Tips for Agile Success from the Experts

March 31, 2009

Forrester just published a new report called “Ensure Success for Agile Using Four Simple Steps,” which discusses how organizations can maximize the impact of their agile adoptions. With input from both companies using Scrum to manage projects as well as Scrum vendors such as Danube Technologies, the report captures a wide cross-section of perspectives and compiles the practices and strategies they kept hearing. It’s a very useful document for any organization weighing the pros and cons of an agile transformation and just as helpful for organizations that have started to transition to agile, but are experiencing some snags. If you’d like to read an excerpt or purchase the entire report, visit this link: http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,54037,00.html

As is often the case, the report focuses on how agile can succeed at an organization if everyone follows a handful of simple rules, from focusing on organizational change (not just agile adoption) to including business stakeholders on the team. In fact, these two rules struck me as critical for teams who are implementing agile without the help of an experienced coach—especially, since these issues are not always addressed in entry level discussions of agile adoption.

Adopting agile for its own sake, for instance, misses the point of what it can do. It should be implemented to change your organization. If agile is not surfacing previously hidden organizational dysfunction, helping teams meet previously missed deadlines, or improving the company’s culture, then the organization is likely using a new set of processes to do the same old thing. Thus, the end goal should always be the demonstrable improvement of processes and results, not adoption alone.

Likewise, business stakeholders should be educated about agile processes, values, and benefits, in order to fully understand its potential returns. If management remains aloof or reluctant to take a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, then it will be easier to dismiss agile as ineffective. However, when the business is actively involved in the pilot project and understands how agile methods are enabling its success, management will become agile advocates who support the transformation, even if it’s disruptive or painful at first.

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Written by admin · Filed Under Agile Project Management 

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