborative, you gain access to collaborators like Avanti Studio who support founders in bringing meaningful AgeTech solutions to market.
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