Agile-But Syndrome

How many of you have heard from your friends and colleagues that their organizations are delivering value to their customers in an Agile way? and during their conversation, you have heard them saying we are definitely delivering agile way, "But" there are few things we do it differently. Sounds familiar to you?

Have you ever realized the intensity of that "But"?

We are Agile but

1. We have been using waterfall methodology still

2. We still produce a complete project / delivery plan

3. We still need to make sure that the complete requirements are fully signed off

4. Our customers changing needs are driving us crazy

5. We still need to produce loads of documentations

6. Our customers are using it only to make us deliver us faster

7. We still need to deliver milestones to invoice our customer

8. We cant quite follow the regular 2 or 4 weekly sprint cycle

9. Requirements seems so complex that we cant deliver value in smaller chunks

10. Our testing practices say that we need a complete sign-off before we move to the next phase of testing

Agile manifesto

There is value in the way we have been delivering so far (eg: following tools and processes), however Agile manifesto states that it's important to understand that

there is more value in

• individuals and interactions" over "Tools and processes

• working software over comprehensive documentation

• Cooperation with the customers over contract negotiation

• Respond to change over sticking to a plan

How could we remove the big "BUTs" in your organization

1. Engage your stakeholders fully and early - it is important that your stakeholders or customers are fully engaged and early enough and get their "Buy-in"

2. Understand your customer requirements thoroughly

3. Mindset shift in your team and organization - Agile delivery is all about delivering incremental value to customers

4. Plan your teams - Cross functional and co-located (physical or virtual) teams are always going to be efficient for your agile delivery

5. Choose your Tools, framework and methodology effectively - Use appropriate tools and methodology which would enable you to deliver value faster to your customers

6. Fail early - If you are implementing agile projects for the first time, expect to fail but fail early in your project so that the impact can be minimized

7. Shift gears slowly and steadily - While the organization is still adapting to Agile way of thinking and delivering, make the changes gradually for people to buy-in and adapt

8. Expect pessimism - People resist changes, so expect to work with people and guide them along the process

9. Get a good "Agile Coach" - If your organization is going through the agile transformation, get an experienced agile coach who could help your transition

10. Showcase the benefits frequently - Showcase the benefits to your stakeholders and customers regularly (apart from showcasing product/value through sprint demo)

In Summary, If you are going through currently "Agile But Syndrome", trust me, you are not alone. By engaging your stakeholders early enough and throughout your delivery lifecycle and getting their buy-in is the key for your success.