Making Agile “Stick” When Implementing at Scale

According to recent research from Forrester, 60% of executives identified that their companies are on a five-year journey to adopt agile approaches. Despite this enthusiasm for agile practices, more companies are continuing to use waterfall tactics (43% this year compared to  29% in 2019). What’s more, only a quarter of the executives ranked their teams as “highly proficient” in agile practices, and even fewer felt their company had fully invested in the necessary structural changes required to support an agile transformation. 

Clearly there’s a disconnect between wanting to be agile and successfully implementing agile methods. This is especially true at large organizations that have entrenched processes and multiple stakeholders who need to connect and communicate. A partner like Contegix can help make agile methods stick so organizations can take advantage of its benefits—and not be tempted to revert to more siloed waterfall practices.

Advantages of an Agile Approach 

What sets agile apart? Agile was created in 2001 to promote a more fluid project approach, which is often necessary to complete software development projects that can otherwise take years. With agile, the whole team drives the direction of the project rather than an IT or project manager. This shift empowers employees and encourages experimentation with coding methods. 

Unlike waterfall, which was developed more than 50 years ago and involves clearly defined sequences moving from phase to phase, the agile methodology involves working in sprints, breaking down large tasks in a project into smaller pieces. Having more frequent deliverables creates more milestones for gathering and reviewing feedback. Using these insights, a developer can identify and troubleshoot any workflow impediments that might delay the project or make adjustments to code that could create higher quality software. 

Since flexibility is at its core, agile teams can improve productivity. For example, agile developers can move quickly if changes are needed, because they won’t be bogged down by unnecessary delays, like waiting for approval on one line of code before they can move onto the next. Agile also improves communication and collaboration within and across teams, usually involving daily meetings to make sure the team is on task. More frequent communication also eliminates any confusion on a software development project that could put its delivery at risk. 

Four Obstacles to Making Agile Stick 

While flexibility and increased communication add value, implementing agile can present common challenges when transitioning from more traditional methodology. 

• First, change is hard. Because waterfall has been in use since 1970, many large organizations may have a long history with the process. Unless team members clearly understand the value of agile and how it can boost efficiency in their roles, they’ll likely want to stick to what they already know.
• Second, communication is critical in agile. To work well, team members need to constantly meet with and talk to one another along the path of a project. That requires organizations to have strong communication tools and channels in place and a commitment to their use. Teams who may be experiencing communication overload due to a shift to remote work may find the extra dialogue a burden. 
• Management support is another challenge. To adopt agile, all leaders, including the executive team, need to go agile, too. Inconsistent practices across teams makes the adoption of the agile approach more difficult. Instead, the practice needs to be standard for all departments and teams.
• Finally, insufficient training on agile methods can predestine the transition to fail. To work, team members need to be educated on the agile concept, including its framework, practices, and value. This step often becomes the responsibility of the IT team, which is already busy handling other important tasks that drive the business forward. As a result, the transformation can easily be back burnered to a later date—if it occurs at all.

How a Partner Can Help Scale Agile for Success

Overhauling business practices can be intimidating or overwhelming, especially if teams are introducing change to longstanding practices. That’s where a partner like Contegix comes in. 

Contegix has deep experience with Atlassian tools like Jira Align and Roadmaps in Jira that help teams manage new workflows, provide holistic project views, and allocate resources across projects. Plus, Contegix can help implement Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprises (SAFe) with existing project management software, such as Jira, to help fine-tune workflows to make sure that scaling agile methods across larger teams and organizations overcomes these common obstacles.  

Contegix experts can take the burden of implementing agile software off internal teams and provide support in the adoption of agile workflows, easing the process—and making it more likely to last.

Contact us to learn more about how Contegix can transition and scale your organization’s adoption of agile practices.