Agile development is the leading software creation methodology. It can boost efficiency, speed and creativity. It’s no surprise that in a 2021 McKinsey survey, companies that implemented agile development effectively reported an average 30% gain in efficiency.
However, you have to get it right - and there are many obstacles you need to navigate. In this article, we’ll share nine pitfalls you need to avoid if you want to achieve a smooth, more structured agile transformation.
1 – Reinventing the wheel
While every organisation is different, they don’t need to develop their own agile framework to achieve success. Many people have done the hard work for you, so take an established hybrid methodology and modify it if you need to. Examples include:
- Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) – Optimises value at portfolio, program and team levels
- Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) – The model that Nokia Siemens Network used to scale in the early 2000s
- Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) – DAD draws from Lean, Kanban and other methodologies to deliver a comprehensive but non-prescriptive framework
2 – Resistance to change
No one likes change. Many companies experience individual pushback when trying to scale agile development. They may even celebrate when things go wrong.
Communication is the key to bringing everyone with you on your agile development journey. Start early, explaining why you’re doing it and the benefits it will bring to each individual. Use agile champions to advocate for your agile transformation.
3 – Not managing your stakeholders
As well as individual team members whose roles may change with agile development, you must bring the rest of the organisation on board. Change can cause tension at organisational level, which can derail your plans.
Best practice is to start with a pilot agile development project which demonstrates tangible results (but won’t put your company in jeopardy if it goes wrong). Set realistic expectations while educating stakeholders on the new processes. Then, when it succeeds, celebrate.
4 – Not incorporating ALM
Agile development relies on structured Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) to manage software from design to deployment. Many companies start agile development without implementing ALM correctly. It can lead to problems including lost changes, poor version control and low productivity. Basically, it’s chaos.
Make sure your ALM is up and running before scaling agile development, ensuring traceability, integration and governance.
5 – Going too large
Agile works best where teams work in small, independent units (3-8 members). Many organisations make the mistake of assembling large, monolithic teams, leading to bottlenecks and a lack of focus.
Use small teams in your agile development, but keep it structured, clearly defining each team’s role so teams move in the same direction and don’t create extra work for each other.
6 – High-level misalignment
Agile is all about adaptability, but you need a high-level structure to keep everyone on the same page. This takes a great deal of planning at the start of the process.
Your chosen framework (see Pitfall 1) should point you in the right direction, so you can avoid conflicting requirements, speed up integration and minimise mistakes. Give your teams the space to manage their own work, but under this high-level guidance.
7 – Teams creating their own processes
Agile teams operate independently, but collaboration suffers when every team follows different processes. Small amounts of variation are necessary and acceptable, but try to keep as much commonality in your processes as possible.
Manage process variations proactively, ensure consistency across your teams and communicate changes clearly to avoid unnecessary complexity.
8 – Failure to integrate customer feedback
Where the agile methodology differs from the Waterfall framework is that it emphasises continuous customer feedback throughout the project. Without this constant feedback loop, the feedback usually comes too late to make a difference.
It’s the project sponsor’s responsibility to ensure that teams have knowledgeable, engaged and available customer representatives to help guide the project. Work with the sponsor to ensure they have this resource.
9 – Scope creep
Agile is great for teams starting projects without knowing exactly what the result is going to be. However, it can mean you never converge on a final answer because your requirements keep evolving. This happens a lot in new technology or market spaces.
During the project, keep a focus on your priorities. Use market research to ensure your goals align with customer needs.
Time to get started
Avoiding these pitfalls will help you scale agile effectively, raise productivity and improve customer outcomes. The key is to trust your teams to work independently, but at the same time, maintain a structure that keeps everyone moving in the same direction. It’s not easy, but the rewards make it worthwhile.