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Need help applying agile to non-software development projects

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Anonymous
My organization does not have developers so most of our projects involve engaging 3rd party vendors to implement new software. I am looking for case studies where agile pm methodology has worked for non-software development projects. Trying to determine how best to decompose work (when so much depends on the 3rd party) and still deliver results iteratively.
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
If the majority of the work is being done by a third-party, you are acting as the customer and the decomposition of the project scope and definition of the solution would usually fall on the third-party with close collaboration from your side. As such, it is important to contract with a third-party who has a verifiable track record of successful adaptive delivery within the domain you are looking at.

Also remember that when you are not building something from scratch but rather implementing an existing solution and then configuring, customizing and integrating it, the nature of increments will need to change.

For example, the first increment might be a "plain vanilla" implementation of the software for a small group of users, with subsequent increments adding configuration, customization or integration capabilities.

Kiron
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1 reply by Sherryann Byer-Modeste
Mar 29, 2023 9:50 PM
Sherryann Byer-Modeste
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Thank you for your response Kiron. Your last paragraph expresses the approach I had in my head :) as I know some of these projects lend themselves well to agile. The problem is that I am grounded in waterfall and a little uncomfortable with agile. For example, one project in my pipeline is a rollout of MS Teams throughout the organization. It is a small organization of 150 people but still quite a bit of people no less. Would a WBS even apply in this case? Can anyone recommend a sample WBS for this type of project? Thanks in advance for any guidance offered.
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Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
We incorporate Agile and Hybrid approaches on our construction projects and it works well for us.
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Abolfazl Yousefi Darestani Manager, Quality and Continuous Improvement| Hörmann-TNR Industrial Doors Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
I agree with Kiron.
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Sherryann Byer-Modeste Fl, United States
Mar 29, 2023 8:04 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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If the majority of the work is being done by a third-party, you are acting as the customer and the decomposition of the project scope and definition of the solution would usually fall on the third-party with close collaboration from your side. As such, it is important to contract with a third-party who has a verifiable track record of successful adaptive delivery within the domain you are looking at.

Also remember that when you are not building something from scratch but rather implementing an existing solution and then configuring, customizing and integrating it, the nature of increments will need to change.

For example, the first increment might be a "plain vanilla" implementation of the software for a small group of users, with subsequent increments adding configuration, customization or integration capabilities.

Kiron
Thank you for your response Kiron. Your last paragraph expresses the approach I had in my head :) as I know some of these projects lend themselves well to agile. The problem is that I am grounded in waterfall and a little uncomfortable with agile. For example, one project in my pipeline is a rollout of MS Teams throughout the organization. It is a small organization of 150 people but still quite a bit of people no less. Would a WBS even apply in this case? Can anyone recommend a sample WBS for this type of project? Thanks in advance for any guidance offered.
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Sherryann -

Teams should always decide on which tools they feel will fit their context the best. If a WBS is appropriate to decompose the scope of work, use it. This is why most projects are delivered using hybrid methods combining adaptive and predictive techniques.

For your project specifically, it really depends on the degree of requirements clarity. Even after developing a WBS, an adaptive approach could be utilized to incrementally deliver value to the company - you could go user community by user community OR feature by feature.

Kiron
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Latha Thamma reddi Sr Product and Portfolio Management (Automation Innovation)| DXC Technology Mckinney, Tx, United States
I agree with Kiron

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