Well done on arriving at this piece if you’ve already perused the earlier sections in this series. If not, kindly allot some time to go through chapter 1 and chapter 2 here.
It’s evident that your interest in the Agile practice prevails because you’ve conducted a comprehensive feasibility analysis and are now prepared to embark on a fruitful Agile voyage.
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As a novice, a process engineer responsible for determining a compatible Agile system for their company will inevitably scrutinize the relevant literature.
Though the Agile ideology is firmly entrenched in philosophy and principles that provide flexibility regarding practices and instruments, practitioners have generated visually pleasing graphics and vocabulary to make it more alluring.
Their suggested structure consists of well-defined roles, iterations, and processes, as shown in Figure 1.
An Agile Procedure:
However, we don’t reside in an ideal world. It’s unrealistic to get all the aspects of your preferred process properly aligned from the get-go. Truthfully, you might not initially have a clear grasp of your desired process. Your process has to evolve. You can’t simply mimic or inherit a process from another firm, or even from a different autonomous unit.
Therefore, identifying the starting point is crucial. You must comprehend your priorities to ensure you’re concentrating on the correct aspects at the appropriate time.
Agile questions the necessity for thorough planning during software development and espouses adaptability. Intriguingly, when viewed as a parallel project, the same methodology applies to its implementation. The implications of each stage will mold what comes next.
In this piece, I will underscore the crucial milestones that need to be met to begin launching products the Agile way. It’s important to note that I employ the term “start delivering” as there is no finish line. Agile implementation, like other software development techniques, is a ceaseless journey of constant enhancement. It’s a perpetual effort.
And as long as you’re enhancing the process, your role as an Agile practitioner stays essential. Numerous Agile adopters have tried to put all advised practices into effect at once, only to end up exasperated when they can’t establish an ideal process immediately.
While I was initially eager when I accepted the task, I quickly realized that being overly ambitious would merely create complications. As a result, I chose to methodically connect the dots and turn the process into a flawless loop or a repeatable process.
Here are the most important undertakings that you must take on to ensure you have the backbone to perpetuate your never-ending Agile journey:
- Choose the fitting methodology
- Employ the most suitable instruments
- Embrace advised strategies
What You Will Learn:
#1. Choose the fitting methodology
All the dialogues in this article series revolve around the employment of Agile, which is not an isolated methodology. Agile is a belief, a method, a mindset, a collection of principles, or a structure. However, you must pinpoint and embrace an exact Agile methodology for effective implementation.
You must discover or formulate a methodology that complements your context. Currently, numerous Agile methodologies exist, each carrying its own pros and cons.
The most uncomplicated alternative is to select one of the renowned Agile methodologies, commence its implementation, and customize it according to your results. Alternatively, you can merge various Agile methodologies to create your own method.
Currently, many firms leverage the best practices from different Agile methodologies to craft a personalized methodology. Nevertheless, it’s important to make sure these practices aren’t redundant or incompatible.
Lastly, you could adopt a more innovative approach and construct your own Agile methodology from the ground up, harmonizing it with the Agile manifesto and principles while keeping your existing process and organizational culture in mind. This approach carries elevated risks, as the practices may not have been thoroughly tested in the industry.
However, high risks usually come with high rewards, providing a more customized methodology if successful.
In our case, we chose to adopt the conventional SCRUM methodology, which is currently the most commonly employed Agile methodology.
Frequently Utilized Agile Methodologies:
According to a survey (Figure 2), 52% of Agile organizations utilize SCRUM, with 14% employing a hybrid of SCRUM and Extreme Programming. Our choice to opt for SCRUM was influenced by the support provided by our associates at Microsoft for SCRUM-specific instruments and our CEO’s admiration for how Microsoft functions.
It’s crucial to select a methodology that is acceptable to all stakeholders, including management, development teams, and clients.
#2. Employ the most suitable instruments
Traditionally, software that aids Agile processes is called Agile tools or application lifecycle management (ALM) software. However, some Agile tools are specific to certain functions, such as project management, bug tracking, or requirement management.
Each Agile methodology provides numerous tools, along with valuable user reviews and guidelines. However, when exploring these tools, deciding which ones to pass over can be more difficult than deciding which ones to employ.
I caution against adopting three types of tools: unnecessary, overly intricate, and overly limiting.
“When you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”
Remember, the toolset advocated by experts and practitioners encompasses tools for every potential complication that might appear during Agile development. While all these tools are beneficial, they’re only relevant in specific situations. Not each one of them will make a significant difference to your processes.
Therefore, identify your particular problems in order of priority and select the most relevant tools. Don’t utilize tools simply because they are part of an advocated toolset or because others have had success with them.
As demonstrated in Figure 3, companies have highlighted certain tools that they don’t need, even though others have found them beneficial. Likewise, some tools are deemed “nice to have.” Thoroughly review the various tools available for Agile, but steer clear of using or planning to use all of them.
Usage of Software Testing Tools: (click on image to enlarge)
Even though our process is quite mature at this stage, we have decided not to use certain commonly used instruments as we believe they are unnecessary for our needs. For instance, we haven’t so far used a continuous integration tool, but we might consider it once our release management process and automation scripts stabilize.
Some companies do not use a complete ALM tool. Instead, they use different tools for different practices. For instance, we complement TFS with Excel and SmartWord4TFS (a tool we developed internally). Figure 3 offers an overview of Agile tool categories and their usage across the industry.
An important consideration is balancing the simplicity and power of the tools we use. The most robust Agile tools frequently compromise simplicity, a vital Agile principle.
If we compel teams to employ certain apps or procedures prematurely or expect them to generate particular artifacts, they might become stressed and overwhelmed. Their main priority is adhering to deadlines, unlike yours, which is ensuring a flawless procedure.
Commence with the most straightforward necessary tools that don’t divert the team’s attention from their tasks. Allow them to become accustomed to these tools and then gradually introduce more robust tools as new challenges emerge. Attempting to use intricate tools from the very beginning is a surefire way to disgruntle the team.
That approach will lead your team to question why the shift to Agile was necessary in the first place. In assessing ALM tools, I considered numerous options, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In the end, TFS offered the perfect balance for our needs. Figure 4 presents a list of specific Agile products (or all-purpose products utilized in Agile) and their usage across the industry.
Instruments Employed in an Agile Procedure:
#3. Embrace advised strategies
Agile strategies pertain to advised practices or collections of practices specifically designed for implementing software development in an Agile manner. The selection of strategies differs from choosing a methodology or instruments.
Every Agile methodology comprises a set of recommended practices that address various challenges. Collectively, these practices make up a closed loop that defines the process.
If you fail to adopt a strategy integral to your specific Agile methodology, you might face gaps in your process execution.
Therefore, to reduce the risk of missing links in your end-to-end Agile development and delivery process, I advocate for adopting all the strategies specified in your chosen methodology, barring insurmountable constraints.
Concerning these strategies, the most critical decisions revolve around their prioritization, sequencing, and adaptation.
When shifting to Agile, it’s neither feasible nor advisable to adopt all strategies at once. Instead, compile a list of strategies and prioritize them. Understandably, strategies that address major or fundamental issues should take precedence.
For instance, my top-priority strategies were:
- Daily stand-up meetings (addressing team coordination)
- Iteration planning (replacing a work breakdown structure)
- Story mapping (handling requirements)
- Retrospectives (customizing the process based on organizational needs)
Your priorities might differ based on your evaluation of the challenges you encounter. The list of commonly used Agile strategies in Figure 5 can serve as a guideline, but it shouldn’t be followed blindly as it encompasses strategies from all Agile methodologies combined.
Agile Strategies: (click on image to enlarge)
The sequencing of strategies depends on their priority, feedback from retrospectives with the team, and ease of adoption. Agile adoption is an evolving and reactive process, so you must respond to the team’s issues and suggestions.
Retrospectives are a great way to collaborate with the team, but informal channels of communication can also be used to gather individual and collective input. To facilitate this, Agile practitioners need to employ an open leadership style.
Furthermore, some strategies might have a high priority and support from the team, but they might be challenging to implement at a particular stage due to constraints and dependencies. Therefore, it’s crucial to identify the right time to adopt specific strategies. For instance, we introduced Burndown charts relatively late in our process because it was initially challenging to ensure that all team members frequently updated their tasks in TFS. As a result, the Burndown charts didn’t provide substantial value, despite being a widely utilized Scrum strategy.
Similarly, not every strategy can be applied in its raw or standard form. We must adapt and shape strategies to suit our environment, needs, culture, tools, and other concurrent strategies. For example, our approach to daily stand-up meetings differs from what you’ll find in literature.
In addition to sharing individual status updates, our stand-up meetings encompass discussions of any issues or requirements, addressing process-related questions, or announcing important upcoming events. We also allocate a day for concluding sprint tasks, which isn’t a standard practice.
Our stand-up meetings are longer than usual, while sprint planning meetings are shorter than the standard duration, as some stakeholders need to attend multiple sprint planning sessions in a day.
The main message is to “employ strategies like a flexible material, melting and molding them to fit your unique mold.”
Wrapping it up:
Until now, we’ve discussed the significance of choosing the appropriate methodology, tools, and strategies when adopting Agile.
While process definition extends past these steps, they represent essential initial phases in the comprehensive Agile adoption process that will ultimately dictate the success of Agile in your firm.
While none of these milestones are easily achieved, I have strived to present the information in a digestible manner.
As you assimilate this information, I will soon publish another piece that continues this topic, touching on comparatively advanced phases such as promoting Agile in your firm, which are equally significant. Bear in mind, Agile is an unending journey of improvement.