Agile Implementation: Support from the top

Agile methodologies are gaining increasing importance and acceptance as an excellent way to create software. More organizations are moving from Waterfall to Scrum, Kanban or XP with each passing day. However, as much as we hear about the success stories of organizations that have embraced the Agile methodology, we are also hearing horror stories about botched implementations and problems faced by organizations that have attempted to go Agile.

I believe that when an organization makes the transition from Waterfall to Agile, you would need buy in from the people that are directly involved: the developers, the product managers and project managers. They have to be trained, mentored and completely bought in.

However, what I believe is more important to the success of the Agile implementation is the support from the senior management. They need to be completely bought in and have to understand the principles as well. They would need to support the teams making the transformation and not have conflicting demands which could take them back towards Waterfall. A change from the earlier “Command and Control” mode of operation to a “Team empowerment” mode. A change in the ways of planning, execution and reporting.

See this article on How senior management misconceptions could lead to a failed Agile implementation. Stay clear of these and that would be a good starting point.

By Sampath Prahalad, Snr Project Manager at One Dot.