EAE News
Agile methodologies: how to make the most of them
30 de March de 2020
30 de March de 2020
“Agility is a set of principles and practices that create a profound change, mobilizing organizations and their component members”.
Agile project management has been the focus of an extraordinary amount of attention in recent years as the result of the growing need for constant flexibility and innovation. Our work environment is full of challenges, with uncertain, complex information, which requires us to apply the best practices to tackle the situation effectively. In this article, we present 5 tips that will help you take full advantage of agile methodologies
Agility is a set of principles and practices that create a profound change, mobilizing organizations (and all the people that comprise it) to overcome obstacles, learn constantly, adapt and develop new capacities in order to prosper in volatile, complex, competitive and challenging environments in which there are no easy answers.
1. Start using agile methodologies on the right project
The successful implementation of these methodologies really requires us to select the right projects to start with. If we get it wrong or try to apply agile methodologies to projects that are clearly waterfall or predictive in nature (in which we have commitments in terms of delivery time, maximum cost limitations, 100% defined deliverables), we will not obtain prediction and control capacity, jeopardizing our contractual commitments.
In contrast, experimental, internal projects, in which we have a less defined or highly changeable scope, with no pre-established commitments, give us the ideal setting for applying agile methodologies, striving to extract the maximum value out of the time invested by a selfmanaged team
2. Effort estimation is crucial
One of the most common problems when implementing agile methodologies is believing that estimating is not necessary. Although it is indeed unnecessary to conduct an estimation of the whole project (and we can focus on the tasks involved in the next sprint), it is important to estimate the efforts required for the tasks in a realistic way.
If a task has not been completed at the end of a sprint or constantly shows up as under way in a Kanban project, we have probably made a mistake in our estimation that needs correcting. The task must be broken down into more manageable parts and we have to review our commitments.
3. Measure the team’s speed
Speed is a measurement of the workload that a team can complete over the course of a single sprint. It is one of the key metrics in agile developments. Speed is calculated at the end of the sprint by adding all the points of all the user stories completed. In the same way as with effort, for an agile environment to succeed, we have to measure this speed, albeit approximately.
4. Don’t forget quality
Increasing delivery time, improving our product in each sprint and having a self-managed team does not mean we can lose sight of quality. It is extremely important that we deliver products fast in agile methodologies, but the products also have to work well. Don’t leave quality until the end of the process and incorporate validation, revision and metrics into all the deliverables and products generate throughout the project right from the start.
5. Manage expectations
Some organizations embark on the agile approach believing that it will solve all their problems, as if by magic. It won’t need any planning or documenting, they think, so the team will gradually generate a maximum-value product in the minimum time. Agile methodologies adapt very well to changeable environments, but they are not a magic solution to all problems and require modifications to processes and, ultimately, cultural changes. Managing the expectations of teams, customers and executives is essential for successful implementation.
-- This article was written by Marc Bara, Director of EAE’s Master in Project Management and was originally published in EAE’s magazine Talent Alumni Review --