Is Your Organization Ready for Agile Methodology?

The Agile Methodology (whether using SCRUM, FDD, DSDM, XP etc) seems to be the latest worldwide trend that is up and coming.

The appeal of this approach is undeniable as it seems to make sense and balances the needs for either sides (IT and Business folks).

Before we are mesmerized by all the bells and whistles and assume that Agile Methodology is the Silver Bullet, let's take a step back and review the basic points below, before an Organization embarks on this transformation journey.

1) Is the Organization ready to commit the time of the Product Owners and having them participate as a partner in the development of the software?
This would mean time to juggle BAU (Business As Usual) tasks, and time dedicated to the development team (since Agile promotes collaboration and interaction between Business Users and the Development Team). In a usual Organization, Business Owners would have to be able to allocate time for the project team whilst perhaps still holding on to the core functions (esp if the Business Owners are bringing in Sales to the Organization).

2) Is the Development Team sufficiently cross-trained to perform multiple roles/discipline while participating as a member of the Agile team?
Agile team members are more of a Generalist in nature and if the team members are relatively new or junior, this might take some time for the members to learn and take on more responsibilities. Agile teams can only start performing and reaping the results when the team is rounded with each member cross-trained in order to tackle different problems encountered in their own tasks.

3) How Complex is the Project(s) and What is the Estimated Team Size required?
Although Agile methodology is catered for scaling depending on the complexity and size of the project, it is always recommended to take this into consideration when starting to adopt this methodology (Typical scrum teams vary from 4-5 to a maximum of 12 team members). Some approach allows scaling (Scrum of Scrum etc) but as the size of the team goes up, the communication breakdown or radiation of information within the Agile teams will naturally decrease if care is not taken. This can have disastrous effects such as silos forming which results in inefficiency or wrong/wasted work done.

4) Is the Organization prepared to rearrange the office layout/seating to Support the Agile movement?
Agile methodology advocates the co-locating or at least the facilitating of face to face communication as much as possible in order to leverage on the efficient sharing of information (via Information Radiators such as KanBan charts or burndown charts displayed prominently in the office). This point may be handled differently in the event that VPT (virtual project teams/offshore outsourced teams) are used.

5) Is the Organization ready to update the Audit requirements for Projects which are marked as being managed the Agile manner?
In any established Organization, there are bound to be audit requirements - whether for the purpose of meeting and maintaining the ISO 9000 standards or as a good proper form of governance. The Organization needs to understand that certain artifacts which are common in the traditional manner of managing projects does not apply to the Agile Methodology. A good example would be the common artifact - User Story. The audit requirements need to be tweaked and amended to cater for the Agile approach and this must be made known to both Internal and External auditors (where applicable).

6) Is the Organization PMO/IT Steering Community ready to relinquish the traditional types of milestone/gate reporting?
Organizations must be prepared to adjust their expectations going into a meeting with Agile projects. There are no traditional MS Project plans or milestones to report at these meeting. Instead, all the Agile project might have are just Product backlog and the Burndown charts.

7) Is the Organization Product owners ready to drop requirements from the Scope when faced with difficult Product backlog grooming?
Traditionally, when the Business Owners embark on a project to enhance features in the current system/embark on a brand new system, the requirements are traditionally cast in stone and project teams are tasked to deliver every single requirement (hence there are documents such as the requirement traceability matrix etc). But in the Agile project, usually the scope (aka requirements) are flexible and reviewed from time to time (referred to as grooming) and those features/requirements which are deemed unnecessary are removed from the list (product backlog).

8) Does the Organization have the appropriate Agile Coach/Mentor/Leaders required to spearhead and guide this effort?
If the Organization is totally new to the concept of Agile project or Agile Methodology, usually a Coach or Mentor is hired and tasked to guide and fine-tune the Agile Methodology. Project team members are also sent for the relevant training on the Agile methodology adopted and the task of the Coach/Mentor would be to guide these newbies and customize the Agile Methodology to a level that the Organization needs and requirements are taken care of and yet still following the Agile principles set out. Although the Coach/Mentor is not mandatory but it would be useful especially for Organizations attempting the Agile approach for the first time.

9) Is the Organization prepared to fail and adapt during the course of the Transformation?
One of the concepts of Agile Methodology is to be able to learn from each failed iteration and improve on the learning points gained so that the process gets better and better as iteration passes. And as such, the Organization must be prepared to accept a certain level of failure during each iteration and allow the team to improve as time goes on.

The above list is not an exhaustive one but it should at least serve as a starting point for anyone/organization who are contemplating on embarking this Agile journey.