Characteristics of an organization for easier Agile adoption

“Embrace the change” is the buzzword everyone is shouting at the top of their voice in every conference and seminars. ‘Follow the Agile process to succeed in your value delivery’ is also very much prevalent across discussions. Once the top management finalizes Agile transition, the entire approach changes dramatically. Hence, not all organizations respond to this change positively. In such scenarios, it will be better to stick to the traditional waterfall model or opt for a customized hybrid model.

Below are some of the desired characteristics of a company for a smoother Agile transition:

Urgency to deliver:Agile is best suited for teams and customers who know their priorities according to market dynamics. When all the features are of same priority, Agile will not be very effective. But when features have to be prioritized according to maximizing value for the customers, with an eye on the criticality and time constraint, Agile is best suited to deliver the highest value.

Volatile Requirements:Unlike waterfall model, wherein requirements are locked before design and development begins, Agile is all about expecting changes and embracing it. This thought process is very practical in nature because market dynamics and competition force your customers to be light footed and nimble. Also, there might be internal conflicts among different stakeholders about which feature should be given higher priority, which can also lead to change in requirements.

Customer Availability: Customers don’t have to be available at all the times, but there are several instances wherein their presence is mandatory. Customers have to provide inputs at the right instances; else the entire effort becomes futile. Also, once customers involve themselves more and more with the projects, they will start to appreciate the effort that is being put in by the delivery team, and they will become more supportive and considerate.

Consistent resources:In traditional method, functionality silos exist. But in Agile, “one team” culture is followed. The primary reason is that Agile teams have a learning curve, and they eventually get better with experience and time. Also, frequently changing resources in an Agile project will mean more effort from the new resource to understand the processes. So, highly motivated individuals are preferred who want to be part of the Agile transition, and as much as practically possible, teams should not be tinkered with.

So, in case an organization scores high in the above mentioned characteristics, it can be assumed that transition to Agile process will be smooth, rewarding and satisfying.