If a company/government needed to carry out a project that needed immediate results, could agile methods be employed? Saving Changes...
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Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Agile methods don't necessarily yield immediate results. They produce *an* immediate result (that probably won't suit your needs perfectly) that can be improved through iterations of development and customer review. You'd need to be sure of what result you want before you could decide if Agile methods would help you attain that result faster than traditional project management methods. Saving Changes...
agile methods, practices, tools & mindset could be applied to almost any type of work. However, an agile lifecycle is only appropriate for certain types of projects.
An example of an agile ceremony which is beneficial to an emergency project might be daily standups. That can be used regardless of the lifecycle used to deliver the project.
Emergency projects usually require a blended approach. Often there is some discovery activity that needs to occur to better define the problem, short term high intensity activities required to stabilize the situation and address immediate needs, and then the longer term solution.
I have spent a lot of my career assigned to critical emergent issues, and you never have a fully defined end to end solution plan up front. It is a matter of determining what is good enough for your immediate needs, and then evaluating where you go from there. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Agile is not a method. Agile is a way of thinking and behave wichi can be use for any type of methods. But is when you write "method" you are refering to methods/frameworks that comes from software then nothing stop you to use inside any type of domain. But using Agile (not method, the practices) will not assure you inmediate results taking into account that is important to define what inmediate meant. Saving Changes...
To respond to an emergency situation an Agile mindset may be a great friend. An Agile practice could get a result and reduce the emergency situation. To solve the full situation might not be the best practice.
Is an emergency a project?
Would iteration be view like a succession of failure before a final positive result? Saving Changes...
Eric IsomOwner| learn.pmguaranteed.comUt, United States
Yes. The first foundational principle of Agile is:
"Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of [value]..."
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Like what Eric said. Depending on what emergency you are trying to resolve with the project. Will having a minimum workable deliverable suffice on the outset or is it an all or nothing situation? And then if the emergency is big enough the usually 'Project' goes out the door, it's a matter of just getting it done. Having ceremonies, meeting, etc. slows down things. My mantra is study, learn and throw the book in the dustbin. Use whatever works. I don't care if Agile is a method, a framework, a mindset or a figment of my imagination, I care about things that will work. Understand your environment, the people you work with and the desired outcome and decide what will get you what you need. If it is putting a banana in each of your ears then do it. Saving Changes...
