AGILE — Myths and Truths

What is right or wrong in the project management process?

The correct answer is: IT DEPENDS

So that the answer doesn’t seem vague, we need to take a step back and contextualize agile-based framework proposals, customer needs, ways of hiring, and the mindset of those involved. All these points are relevant information and variables that directly impact the HOW and WHAT best apply in project management. This information makes it possible to identify the real problem and create an action plan that will lead to one of the great advantages of the agile mindset: continuous improvement, taking advantage of adaptability, and inspection to raise the level of project and product management.

Being SCRUM the best-known AGILE framework, some of its practices are considered in the routines of companies, but without its essence, as there is a belief that became more agile because they hold daily meetings or work in sprints.

Much more important than routines, is to insert the agile mindset, identify the most vulnerable part of the process and apply concrete actions (even if simple), control and measure the results, and periodically evaluate whether the desired improvements are closer or further away. Being on the right path, assess whether there is something to be done that can accelerate this process of evolution towards the goal.

As a result, issues that were once very complex begin to be seen naturally and the long-awaited benefits are perceived. As the results appear, people involved feel more committed and motivated. All this context leads to the organic growth of the culture, no matter which framework is being applied (i.e. organic growth), with a solid base for having grown based on measured results and not on theories and discourses.

Other forms of implementation or bureaucratization of agility can also work, but one thing is for sure, there is no possibility of becoming agile overnight, mainly since to have the culture and enhance results, it is not enough to say that is, but rather being oneself effectively and applying the processes.

But in practice, what changes? Start by dividing the problem into small problems and understand which of these parts you can solve immediately. If there is more than one problem in this situation, start with the one that delivers the greatest result for the business as a whole and use the lessons learned to better understand the other problems that are in the queue. As it goes on, it is assumed that they understand new ways of attacking these problems, or even that they no longer become a problem for the organization, which is very common lately.

And the interesting thing is that thinking in an agile way is not exclusive to IT, much less to building software. Everything can be modeled this way, for example:

Demand:

The client requests the construction of a house with 4 bedrooms.

Traditional methodology:

Detail with the client as much as possible the construction requirements to make a plan, give a budget, and estimated delivery time.

After the client’s approval, build, and after a long time deliver the house to the client.

Without considering the delays and problems that may occur, in that time, the client’s reality may have changed, not only in terms of needs but also in terms of available budget. In this way, after delivery, the house may no longer be useful or need a major renovation.

Agile methodology:

Understanding the client’s real need: It can be identified, for example, that the client is a couple with children who has nowhere to live and needs shelter as soon as possible.

Knowing this, we will propose to the client that, at first, the construction is carried out in phases, considering that it is possible to build two accommodations per cycle:

Phase 1:

• Construction of a bedroom and a bathroom.
• With this delivery, the customer will already have a place to accommodate his family.
• Even if it is not ideal, it would already reduce the cost, for example.

Phase 2:

• Construction of another bedroom and kitchen.
• With this delivery, the children will be able to use the other room, bringing more comfort to everyone.
• Even though it is still not ideal, comfort improves, and there would be the possibility of preparing meals and reducing food costs.

Phase 3:

• Construction of another bedroom and a living room.
• With this delivery, each child can have their room, or have a room available to socialize and receive visitors.
• Even though it was not ideal, there was an improvement in comfort, and they could have a place to have fun, watch TV, etc.

Phase 4:

• It can identify if there is still a need to have another room, and external factors can interfere. They may have discovered a pregnancy with twins, and understand that two more bedrooms would be needed to meet the new needs.
• With this delivery, everyone would have their respective rooms, or they could continue to receive visitors comfortably.
• Even though it is not like the initial plan (4 bedrooms), with the new need, the house now has five bedrooms, adapting to the new reality.

In short, it is possible to see from the example above, that the time/agility in the process helps to solve the problem. The customer starts using and enjoying his home from the first delivery, and at each cycle, he can reassess his needs and prioritize the next actions.

The fact of using agile does not guarantee that the project will finish sooner, it may take even longer, but what is guaranteed is that deliveries are constant with a better return on investment and more flexible and adaptable to the current reality of the customer.