Agile Frameworks
An Iterative Approach to Product Development.
Find Success with Agile
Not long ago, traditional waterfall project management was pretty much the only way to go. And while it worked well for many projects – especially projects considered ‘predictive’ – it didn’t work so well for initiatives characterized as adaptive. And so, in the last 10 years, agile has been increasingly used in projects, primarily software-based ones.
In a predictive or waterfall life cycle, the project scope, time, and cost are determined in the early phases of the life cycle. In an adaptive or agile life cycle, the deliverables are developed over multiple iterations where a detailed scope is defined and approved for each iteration as it begins.
Agile has developed over time into a framework that provides business agility, allowing organizations to remain flexible in their approach to getting work done. Defined roles, small batches of work and regular cadence all contribute to a focus on product delivery while minimizing risk.
Realities
- Defined roles
- Small core team size
- Planning done at the start of each sprint
- Scales to teams or enterprise
- Focus on customer and business value
- Strives to achieve continuous improvement
Risks
- Scope creep
- Communication among stakeholders
- Less predictability
- Ignoring agile principles
- Agile is not suitable for the project
Outcomes
- Customer satisfaction as a result of regular interactions with customers
- Ability to pivot away from suboptimal solutions
- Better risk management due to shorter time-boxes and quality integrated into the team
- Continuous improvement due to regular retrospectives
Values
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working prototypes over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
- Speed and bite-size feature delivery over long-term planning and multi-feature releases
Frameworks
AGILE CHECKLIST
Re-examine mindset: stay open to the mindset of change, flexibility and spontaneity
Decide on the agile method: decide which method is right for your teams, based on your structure, business requirements and culture
Plan the development cycle: the agile method you choose will determine the development process you implement, which in turn will dictate how you interact with others. Build a development cycle cadence and align all stakeholders on how they should work and what they should expect
Determine the agile roles: assign the required roles to the right people in the organization
Evaluate tools: while the manifesto for agile software development and its 12 principles prioritize individuals and interactions over tools, you will still need tools to develop and deliver
Decide on metrics: choose the metrics you want to track, think of what will bring you value and help you achieve your goals
Run and optimize: start out with one project. Be prepared to be flexible and make changes based on your specific teams
In the Agile process, stakeholders – including the customer and business leaders – have several opportunities to get involved in the production of the product. There are opportunities for active collaboration and increased interactions between the developers and the stakeholders because of the emphasis placed on communication and feedback.
As a concept, Agile is an excellent practice, but it requires professionals to execute it correctly. Otherwise, it can be seen as an exercise in putting excess pressure on the developers.
Since a large project may be broken down into smaller units of works, it is possible to produce high-quality products with improvements in each cycle. However, it can also mean increased demands from stakeholders since no end-product has been defined.
Find success with those who have done it before.
As with any methodology, there is no perfect choice about what an organization needs. Whether it is Agile or SAFe Agile, both frameworks have several positives. They also have typical issues that cannot be ignored. Professionally trained and experienced practitioners and coaches can guide you on the options that could take care of your organization’s requirements.