How do you choose the best agile framework?

2 Factor 2: Customer involvement

The second factor to consider is the level and frequency of customer involvement. How often do you need to communicate with the customer, gather feedback, and deliver value? How much collaboration and co-creation do you expect from the customer? How responsive and available is the customer? Depending on your answers, you may need a more or less customer-centric agile framework. For example, Extreme Programming (XP) is a framework that emphasizes frequent and direct interaction with the customer, as well as practices like pair programming, test-driven development, and continuous integration. However, if your customer is more distant or passive, you may prefer a more team-centric framework like Scrum, which relies on the product owner to represent the customer's voice and prioritize the backlog.

3 Factor 3: Team culture and skills

The third factor to consider is the team culture and skills. How experienced and proficient are the team members in agile methods and tools? How autonomous and self-organizing are they? How well do they communicate and collaborate with each other and with other teams? How open are they to learning and improvement? Depending on your answers, you may need a more or less supportive agile framework. For example, Scrum of Scrums is a framework that extends Scrum to coordinate multiple teams working on a large-scale project. It provides a regular forum for cross-team communication, alignment, and integration. However, if your team is more mature or independent, you may prefer a more lightweight framework like Lean, which focuses on eliminating waste, maximizing value, and empowering the team to make decisions.

4 Factor 4: Adaptability and innovation

The fourth factor to consider is the degree of adaptability and innovation required. How fast and frequently do you need to respond to changing market conditions, customer needs, and technological opportunities? How much experimentation and creativity do you need to generate novel solutions and competitive advantages? How willing are you to embrace uncertainty and failure as part of the learning process? Depending on your answers, you may need a more or less agile framework. For example, Agile Scrum is a framework that combines Scrum with agile engineering practices to enable rapid and reliable delivery of high-quality software. It supports iterative and incremental development, continuous feedback, and technical excellence. However, if you need more radical innovation or disruption, you may prefer a more agile framework like Design Thinking, which applies human-centered design principles to empathize with the customer, define the problem, ideate, prototype, and test solutions.

5 Factor 5: Alignment and integration

The fifth factor to consider is the level of alignment and integration needed. How aligned are your vision, strategy, and goals with those of the organization and the customer? How integrated are your processes, systems, and data with those of other teams and departments? How consistent are your standards, policies, and practices with those of the industry and the regulations? Depending on your answers, you may need a more or less holistic agile framework. For example, SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) is a framework that aligns and integrates multiple agile teams and programs within a large enterprise. It provides a common vision, roadmap, architecture, and governance for delivering value across the organization. However, if you have more autonomy or isolation, you may prefer a more localized agile framework like ScrumBan, which combines Scrum and Kanban to optimize the flow and quality of work within a single team.

Choosing the best agile framework for your project and team is not a one-size-fits-all decision. It depends on various factors that reflect your context, needs, and preferences. By comparing and contrasting different agile frameworks, you can find the one that suits your situation and goals.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?