How can you manage expectations when using Agile Methodologies?

Agile project management is all about keeping things open and friendly. We make sure everyone stays in the loop through good communication and by involving them in decisions and picking what matters most. We keep it real by explaining that Agile can roll with changes but might affect other stuff. When we plan our sprints, it's like setting short-term goals we can high-five about. And the cool part is we show off our work in these demo parties and talk about how to make things even better in our 'learn from it' sessions. If someone wants to shake things up, we chat it out and make sure everyone's on board. We're all about learning, keeping stuff written down, and not just fixing problems but also having a good laugh while doing it.

Scope creep is one nightmare which most software product development goes through. A well -maintained software development team will ensure that expectations are correctly weighed during the discovery phase. Hence, eliminating any chances of scope creep in future, easing the engineers work life. Few points to keep in mind to ensure there is no scope creep: 1. Know your market: we must know our target market and it's standard so that we don't over-commit our deliverables. Have a good research on the domain. 2. Know your target consumers: how is this different from market? Yes it is. Consumers have more granular details that we have to keep in mind while defining the scope. 3. Always keep technical feasibility above anything

Managing expectations is iterative and being Project Manager it's one of the key responsibilities. Whenever we talk about connecting at different levels stakeholder communication plays a vital role in that. You need to do effective communication constantly though it can be direct or indirect but it should be happening. Expectations could lead you to risk as well so make sure your data is clear and available in a way that avoid confusions.

Managing business expectations while allowing agile practices to thrive requires a bridge between the two worlds. A framework that documents the shared goals and success measures will help create alignment and center the teams to a strong WHY. Communication is essential and having a dedicated role who executes the communication strategy that caters to the intended audience will help keep stakeholders and executives informed while giving the teams the space they need to determine the way to deliver the solution. Utilize tools such as a scope documents, engagement contracts and status updates to keep stakeholders up-to-speed throughout the journey allowing you to manage those expectations while achieving your goals.

1. Communicate regularly: Make sure to communicate regularly with the team and stakeholders and keep them informed about the progress of the project. 2. Set realistic goals: Set realistic and achievable goals for each sprint. 3. Prioritize tasks: Prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency. 4. Involve stakeholders: Involve stakeholders in the planning and review processes. This will help ensure that their expectations are aligned with the project goals. 5. Be flexible: Be open to change and be willing to adapt the project plan as needed. 6. Measure progress: Use this information regularly to adjust your plan and priorities as needed.

Minimize periods of 'darkness'. While its necessary to provide protected and productive time to dev team it cannot be at expense of stake holders getting regular and timely input. As a guideline 'space' for transparent updates and some level of stake holder feedback should be at least as often as sprint periods. Also be critically honest about whether the right stake holders & trust levels are involved. If the culture doesn't seem to allow this, then invest time in resolving as early as possible and avoid temptation to ignore or delay addressing.

Many times we see Leadership has unrealistic and unachievable expectations from an Agile Transformation. It is very important to connect with the LEadership at regular intervals and set the Right expectations from their side. ne very contextual example I can give from my experience, One Leader I coached had a rong notion that Doing Agile will solve all their problems. The Coaching journey I had to undertake here wa to move this mindset from Doing Agile solving my problems to "Being Agile Identifying my problems early" This is the story of my "The Pilgrim's Progress" (Reference Book by John Bunyan)

The important thing to remember is agile won't fix a culture of poor communication. Everyone on the team needs to be diligent about communicating their current status, any unforeseen issues, and potential upcoming roadblocks. Daily standups can start to feel less productive with everyone going through the motions. It's critical that we keep those focused.

I am working on projects with big organizations with multiple layers of managers/management. It is crucial to have a weekly cadence with senior management without proxies in the middle. Focus on the 3 items at max at the time and get committed support from senior stakeholders. One more thing to not underestimate is the local culture, working in North America is not like working in South East Asia.

In my experience leading Agile teams, it’s all about frequent feedback loops. Generally, stakeholders understand that software development is complex and there is a high chance of obstacles/blockers - be honest and transparent about them, and ensure you have an action plan to share. If there isn’t a plan just yet, again..be honest! Let your stakeholder(s) know that you are actively working on it and when they can expect you to share it with them.

EDGE’s Value Based Prioritization refers to what customer recognizes as valuable. Measure of Success(MoS) helps describing the desired outcome of the work in a way that people doing the work can test to determine whether they are on track. MoS represents value at every level from goals to implementation. This helps in maintaining alignment (across business units, across the departments and within teams) through out the organization. Prioritization becomes extremely difficult when organizations try to achieve many things at the same time especially during transformation. During such situations, prioritization exercise should be a regular activity focusing primarily on customer value.

Agile says that the scope is managed by the PO. Make sure that your PO is fully aligned with senior management and that she/he is not egotist personality. Furthermore, set clear goals/kpi to understand if that change/feedback makes really sense.

The other aspect to consider is "No one size fits all.", understanding the current situation and tweaking processes based on the feedback is critical to the optimization/efficiency of the agile development methodology. Implementing processes which makes the team more productive should be done cautiously. My personal favorite is being lean wherever possible. Efficient teams love operating in an environment that doesn't slow them down.

Other best practices for managing expectations when using Agile methodologies are: - Use transparent and frequent communication methods to keep the stakeholders informed and engaged. The communication methods should include both formal and informal channels, such as meetings, reports, dashboards, demos, emails, chats, etc. - Manage scope changes effectively by using a backlog and a prioritization process. The backlog is a list of all the features and tasks that are required or desired for the project. The prioritization process is a way of ranking the backlog items based on their value, urgency, dependency, and complexity. The scope changes should be reflected in the backlog and prioritized accordingly.

Openness to change is one of the 4 values of Agile. At the same time, it is critical that the stakeholders and team always check whether they are on the right tack towards the end goal; This is a very common mistake that needs to be avoided - going from change to change, losing the actual direction the product is supposed to pursue

Lastly, other best practices for managing expectations when using Agile methodologies are: - Apply responsible AI principles and practices to ensure that the project deliverables are ethical, fair, transparent, and accountable. If the project involves AI systems or components, such as machine learning models or natural language processing tools, they should be aligned with the values and goals of the project and the stakeholders. They should also be evaluated for their performance, accuracy, reliability, explainability, and potential biases or harms.

To deliver a quality product using agile methodologies, focus on collaboration, iterative development, and continuous improvement. Start with clear customer requirements, involve stakeholders, and create a prioritized backlog. Work in short iterations, delivering increments of the product. Maintain open communication and adapt to changes. Emphasize testing throughout the process to catch issues early. Conduct regular reviews and retrospectives to identify areas for improvement. Ensure a motivated, cross-functional team and encourage self-organization. Use tools and metrics to track progress and quality. By following these principles, you can consistently produce a high-quality product that meets customer needs.

They key word here is "trust". Once a team gains the trust of their stakeholder through excellent understanding and communication followed by solid incremental software delivery, a lot of "agile" ceremony can be set aside. The prime example of what can be set aside is estimation. Estimates are a trust-building tool, and once that trust is established, they can often be removed. If tasks can be kept relatively uniform and small, teams move faster by skipping estimation and simply working on the highest priority work.

EDGE’s Outcome Based Strategy advocates investing based on customer value first and business benefits second. Once this is established, alignment of the groups with an organization becomes much easier and the decision to invest more or stop or pivot is then ascertained by measuring performance against these set targets.

Most of the time "Working Software" does not often mean scalable. Features are rushed out and a "Refactor Story" is often added to the backlog but never pulled into a sprint in a scrum environment. - Communicate to the stakeholders that scalability mean having the ability to extend the feature/application and support a larger client base.

Involve relevant stakeholders when prioritising what items go into the product backlog. Some prioritisation techniques are MoSCoW for more granular things like user stories, or Value vs. Cost for higher-level things like product functions. Backlog refinement should help align everyone invested in the project so that expectations are well-managed.

I've often seen two extremes to Agile projects. The first is a strict by the book implementation of the Agile framework. This one size fits all framework doesn't take into account the team dynamics as well as stakeholder expectations. It often leads to frustrated team members and angry stakeholders when the project inevitably goes of the rails. The second is a project which lacks the preparation usually due to level of Agile experience. In this type of project you might see a green status, but you might also uncover issues which could have been easily mitigated early on. I think the right balance is a project which employs the right Agile tooling with a base process modified for the needs of the stakeholders, delivery and dependent teams.

Some ways that Agile has been helpful - 1. Setting realistic goals - establishing achievable goals and priorities. Knowing that stakeholders understand that not all features can be accomplished into the current iteration. Prioritize most important and impactful items 2. Embrace Change - Emphasize that requirements can change and make sure teams are comfortable with priority shifts where needed 3. Continuous Demo & Feedback - Spread awareness by showcasing updates to relevant teams and encouraging stakeholders to provide regular feedback, this ensures the outcomes of feature changes to be aligned with expectations 4. Analyze Risks - Identify potential risks and challenges, ensure collaboration with effective and transparent communication.

Agile methodologies have revolutionized project management, enabling teams to adapt and deliver value at a rapid pace ??. However, effectively managing expectations in this dynamic environment can be challenging. Managing expectations in Agile requires a delicate balance of flexibility and structure. Remember, effective collaboration, clear priorities, transparent reporting, and education are key ingredients to success. By embracing these strategies, you can enhance project outcomes and nurture satisfied stakeholders. ??

There is a need to understand that there isn’t one recipe about building enterprise responsiveness and at the end of following these steps, an organization becomes “agile”. EDGE’s operating model - connecting strategy with delivery enables organizations to achieve organizational responsiveness. The three fundamental questions that EDGE helps us answer when we are leading an organization’s transformation are : 1. How should we work together? 2. How should we invest? 3. How can we adapt fast enough? From an operating model perspective, by embracing EDGE principles, an organization is learning to measure success differently.