The agile methodology was formed to overcome the challenges and limitations of traditional waterfall methodology. This is apparent when analyzing 4 common project management metrics including visibility, adaptability, business value, and risk.
- Visibility – A waterfall project has high visibility during the requirements and project planning phases, however this fades quickly as development begins and status is provided by development managers who are estimating the percentage of coding that is complete. True visibility is only available toward the end of a milestone when testing begins. In an agile project, the software is delivered in much smaller increments on much shorter time frames. This leads to greater visibility to project managers looking to validate the overall delivery status.
- Business Value – In a waterfall project value is not delivered until the end of the project once all testing has completed. In contrast agile projects strive to deliver business value in smaller increments over shorter time periods. This allows business users to get access to the features more quickly over the life of the project.
- Adaptability – In a waterfall project the scope becomes more difficult to modify once requirements and the plan are complete. Agile projects only lock scope for a short iteration of development and can then shift priorities as needed. This allows agile projects more agility when responding to requirements changes.
- Risk – There are many types of risks that face projects during the life cycle. One of the keys to handling these risks is to determine as quickly as possible whether they apply to a project. Agile projects are more likely to discover if risks apply and mitigate them sooner in the project life cycle due to the nature of smaller incremental deliveries.
Stellence has a broad range and depth of experience in implementing and optimizing agile methodologies and best practices. Here are some of the ways that we can help:
- Tools Assessment – Many teams attempt to implement an agile methodology without the proper tools. Whether you team is using whiteboards and physical story cards or a software solution, you will need an appropriate set of tools to be successful. These tools also extend to the area of build, deployment, and test automation which are critical for the rapid turnaround time needed by agile. A tools assessment from Stellence will help a company understand what they need to do to become a high performing agile shop.
- Tools Implementation – Getting tools installed, whether on premise or in the cloud requires a high degree of expertise. Setting the tools up incorrectly can lead to real problems down the line. Agile tools will also require ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and most importantly constant evangelism. The most successful agile shops are constantly improving their tools by taking advantage of the rapid improvements, such as third-party plugins and extensions. Stellence has implemented all of the major Agile tools platforms from vendors including Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Atlassian, and IBM and is aware of the advantages and potential pitfalls within each of them.
- Agile Process Definition – Each organization likes to do things slightly differently when implementing agile. This often occurs to help integrate the Project Management Office, a Quality Assurance department, or it may even be in support of offshore partners. While the core principles of agile should not change there are plenty of opportunities for customization. As an example, some Product Owners like to have regular ceremonies to help prepare for backlog grooming while development teams may prefer to have regular architecture reviews to meet internal standards. Stellence has helped companies find the right balance when implementing a high performing agile processes based on best practices.
- Training & Coaching – Having great tools and processes are important, but an agile team will never be high performing without great people who are committed. Getting people to understand the purpose behind the tools and process is critical. Focus should be placed on developing a strong agile culture that includes trust, respect, acceptance of change, leading by example, constant learning, and recognition. Team members should be encouraged and rewarded for keeping themselves and others informed and skilled with the latest relevant technologies. Stellence has helped a number of organizations enhance their people and culture with various coaching and training engagements.