By Bachan Anand
Has someone in your organization taken time to explain to you why you should embrace Agile? Ask yourself, why would "I" as a CIO/ Business Stakeholder / Developer/QA/BA implement Agile? Teamwork is very key in any organization; however, at the end of the day, we are all individuals, and it is very important for each person to understand how Agile practices add value to their work, to their goals, and to their life at large. The good news is you will discover it once you get started with Agile as the changes are organic and ingrained into the values Agile holds. This article will be beneficial for people who have yet to take the leap and are testing the waters, and also for people who have done it all and are continuing to learn, as they can add value by sharing their experiences.
So why go Agile? No matter who you are or your role within an organization, going Agile means different things and yields different value.
CEOs –less wasted work by your organization and improves value for your investors.
CIOs – sets a compelling vision for your team, makes your stakeholder meetings easier, and improves communication with business partners at every level. With Agile you will realize an organization with higher transparency and less political agenda.
Business Users – will make them well aware of work that is in progress, and gives them opportunity to give feedback and get what they want.
Business Stakeholders – promotes transparency for business stakeholders in IT matters, allows them to see results faster, gives them an understanding of why some things take the time they take, and helps them plan better for the future.
IT Senior Leadership – provides a very concise and accurate burndown chart at each release and each iteration level. It also helps senior leadership focus on the forward thinking strategic activities while the team is focused on the short term goals.
Team Leads – puts the focus on Leads to be mentors and share with the team knowledge they have assimilated in their career.
Project Managers – puts focus on the Team to come up with a plan, with a detailed task list and estimates for every iteration, which the Team commits to. Agile sets the stage for project managers to better understand the Team and the technology, and to support the Team by removing impediments.
Architects – Agile principles focus on precision and getting it done right, architects can focus more on strategies which will take the organization to the next level of success, instead of constantly worrying about whether the team will take shortcuts.
Developers – through clear acceptance criteria, test driven development and feedback from testers during the development cycle, developers can produce bug-free code and improve their morale.
Testers (QA) – sets the stage for testers to work closely with the Team and ensure the quality of what the Team has committed to, and not be just defect finders.
Business Analyst – helps to keep the BAs focused on asking powerful business questions, and encourages them to partner with the Team to identify the expected behavior of the system through user stories and acceptance criteria.
Organizations – Imagine the growth that you can expect when the whole organization has the opportunity to constantly review and take corrective action instead of waiting for the project end phase or the yearly performance review.
Families – will improve quality of life as you will see less burn out and long hours as wasted work is reduced and deadlines are met.
Everyone – Agile is something for everyone. These are principles you can incorporate in every area of your life. It encourages collaboration at home, at schools, and church, empowering the next generation, creating a vision for yourself, and setting goals for shorter duration.
The world – think about some of the challenges that we have in our world and how collaboration, empowerment, transparency and constant retrospective can bring about changes in our political system, governments, schools, and religious organizations.
I want to end this article with a quote by Martin Luther King Jr.,–"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step."
Take some action and you will discover the benefits Agile provides you. Let's do it, Let's go AGILE!!
