SCRUM - Agile Project Management
I would like to redirect you to a blog post by Jeremy Thomas on SCRUM.
Unlike the traditional waterfall model in project management (where milestones, scopes are set), SCRUM offers a collaborative methodology for the software teams to adapt and manage changes in a AGILE way. With clients getting more demanding each day, this can have a huge impact on requirements and scopes (and ultimately, the lives of those good people hacking away to get the product/solution done). The BEST thing is, this can be changing on a daily basis.
The traditional model of most consulting or SI firms in managing changes are through the submission of “Change Requests”, where Impact Assessments are normally done in order to envisage the Order of Magnitude (or cost, for non-consulting folks) for the CRs. Upon approval, the standard SDLC kicks off. The problem with this model: Agility is severely lacking.
With clients getting ever more demanding, and the market becoming more competitive, the winners are those who can most satisfy the clients. The fall apart comes in, as Jeremy pointed out in his slides, when the communication between the top and bottom of the food chain breaks in managing change. (Developers Vs Project Managers Vs Business Analysts)
Survival of the Fittest no longer holds in such environment, but rather “Survival of the Most Adaptive”. Managing change is imperative, and most importantly, must be done in a Agile way.
A few good outcomes from adapting such methodology:-
- Better product, as the functionality are more closely aligned with the demands. No point slaving on a product that has agreed requirements, but no one uses.
- More client satisfaction. Clients love consultants who listen.
- A collaborative approach means a closer team, and that means improved productivity, and overall satisfaction for the team.
One of the big problems in normal waterfall is that it treats change as an exception process. When has change ever been an exception? With Scrum, change is expected!