Transitioning to Agile

• Is it best to run a pilot project first?

  Perhaps, but not necessarily. Pilot projects are commonly done for two reasons: To see if something will work or to learn how to make it work. By now, enough other companies—very likely including some of your competitors—are using agile approaches like Scrum that there is no longer any question of if it works. The real question most organizations face is how to make agile or Scrum work for them. One or more pilot projects can be very helpful in providing those answers.

• Should we convert all at once?

  Most organizations still begin with a handful of teams and spread their Scrum or agile development process across the organization. But, all-in transitions are becoming more common. One company to successfully transition all at once is Mountain Goat Software client Salesforce.com. And for them it worked. During their first year of using Scrum, Salesforce.com reports releasing 94% more features, delivering 38% more features per developer, and providing over 500% more value to its customers compared to the previous year.

• How quickly can we become agile?

  You’ll see benefits certainly within the first year and most likely within the first three to six months. Keep in mind that many organizations go through a period of turmoil during the first one to three months as some people resist the change and others face legitimate hurdles in overcoming years of ingrained behavior.

  Remember, though, that agile is not something you work at and then suddenly become. As you approach what you think of today as agile, you’ll realize there’s always further to go.

• How do I get started?

  The approach we advocate is to iterate toward agility. Create an improvement backlog of all the things your organization could do better or could do in a more agile manner. Invite others to join this effort, particularly those with a passion for improving the development process or with agile experience either in your company or with a prior employer.

  If your improvement backlog is long, consider grouping the items to create multiple improvement backlogs. Publicize the change effort to company employees and seek volunteers to work as a community toward making these improvements. As these improvement communities form, let each own one of the subdivided improvement backlogs.

  If the transition effort warrants it, establish an Enterprise Transition Community that provides energy, support, resources, guidance and occasional direction to the improvement communities who are doing the real work of driving the agile transition across the company.

  This is the transition management approach described in Mike Cohn’s book, Succeeding with Agile and its corresponding course. We have used this approach successfully with dozens of clients and would love to share it with you. Contact Mike at 1-888-61-Agile (24453) or mike@mountaingoatsoftware.com if you’d would assistance with your transition.