Agile project management has come a long way since it burst onto the IT circuit in the 1990s.
Even after 30 years, the agile philosophy is surrounded by many myths and misconceptions. Most stem from the common belief that agile is a simple concept.
Agile doesn’t prescribe one way of working. Instead, it is a framework that describes a collection of tools, structure, culture, and discipline. It allows a project or programme to embrace and respond effectively to changes in requirements.
This article aims to dispel some of the question marks over Agile project management. We help you to organise your Agile project and offer advice on how best to use this concept to perfectly execute your next project.
What is Agile?
Agile Project Management is an iterative approach to delivering a project throughout its life cycle. Iterative life cycles are made up of several iterations or incremental steps towards the completion of a project.
These approaches are often used in software development projects to promote speed and adaptability. Teams can adjust according to the needs of the project rather than following a linear path.
What are the principles of Agile working?
Agile Project Management focuses on delivering maximum value against the priorities of the business working within the time and budget allowed.
The project breaks a requirement down into smaller pieces. These are then prioritised by the team in terms of importance.
Agile working promotes collaboration and collaborative working – especially with the customer.
The Agile project regularly reflects, learns and adjusts throughout the process. This helps to ensure that the customer is always satisfied with outcomes that result in benefits.
Agile methods integrate planning with execution. It helps an organisation create a working mindset that helps a team respond to changing requirements.
Examples of Agile Methodologies.
There are several methodologies that can be used to manage an agile project. Three of the most popular are Kanban, Scrum, and Lean.
Scrum is a framework that helps teams work together. It describes a set of meetings, tools, and roles that work collectively to help teams structure and manage their work.
To give you an example, this is a 6 step guide to help you run a project using Scrum methodology.
Create your team.
Your project team will comprise of a Scrum Master, a product owner, and other team members who will develop, produce, and test the end product.
Document Requirements.
Once the team is formed, the product owner needs to roadmap your product. The product roadmap is a high level visual of the project’s requirements. It should include a rough time frame for when you’ll develop each one. From the roadmap, you will create a product backlog. These set the priorities for both the project and product.
Create your Sprints.
Sprints are the heart and soul of Scrum. Sprints are short, time-boxed periods where a scrum team works to complete a set amount of work. Sprints should be created based on the requirements and estimated timeline of the project. From these, you can create your release plan. The release plan contains the requirements for the version of your product that comes at the end of each sprint. For example, Sprint 1 may end with a prototype.
Plan and execute your Sprints.
Once you have broken your project down into sprints, you can create a detailed schedule for your first one. The Scrum master should run daily meetings to bring the team together as they execute the sprint. These meetings give space for discussion and to tackle any issues that have arisen.
Host a retrospective.
At the end of sprint 1, you will have a review meeting (called a Sprint Retrospective). You will discuss the outcomes and any changes you need to incorporate into the next one.
…and repeat!
You should repeat steps 4 and 5. This cycle should be repeated until you complete the last sprint and deliver the final product to the customer.
The myths surrounding Agile.
Not sure if Agile is for you? Here are 10 common myths surrounding Agile methodology.
Agile is always the answer.
Agile is no silver bullet and won’t solve all your problems. However, it is efficient, focuses on the tasks at hand. It shortens lines of communication and encourages collaboration.
Agile is quick & dirty.
In its infancy, Agile solutions were short-term. These days, the agile approach encompasses ‘rapidity’ with ‘control and quality’. It demands a high level of professionalism and can help to ensure the delivery of the right solution at the right time.
Agile only applies to IT.
The logic behind Agile applies to all types of projects and to life in general. Some agile approaches do lend themselves more directly to IT, however. Scrum and eXtreme Programming, for example. Professionals from other sectors can choose the appropriate approach for their project, which may mean adopting ‘blended agile’.
Agile = no documentation.
The agile working manifesto favours working solutions over comprehensive documentation. It does not mean NO documentation. Agile works on the principle that the documentation should support the working solution. Agile unites a breadth of roles; collaboration and conversation replace much of the paperwork required by teams working in a silo.
Agile means you can change anything and everything.
Agile facilitates change, but it is not about change for change’s sake. The foundations are agreed upon and baselined from the start. These are protected and managed by more formal change management tools. The evolutionary development of the project is where informal change happens through conversation or when something becomes redundant.
You don’t need Project Managers in Agile.
Many agile approaches don’t do projects. Scrum, for example, has no defined beginning, middle, or end. Most organisations deliver projects which need managing in order to succeed. Agile requires project managers who adopt a facilitative management style, rather than a command and control approach.
Either you are Agile, or you aren’t.
Agile is a spectrum; “You can use all of AgilePM some of the time. You can use some of AgilePM all of the time.”
Governance is ‘anti-agile’.
Agile does not negate the need for good governance. Governance is supportive rather than policing. There will be a need to define what is negotiable, however. Agile has been effectively used to deliver in regulated organisations where strong governance is non-negotiable. The pharmaceutical, military, finance, and manufacturing industries have all delivered using Agile methodology.
Takeaways.
- Agile is a framework that describes a collection of tools, structure, culture, and discipline.
- Agile allows a project or programme to embrace and respond effectively to changes in requirements.
- Agile focuses on delivering maximum value against the priorities of the business working within the time and budget allowed.
- It breaks the project down into smaller pieces which are then prioritised by the team in terms of importance.
- Agile working promotes collaboration and collaborative working – especially with the customer.
- Agile approaches are often used in software development projects to promote speed and adaptability.
- Three of the most popular Agile approaches are Kanban, Scrum, and Lean.
- There are many misconceptions surrounding Agile. One of the main being that Agile and Scrum are one and the same.