Agile management has become a catch phrase for many CIOs and enterprise information technology shops. Yet, like all catch phrases, the devil is in the details. While there are efforts to unify agile methods, the approaches and emphases can be quite varied—particularly as applied by individual program and project managers.
The history of agile methodology, including the many inputs that contributed to “agile,” is summarized in a paper by David F. Rico, The History, Evolution and Emergence of Agile PM Frameworks. You can also find a broad statement of Principles behind the Agile Manifesto and the Agile Manifesto, originally focused on software development.
Agile is discussed widely among Federal IT leadership. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on effective practices and government challenges in applying agile. Margie Graves, Deputy CIO at DHS recently proposed “agile first” at the Federal Mobile Computing Summit, where she spoke. According to Federal Computer Week, Graves said agile could often save time and money, while pointing out that some processes such as testing and security need to be done differently.
At its best, agile is a means for coping with uncertainty—using quick iterations and collaborative interactions to discover innovation and cost-efficient solutions. At its worst, agile could simply be an excuse for flying by the seat of one’s pants without clear plans or use of obtainable information.
Agile IT system development is typically contrasted with traditional Waterfall development methods. The old editions of the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK™) and many System Life Cycle manuals were grounded in a linear, Waterfall-style methodology: initiate based on the problem, plan in detail, execute the plan, control according to the plan, and declare success (project close). In the Federal government, many of the management controls for IT are grounded in Waterfall assumptions.
The problem with the Waterfall method is that many development projects start out with a great deal of uncertainty, and the system life cycle pathway tends to be long, tedious, and expensive. After many months or even years of development, the results can be disappointing.
The Problem
Agile management is becoming an essential discipline and process for many situations in information technology, particularly in today’s SOA, cloud, and mobile app environment. However, IT leadership at the enterprise level should examine policy, governance, and performance management processes to determine how to incorporate agile successfully. Following are examples of issues to be considered.
“Agile” means different things to different people, and enterprise IT governance falls into shambles if dozens of program and project managers are disconnected from performance accountability, oversight, and documented repeatable processes.
A large IT organization needs to define agile and integrate the processes into its governance and investment management structure. It is also important to evaluate the environment necessary for agile to be successful. Many agile teams negotiate their working relationships among themselves, rather than following canned job descriptions. Face-to-face communications and frequent interactions are also important, though conferencing and messaging technology is extending its reach to agile distributed teams who work at multiple locations. In addition, documenting an agile project frequently requires new tools—because details of the solution may change every several weeks, or even more frequently.
Another issue is determining who is qualified to lead and manage an agile initiative. Some of the pioneers of agile methods argue strongly against certification programs; yet a variety of credentials have appeared. The Project Management Institute now offers the PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) credential. Other significant credentials include Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM). Joseph Flahiff makes a comparison of the three credentials is at Project Management Institute’s Whitewater Projects.
A fundamental issue is when to use agile rather than traditional system development methods. In many cases, agile is better suited to IT investments that:
- Are smaller
- Have near-term completion dates
- Need iterative feedback from prospective IT users
- Are characterized by uncertainty, the opportunity for innovation, or a need for flexibility
- Require exploration of a series of near-term alternatives
- Or makes sense for some of the segments of a large traditional IT investment.
Agile tends to work best for quick runs and is usually focused on shorter term project objectives. Conversely, traditional program and system development approaches may be necessary for pursuing long-term objectives and the enterprise-level IT strategic plan.
The Solution
If you haven’t done so already, your enterprise should consider updating its guidance, decision processes, documentation requirements, and investment management standards to harmonize with policy that incorporates agile into the overall framework. There is no “one size fits all solution,” and we do recommend that you carefully consider developing a plan that fits the characteristics of your organization.
Further, we recommend that you apply an agile Quick Task for integrating your enterprise IT management policy and practices with agile. An early activity should be to review the agile initiatives that are underway or completed within your organization. Explore:
- What worked well and what didn’t?
- Are some agile implementations more successful than others?
- Were there policy or process barriers that need to be resolved?
- What kinds of qualifications and training were associated with successful outcomes?
- Has certification been valuable for selecting agile project managers?
- What were the benefits of agile, both quantitative and qualitative?
- Did agile save time or money?
- What have been the risks encountered or avoided by using agile?
- What were the decision criteria for selecting agile methods?
- Do participants in the current or recent agile initiatives have suggestions or lessons learned?
- Who are the stakeholders who need to be involved in agile? Do they need orientation or training?
- How did agile projects handle enterprise documentation standards, performance reporting, and life cycle gate reviews?
It is plausible that your organization could embrace several approaches to agile management, but there should be overarching policies, performance reporting, review checkpoints, and assessments at the enterprise portfolio management level.
What’s New
- Cloud computing offers a number of opportunities for agile management
- Mobile apps are opening software development to quick, focused solutions
- The trend toward system consolidation may offer opportunities
- The focus on short-term useable segments of major systems may speed up or reduce the costs of initial prototyping, provided that the solutions are scalable to enterprise-wide requirements.
QT Plan
The purpose of this Quick Task is to prepare a phased action plan for incorporating agile management into the guidance, governance, and processes for enterprise IT management in a specific large organization environment. The estimated period of performance for the task is four months, and task elements are as follows:
- Develop a Task Plan
- Organize a Task Leadership Team to oversee the necessary reviews and change management
- Identify agile projects in your enterprise—both completed ones and those underway
- Classify agile projects in your organization, using categories such as core system development, infrastructure, cloud computing, mobile computing, etc.
- Rank order the projects on the basis of key performance factors such as cost, schedule, technical outcomes, and user satisfaction
- Seek agile characteristics that distinguish high-performing from low-performing investments, such as leadership characteristics, leader qualifications, agile processes, training, team characteristics, stakeholder involvement, and interactions with IT governance policy and processes
- Conduct several focus groups with agile management participants and distil recommendations from their perspective regarding how your organization can optimize successful use of agile methods
- Interview top-level executives regarding their expectations for agile
- Develop a prototype of recommended agile policy and processes that are appropriate to your organization
- Assess how existing enterprise IT policy, governance, and management processes will need to be updated to use agile optimally in your organization
- Draft an Agile Plan of Action
- Seek input from functional managers: budget, IT architecture, acquisition, CPIC, operational management, portfolio management, etc.
- Conduct a workshop with enterprise leaders and managers to refine the Agile Plan of Action
- Finalize the Plan of Action
- Conduct a Closeout Briefing for all participants and outline follow-up steps (including assignment of roles and responsibilities).
Reference
Software Development: Effective Practices and Federal Challenges in Applying Agile Methods. Government Accountability Office, GAO-12-681. 2012.
Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products (2nd Edition), Jim Highsmith. ISBN 10: 0-321-21977-5. 2009.
The Business Value of Agile Software Methods, Maximizing ROI with Just-in-Time Processes and Documentation. Dr. David F. Rico, PMP, CSM, Dr. Hasan H. Sayani, and Dr. Saya Sone, PMP. ISBN 978-1-60427-031-0. 2009.
Extreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility. Doug DeCarlo. ISBN 0-7879-7409-9. 2004.
Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process, Kenneth Rubin. ISBN 0-13-704329-5. 2012.
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner
Scrum.org
Scrum Alliance
More Help
Jim Kendrick and the P2C2 Group, Inc. provide executive facilitator, workshop leader, management consulting, and policy support in this Quick Task area: kendrick@p2c2group.com.
Last Word
We suggest that you view the incorporation of agile management as an evolutionary process. Agile should lead to repeatable successful methods that strengthen the performance of IT in your organization.
