Notice that I asked if YOU are agile…not your organization, because I think that’s where it starts. Let me explain my thinking…
You may have brushed up against this term in relationship to athletic ability…or probably even more recently in your career. Agile can potentially apply to a lot of different things…and has more recently been applied especially to software development.
I found a quick rating system on agility for organizations, where you choose a rating from 1 to 5 on the following dimensions:
- Team Communication…where 1 is minimal written communication, and knowledge is seen as power, and 5 is open, trusting, and with lots of face-to-face
- User Accessibility…where 1 is limited accessibility and mostly off-site, and 5 is constant accessibility and on-site
Team Location…where 1 is a highly distributed team, and 5 is a co-located team - Team Structure…where 1 is a departmental, top down structure with large teams, and 5 is cross-functional, self-organizing small teams
- Delivery Frequency…where 1 is infrequent (3+ months) deliverables, and 5 is frequent (1-2 weeks) deliverables
Measurement of Progress…where 1 is characterized by phases, tasks, and documents, and 5 is oriented to features, business value, and at least partially functioning product - Ability to Change Direction…where 1 is low ability (or complete prevention) to change direction, and 5 is high ability to change direction, and where that ability is embraced by all
- Testing…where 1 is manual testing done after the work is completed, and 5 is testing in an integrated fashion, incorporating automation if possible, and where testing “drives” the work
- Planning approach…where 1 is up-front, detailed, and activity-based planning, and 5 is just enough planning to take the next step, adapt the plan, and then apply it again
- Process Philosophy…where 1 is static and audited and done with a “my way” attitude, and 5 is dynamic, characterized by an analyze/adapt/improve approach
When I first thought about this list, I thought of some organization with which I am or have been associated with…and which say that they want to be agile. Indeed, they score VERY low in many or most of those metrics above!
So what does it really require to “be agile”?
I think “it starts at home”! That means that we as individuals need to become agile, taking on an attitude more aligned with the 5′s for the areas above. And we can bring that attitude to our teams and organizations and show them how it can be done…and provide leadership in helping them to become more agile.
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John Reiling’s site, Project Management Training Online, provides PMP and CAPM certification prep training online, and plus online certification training in Business Analysis and other skill areas – all for PDUs. Check out Project Management Training Online to learn more!
