Agile Project Management: Helping Organizations Achieve Greater Efficiency and Productivity

• Originally conceptualised in the 1970s by William Royce in a paper reflecting a detailed approach for the development of large software systems — yes, it’s been around for nearly 50 years — Agile project management is used today across a diverse spectrum of industries. Agile is a progressive project management methodology that emphasises short, iterative development cycles, known as sprints, in the entire development process of the product. A group of software developers and thought leaders came together in 2001 to create the Agile Manifesto, which describes the key values and principles that define the methodology of building softwares successfully.
• The manifesto reads:
• Today, many organizations have created their own agile manifestos! Agile doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all, packaged solution — instead, it offers values and principles Organizations can leverage to create tailored, personalised solutions.
• With agile, small, cross-functional teams endorse time-boxed sprints to ensure the rapid completion of a project. This means that while the team actively works on developing the final product, relevant stakeholders can stay engaged throughout the process to evaluate progress and provide feedback on issues or modifications that need to be made — without putting the project at stake.
• This system of ongoing feedback and adjustment is a crucial part of the development process that enhances and refines the product at any given time ensuring the solution is up to date with industry standards, meeting the critical demand of customer engagement and success. An agile project cycles rapidly and constantly churns through the phases of the development lifecycle in the time-boxed delivery model (planning, analysis, design, implementation, maintenance) rather than waiting for each distinct phase to end before moving on to the next.
• Adoption of agile project methodology has been steadily on the rise: CollabNet and VersionOne’s 12th Annual State of Agile survey found that 71 percent of respondents had an agile or DevOps initiative under way or planned in the coming year. The results speak for themselves. Their reasons for doing so include:

What Organizations Are Using Agile?

• Agile is a global phenomenon: Businesses of all sizes, worldwide, are adopting these
  methodologies. For the State of Agile report, 55 percent of respondents were from North America. Twenty-seven percent were from Europe, 7 percent came from South America, 10 percent were from the Asia-Pacific region, and the remaining 1 percent were in Africa. The top industries using agile project management are technology, financial services, professional services, insurance, and government.

Benefits of Agile Project Methodology

• Prior to the widespread adoption of the agile methodology, one of the most commonly used
  project implementation strategies was the waterfall model. The waterfall model is just like
  it sounds: Progress flows downward from the top, with each previous phase in the development
  process fully complete before moving on to the next phase.
• This resulted in delayed product deployment as well as a decreased customer satisfaction
  because teams couldn’t nimbly respond to issues or requested product enhancements. In addition to a shortened product development time and increased customer responsiveness, agile offers a host of other benefits.
• Adaptability To Change: 71 percent of respondents to the State of Agile report cited the ability to manage changing priorities was a benefit to agile adoption. Agile allows businesses to respond to changes in customer needs rapidly and quickly adapt to evolving needs.
• Project Visibility: Visibility is a two-way street in agile Organizations. Regular stand-ups, planning, demos ensure clear communication at every phase of a project, and understanding among once-disparate teams. The agile project methodology allows for
  greater control and communication around the entire project implementation process.
• Business/IT Alignment: Agile teams cannot exist in a silo. Development teams are not relegated to dark rooms where work takes place in a vacuum. Agile methodology demands communication and transparency — which means IT is more aligned with the organisation at large, naturally.
• Faster ROI: Delivery speed and time to market is a huge benefit — greater team
  productivity means hitting the market faster, and that means a much quicker return on
  investment.
• Increased Productivity: No team is ever waiting for something to do within the
  constraints of an agile process. Where a testing team once would have stepped in to doing their work at the end of a more traditional project, for example, they have a bigger role much earlier on during the iterative process of sprints.

Challenges to Agile Adoption

• Despite its clear benefits to participating businesses, the use of agile project methodology still poses some challenges which serve to hinder its widespread adoption:
• Resistance To Change: Change is hard. Some businesses, or teams within an
  organisation, aren’t excited to shift away from the way they’re programmed and have always done things. (For example, a developer used to coming in to the office to start coding at 10:30 a.m. might be unhappy to discover they are now expected in a daily stand-up at
  8:30 a.m.!) Organisational Changes — including learning new software and hiring
  specially trained agile professionals — are necessary to adopt agile methodology.
• Misunderstanding The Process: Some Organizations eager to adopt agile do so
  incorrectly. They may not understand the roles and value of agile coaches or scrum masters or create teams that aren’t equipped to work effectively within an agile framework.
• Failure To Adapt To Changing Roles: Members of a cross-functional agile team may
  be unable or unwilling to adjust to their new roles and expectations. At a cultural level,
  entire Organizations may struggle to adapt outdated management strategies to the new, nimble mindset required of agile teams. (Everyone likes to stay in their comfort zone!)
• Despite the initial challenges facing Organizations at the start of their process of
  adopting agile, it’s a worthwhile endeavour that leads to more a productive workforce, faster time to market, efficient change management, and more.