Over the last few years or more, agile development has justifiably taken over the software industry quickly. Agile development has many benefits to offer from typical to specific software development projects. The framework has registered numerous success stories. Professionals and teams opting the agile techniques have accounted a considerable rise in the quality and productivity of their projects, even more so in a consistent manner.
As the agile movement has a plethora of benefits and opportunities in store, on the downside, it has also minimized the role and impact, of project management in particular.
We can see any agile project team resource arguing that they don’t require the typical project plans, rather only inquire the next couple of sprints. Furthermore, that costing and estimations are irrelevant, even more of an obstacle in their performance of running the project.
This is why it is important to talk about the common misconceptions that run in the market regarding agile project management.
Agile projects doesn’t require any plan
Apparently, this is the foremost things you need to understand, no project can be started without appropriate planning. While the case with agile projects is no different. We see many projects fail due to excessive planning, while agile projects too fail due to inadequate planning. Let’s bind the fact with our brain, agile project managers essentially require a strong, relevant plan if they are to showcase a well-thought output.
By planning, we don’t mean to say that start creating huge spreadsheets with various tasks, start and finish dates, task-level estimates, Gantt charts, statuses, baselines, etc. contained. Interestingly, agile project planning demands less upfront planning, such as, initiating with an approximate solution design, plans and estimates. Let’s not forget that none of these have been polished enough to promise the plan like developed in an old-school, huge spreadsheet.
Depending on whether you are working on a medium-scale or a large corporate level project, the project will be required to undergo initial scrutiny. Once an agile project is in running, planning occurs in a continuous and built-in manner. Different aspects of the project are regularly updated by the duration of many scrums and sprints constituting the project.
It is good if you are employed at a firm that doesn’t monitor project costs, cost vs. benefits debates, or doesn’t promise any dates to its stakeholders. On the other hand, if you aren’t employed at such a firm, then you need a plan, even if you work at a small business. This is especially applicable if you are employed at a startup that is striving to launch a strong offering in the market and elevate their business.
Agreeably, many teams, companies, and professionals tend to hide their planning strategy beneath various pseudonyms, but all the successful and thriving entities have one thing in mutual, they plan as demanded.
Agile projects never require upfront sizing
How does a manager know that a project is good to go? Do remember that one of the most critical aspects of project initiation is the estimation. However, let’s not fall under the impression that it is a vain exercise at precisely estimating a task upfront.
Deciding whether the project is ready to proceed through the initial scrutiny, it is important you estimate, or “approximately” estimate, the cost the project is going to incur from both ends. When it comes to cost, the project manager is required to locate all the systems, teams, infrastructure, and assistance relevant to accomplish the project completion goal.
A “level zero” estimation like this is indispensable in assisting for the project approval, and during the delivery phase, it will help you keep close tabs on the project expenses. Furthermore, the estimation helps the project manager understand and acknowledge whether the project will be able to exhibit ample value and justify its cost or not.
Author Bio
Arthur Gomes is an experienced Agile Project Management Specialist and had the opportunity to handle several critical corporate-level projects throughout his career. Besides his core job and technical expertise, Arthur also operates a well-run custom essay help service with a number of college and university level disciplines coming under his academic brilliance.