登录查看更多内容

How can you use agile contracts in outsourcing projects?

由人工智能和领英社区提供技术支持

Outsourcing projects can be challenging, especially when you want to use agile methodologies to deliver value to your customers. Traditional contracts based on fixed scope, time, and cost may not be suitable for agile projects, as they can limit flexibility, collaboration, and feedback. How can you use agile contracts in outsourcing projects, then? In this article, we will explore some of the benefits, types, and best practices of agile contracts, and how they can help you achieve better outcomes with your outsourcing partners.

此文章中的业界达人

由社区从 4 条内容中精选。了解更多

Ziryan Salayi

CEO of Scrum Professionals - Organization Agility Coach
Ashutosh Mishra

Business Agility | Technology | Transformation | WoW Coach | PSM-I | PSM-II | PAL-E | ICP-ACC | ICP-CAT | PSFS | PSPBM

1 Benefits of agile contracts

Agile contracts are designed to support the agile principles and values, such as customer satisfaction, working software, responding to change, and continuous improvement. They can offer several benefits for both the client and the supplier, such as aligning incentives and expectations around delivering value and quality, rather than meeting predefined specifications. Agile contracts also reduce risks and uncertainties by allowing frequent feedback, adaptation, and verification of the project scope and progress. Additionally, they enhance trust and collaboration by fostering a partnership approach between the client and the supplier. Furthermore, they improve transparency and accountability by using clear and measurable indicators of performance, such as working software, user feedback, and business value.

添加您的观点

2 Types of agile contracts

Agile contracts depend on the context, complexity, and goals of each project, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Common types of contracts include Time and Materials (T&M), Fixed Price with Variable Scope, and Target Cost with Shared Savings. T&M is suitable for projects with high uncertainty and variability, where the client wants more control and flexibility over the scope and direction of the project. Fixed Price with Variable Scope is ideal for projects with moderate uncertainty and variability, offering some flexibility and security over the scope and cost. Lastly, Target Cost with Shared Savings is a good choice for projects with low uncertainty and variability, as it incentivizes both client and supplier to optimize value and efficiency.

添加您的观点

Ashutosh Mishra

Business Agility | Technology | Transformation | WoW Coach | PSM-I | PSM-II | PAL-E | ICP-ACC | ICP-CAT | PSFS | PSPBM
举报内容
It's important to understand the concept of Iron triangle when it comes to scope, time , people. Agile methodology encourages variable scope while the time(e.g. timebox of events) and people (e.g. people working in a team) remains fixed as we follow the principle that we work for the competitive advantage of the customer. Agile budgeting has to be empirical by evaluating the delivery in terms of relativity estimate and then relating it to cost burned for delivery the amount of relative estimate (story point) then predicting the book of work will be more accurate than not going empirical way.

已翻译

赞

3 Best practices for agile contracts

Regardless of the type of agile contract you choose, there are some best practices that you can follow to make the most of it. It is important to define the vision, goals, and success criteria of the project upfront and align them with your customer's needs and expectations. Establish a clear and frequent communication channel between the client and the supplier, and involve key stakeholders in the feedback and decision-making process. Utilize agile tools and methods such as burn-down charts, velocity, user stories, acceptance criteria, and demos to track and report the project progress. Additionally, incorporate change management and risk management practices into the project lifecycle, allowing for flexibility in scope, schedule, and budget. Finally, review and evaluate the project performance and outcomes regularly to celebrate achievements and learnings. Agile contracts can be used to leverage the benefits of agile methodologies in outsourcing projects; by following these best practices, you can create a win-win situation for both you and your outsourcing partner while delivering value to your customers faster and better.

添加您的观点

Ziryan Salayi

CEO of Scrum Professionals - Organization Agility Coach
(已编辑)
举报内容
The worst thing you can do is to track burn-down, velocity, story points and demos to track progress. The best way to track progress is by validating assumptions in production as soon as possible. Deliver functionality and track the use of it. It if takes you more than one month to put a feature in production, you are probably doing old fashioned waterfall projects.

已翻译

赞
Ashutosh Mishra

Business Agility | Technology | Transformation | WoW Coach | PSM-I | PSM-II | PAL-E | ICP-ACC | ICP-CAT | PSFS | PSPBM
举报内容
This is around measuring progress and working software is the measure of success. However in contracts like this it's important to customer collaboration and in this context this would mean to ask the question about expected outcome(scope), how do they measure it, how would you consider that the contract is on track, feedback cycles actionable feedbacks and many more. One of the key things around measurement would be to apply Goodharts law, which says, when measure becomes the target, it ceases to be a good measure, another principle to keep in mind is the cobra effect, it is the most direct kind of perverse incentive, typically because the incentive unintentionally rewards people for making the issue worse.

已翻译

赞
Amit K Srivastava

Engineering Leader | Experienced Agile Practitioner
举报内容
One thing what I have found useful is to start with T&M for few iterations (discovery phase). During discovery phase, agile team, processes & estimation baselines are established. Once all the parties of the contract have an idea about story point estimate of pilot features, contract can be converted to "Fixed Price with Variable Scope and Fixed estimated story points".

已翻译

赞

4 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?

添加您的观点

Agile Methodologies

+ 关注

给文章评分

我们借助人工智能创建了此文章。您认为这篇文章怎么样？

很棒不太好

举报此文章

查看全部

How can you use agile contracts in outsourcing projects?

1

2

3

4

1 Benefits of agile contracts

2 Types of agile contracts

3 Best practices for agile contracts

4 Here’s what else to consider

Agile Methodologies

给文章评分

感谢您的反馈

更多Agile Methodologies相关文章

更多相关阅读内容

How can you use agile contracts in outsourcing projects?

1

2

3

4

1 Benefits of agile contracts

2 Types of agile contracts

3 Best practices for agile contracts

4 Here’s what else to consider

Agile Methodologies

给文章评分

感谢您的反馈

查看其他技能