Three Steps to Agile Project Success

In our last post, we talked about three common reasons Agile projects fail:

• Lack of Buy-In
• Lack of a Clear Product Owner
• Lack of Experience and Training

Now, we wouldn’t tell you what can go wrong without telling you what you can do about it. So in this post, we’ll talk about how to address these challenges and set your Agile project on a new course for success.

1. Invest in Change Management

Agile adoption often represents a major cultural and organizational shift in mindset and process. Whether your team is just getting started with Agile implementation or has Agile projects in flight, it’s important to take time to ensure that leaders and team members understand the value of Agile and how their participation is critical to success.

2. Empower the Product Owner and Prioritize Customer Engagement

It’s tempting to ask team members to play dual roles rather than dedicating someone entirely to the role of Product Owner. Resist the temptation! Product Owners must have the bandwidth and authority to make decisions and do their job effectively. Among their many responsibilities, they are responsible for continually validating what the team builds meets the business needs. This allows for a rapid and flexible response to change, a crucial tenet of the Agile methodology.

3. Get the Team Trained

Often when organizations describe problems with “Agile” they are actually describing challenges with executing an Agile methodology. Having all project team members attend common training, like in a private class adapted to suit the team’s unique challenges, can mitigate some of these issues.

When the entire team can hear the same message, concepts, and implementation tactics simultaneously, a common language and perspective are established. This shared understanding allows the team to work through the challenges of adopting a new way of working from the same starting point.

Bringing Agile to your organization can be tough but don’t get discouraged. Many teams have successfully implemented Agile methods into their day to day work. Avoid the most common pitfalls by setting your team up for success – communicate continuously with leaders, empower the product owner and invest in professional training.