Signs your Organisation is Ready for an Agile Approach
About time for agile?
The pace of technological advancement is ever increasing, and firms struggle to keep all their systems at the forefront. Application development is complex and the average turnaround time between receipt of validated requirements and delivery using the traditional project management approach can often be measured in years, during which time, business needs may change, and project goals become obsolete. A well-known example, in the field of aerospace, is the US Space Shuttle programme which, when the Shuttle was launched in 1982, was still using technology from the 1960s.
While many organisations have tried to reduce the turnaround time by setting smaller goals or delivering projects in phases, the complexity of those projects means that significant lag often remained. Demand grew for an approach that was timelier and more responsive to evolving situations. Businesses had to be nimbler and more flexible and, to remain competitive, they needed a faster time to market to take a more customer-centric approach to problem solving. Necessity being the mother of invention, this led to the development of Agile Transformation.
Agile represents a unique approach to project management. Agile transformation is underpinned by short development cycles and strong collaboration between team members across different business departments, allowing for flexibility as a projects’ requirements change.
The First Step in Solving a Problem is Recognising That the Problem Exists
Using a plan and predict approach to project management means that teams are often burdened with establishing plans up front that, once set in motion, may be inflexible. Business changes are likely to need re-planning in line with evolving long-term goals, and this will affect time, cost and quality of project delivery.
Teams often work in silos where collaboration – and even communication – is seldom adequate. Little to no transparency between team members can result in a lack of understanding of the business problems that need to be solved. A focus on technical implementation without that business context can doom a project to failure. In such projects, customer involvement may be low – typically, the customer is only involved at the start and end of the project, which means that it is unlikely that their goals will be fully met.
Organisations must recognise that there is a need to do better. An acceptance of long delivery times, cost overruns, and compromised quality due to scope creep does not help a firm to meet its goals. Agile frameworks promote visibility and transparency, remove silos and foster communication and collaboration, which significantly enhances the chance of a successful project (see Figure 1).
Source: Standish Group Report 2020
Taking an Agile approach to project management, requirements sets, which are often large and complex, can be decomposed into smaller, clearer and better-defined goals. As a result, predictions and forecasts become more exact and the delivery of functionality more frequent and predictable.
Because features are built in isolation, scope changes have little to no impact to the overall system. Building in short iterations – known as Sprints – reduces risk; the smaller the change, the less each failure costs – and the greater the value in the lessons learned. Incrementally delivering requirements allows regular feedback loops and sustains stakeholder involvement throughout the entire delivery process.
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