Pesky Agile

  Agile   Communications Management   Scope Management  

With agile methodology being the new “it” thing these days, it creates an opportunity and problem for project managers. The opportunity we have is the ability to manage projects with the potential to produce deliverables quickly. Managing large-scale projects using an agile methodology can be challenging as there is a need to align multiple dependencies along common milestones. Trying to align dependencies around common touch points in order to measure project success can quickly start to resemble a project managed via a waterfall approach.

Although the role of the business stakeholder has evolved using agile as a methodology, the business need or pesky constraint typically remains for delivering functionality by a particular date. Hence, project success many times is still measured by delivering functionality by a pre-defined date to meet business goals. Below are some suggestions to try if your organization is using an agile methodology yet expected to deliver a large-scale project that has the same constraints that have existed for a while.

Proactively define program goals. Align the individual project success measurements of “Did it meet stakeholder expectations?” into larger program success metrics. Establish project goals across a cross-functional stakeholder base before the project begins. The goal is to not only have silo’d goals…

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