- Going agile is supposed to make things better, at least that is the intent, but often businesses find themselves faced with less being implemented and taking more time. This can be very frustrating for the business, which then struggles with getting involved in the process and creates a bigger problem.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- When businesses get involved in the process, with the intent of helping, they often create a bigger problem. Creating a situation where micromanagement becomes the norm and productivity and morale sink to rock bottom.
- Agile is not for everyone. The right conditions need to exist for agile to work well. This includes people, process, and management.
Impact and Result
- Agile will raise a lot of new process impediments, you must be willing to remove these as they arise and be patient in your expectations.
- Your clients will see significant benefits when you use Agile, but like other people involved, their roles will change. You must have client involvement throughout the Agile project lifecycle, even if it is by having a client representative present.
- Arguably the best advice is to go slow! Agile takes time and may not be suitable for every project. Start small and then grow as your teams get the hang of it.
- Agile development can be successful in a collaborative culture that embraces change, if you don’t have that or can’t transition to that, don’t force Agile onto your development team.