How Agile Transformations Fail

This is in response to the article.


Ms. Firlit points out many reasons that companies, in adopting Agile, will fail. She lists a spectrum of reasons including corporate hierarchy, extraneous focus, passive management, lack of intention in using Agile, misaligned values, as well as politics. There are several good points, although the fact of the matter is that a lot of these companies appears to be using Agile in name but not practice. 


As mentioned in the article, higher-tiered management is responsible for implementing Agile, as well as lower-tiered. The conflict of values would provide a source of friction in terms of working environment. I can see that this would be common in organizations making a transition into Agile, as their management has already well-adapted into a non-Agile framework and work processes. I think her arguments are fair, and while the intention to have motivated and motivating upper management is ideal, it would be a bit impractical to expect it. Perhaps it would be better to let the leadership be aware of the need to implement Agile across all levels in advance of implementing Agile processes. 


Some interesting points to look into: 

Zombie Scrum - Scrum that is only implemented in name

Iterative Waterfall - Scrumfall/ Wagile



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

XP: Card, Conversation, Confirmation - The three C's

Image
  This is a technique lifted from XP (Extreme Programming).  Card On each card is enough text that identifies a requirement. Notes of priority and cost are written on it as well. They serve as tokens for requirements and are handed to developers during implementation and returned to customers when completed. Conversation  Conversations are collectively exchanges of thought between customers and programmers. It is largely verbal, but may be communicated with supplemental examples. Confirmation Confirmation, in other words, acceptance tests, are defined at the start with the customer and shown to customer at the end of the iteration to confirm the story's completion. Note that extra documentation, while seemingly helpful, hardly "confirms" anything and cannot replace acceptance tests. 
Read more

Notes: 10 Knowledge Areas of Project Management (PMBOK 6)

Image
 Notes from here  There are 10 knowledge areas, as outlined in PMBOK 6, that are to be remembered sequentially. It is presented in logical order (with exception to Stakeholders which is tacked on at the end).  Integration: In other words, you can’t ‘do’ schedule management and ignore what the impacts of that might be on people, risk, communications, cost and the rest. Scope: Knowing what the project will deliver Schedule: all about making a detailed plan to tell everyone when the project will deliver what is in the requirements. Cost: Managing project fund Quality: Although quality varies project to project and many aren't as regimented, it is important to be aware and use appropriately Resource: Working out the resources needed to get the project done Communication: Creating a communication plan and monitoring for adjustments Risk: Covers an adequate overview of managing risks  Procurement: Depending on any purchases involved, there is a lot of contracting and negotiation Stakehol
Read more

RACI Definitions

Image
Notes from site RACI is a matrix to properly organize and define stakeholders' responsibilities in the project. While there are many methods in creating these organizations, this is just one method. Definitions should be kept nearby and the charts should be clear.  Responsible: This team member does the work to complete the task. Every task needs at least one Responsible party, but it’s okay to assign more. Accountable: This person delegates work and is the last one to review the task or deliverable before it’s deemed complete. On some tasks, the Responsible party may also serve as the Accountable one. Just be sure you only have one Accountable person assigned to each task or deliverable. (Note: It might not be your PM!) Consulted: Every deliverable is strengthened by review and consultation from more than one team member. Consulted parties are typically the people who provide input based on either how it will impact their future project work or their domain of expertise on the del
Read more