What Does Agile Do?

“Doing” agile without fully comprehending the reasoning and ethos behind the methodology on an intellectual, emotional, and cultural level entails adhering to all the processes and guidelines without internalizing them.

Once an organization embraces agile software development methodology, it can quickly start to exhibit signs of “doing agile.” The act of doing agile typically appears as follows:

• The enterprise has adopted an iterative approach, developing projects in incremental steps.
• The enterprise may utilize the Kanban board or Scrum framework to manage this iterative approach effectively.
• The team structure is non-hierarchical.
• Workloads are divided into themes, epics, user stories, and tasks.
• Agile estimation techniques, such as Gantt charts, are used to estimate and plan tasks.
• Teams conduct regular stand-up meetings for a set period, sharing their progress and potential impediments.
• Retrospectives are conducted to continuously identify areas for improvement.

To sum up, “doing agile” can resemble an ostentatious ceremony where everyone adheres to a dress code without understanding the underlying purpose behind it. It can also give the impression that all tasks are being executed flawlessly, yet there is a palpable feeling that something essential is absent, and no one can identify precisely what it is.

Challenges of Only Doing Agile

If teams are merely “doing” agile without fully embracing its principles, an enterprise may encounter obstacles during the project development phase. These difficulties might manifest in the following ways:

• Regular stand-up meetings become a mechanical routine of reporting status when done without understanding their purpose and spirit, defeating the purpose of agile transformation.
• Retrospectives are used to make lists of problems instead of arriving at solutions together with a sense of ownership.
• Team members have less confidence when they don’t fully understand the processes, leading to less satisfaction for customers, the ultimate goal of agile methodology.
• Overemphasis on processes and tools can create fear in team members, hindering their ability to express themselves and take the lead.
• Teams caught up in processes and tools often lack mental space to experiment, innovate, and think creatively, leading to a lack of passionate involvement with the product.
• Even with collaborative infrastructure in place, teams in “doing” mode can hardly collaborate effectively.

We can draw an analogy between “doing” agile and performing a ceremony, such as a marriage or religious ceremony, where actions are taken without understanding their meaning, significance, spirit, and purpose. While it may look good on the surface with music, fancy clothes, and good food, it may not yield the desired results. Similarly, merely “doing” agile may appear glamorous on the surface, but it does not help enterprises achieve the desired business value and technological excellence.

What is Being Agile?

To “be” agile means to practice all of these processes with deep awareness, understanding, and knowledge of agile principles and values. It requires living and breathing agile for any enterprise undergoing agile transformation.

It’s important to understand that being familiar with or practicing agile principles and values isn’t about simply memorizing them. Rather, it’s about internalizing the fundamental principles and values of agile and developing a mindset that naturally thinks, feels, and acts in an agile manner.

To adopt agility as an enterprise, it’s essential to create a customized manifesto based on agile principles and values. As for individuals within the organization, being agile entails not only comprehending the core principles and values of agile but also familiarizing oneself with the enterprise’s tailored manifesto, which is created specifically for the enterprise, by the enterprise, and aligns with its objectives.

In an era where novel phrases such as “modern agile” and “heart of agile” are becoming more prevalent, embodying agility may involve the following:

• During a regular stand-up, when an impediment is mentioned, a member or a group of members step forward to solve it instead of just discussing it.
• Teams work iteratively and incrementally, constantly receiving feedback from customers and being open to it.
• Teams prioritize creating a minimum viable product of value over spending excessive time on planning.
• Leaders support the individual and professional growth of team members.
• Leaders provide strategic direction and guidance instead of direct interference in project development.
• A safe, valued, and respectful environment encourages people to express themselves confidently.
• A supportive, empowering, and collaborative atmosphere leads to great products, higher customer satisfaction, and greater business value.
• Teams move away from operating independently and instead transform into cross-functional units, assuming a shared sense of responsibility and ownership.

To build on the previous comparison, “being” agile is akin to conducting a ceremony with complete comprehension of its significance, purpose, spirit, meaning, and intended outcome. It’s a more favorable position for agile practitioners to be in, and it can also be referred to as “walking the talk,” meaning that one precisely does what one says and mean.

Challenges of Only Being Agile

The challenges of solely espousing agility involve talking the talk without walking the walk. This means that while one may possess an in-depth understanding of agile values, principles, and procedures, one may lack the drive to apply or embody them.

For instance, an enterprise may have a leadership team that possesses extensive knowledge of agile techniques, principles, and values, but they may not possess the necessary skills to train their staff. In such cases, “being” agile may prove to be a charade, where everything exists only in the mind and heart, and nothing is put into practice.

Doing Agile vs Being Agile in 2023

In 2023, the primary obstacle to agile implementation is striking a balance between doing and being agile. As we’ve observed, achieving the desired agile transformation is not solely a matter of doing or being, and neither is sufficient in itself to accomplish the enterprise’s aspirations.

So, what approach can be taken to bridge the gap between doing and being agile? How can we tackle the issue of doing agile versus being agile in 2023?

What Can We Do to Close the Gap Between Doing and Being?

A well-known Zen koan states that “a coin lost in the river is found in the river.” By utilizing this insightful wisdom to confront the difficulties of doing agile versus being agile in 2023, an enterprise can leverage the 12 principles of the agile manifesto to create a customized master manifesto that aligns with its culture and inclinations.

While each enterprise’s master manifesto may vary, a typically customized manifesto that could help bridge the divide between doing and being may resemble the following:

• Encouraging teams to become more “effective” by reflecting upon past performance and improving internal processes and communication, in accordance with the 12th principle of the Agile Manifesto.
• Recognizing that success requires a willingness to change, innovate, and learn in response to project needs.
• Establishing continuous feedback loops that enable teams to quickly change direction as required by the project.
• Developing safe and sustainable approaches to accommodate and manage changes that naturally arise during the software development cycle.
• Incorporating cultural change into the workstream as part of the agile transformation process.

These are a few methods that businesses can use to close the gap between doing and being. Only when the senior leadership is fully aware of what it means to do agile and what it means to be agile in 2023 can the debate between doing agile and being agile be resolved effectively.

Conclusion

Agile methodology has been adopted by organizations worldwide as a way to improve their software development processes and increase their responsiveness to changing requirements. As we look ahead to 2023, it’s clear that Agile is here to stay, but the focus is shifting from simply doing Agile to being Agile.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com

Have you been contemplating the idea of obtaining an Agile certification?

The list of certifying organizations may seem overwhelming. Therefore, it is important to reflect on the essential elements that make up a reliable certification program and how it aligns with your aspirations and objectives. While the focus here is on Agile Certifications, these considerations apply to most professional and occupational certifications. The Institute for Credentialing Excellence could serve as a valuable resource to initiate your research. They have outlined some of their crucial standards below.

Evaluation criteria for certification organizations

• What’s the focus of the program? Does it offer an impartial evaluation of your expertise or abilities that are necessary for proficient execution?
• Specify the content of the program: Does it correspond to the current industry or professional norms and standards?
• Training requirements and prerequisites: Does the program deliver the intended learning results and outline the necessary prerequisites for the course?
• Assessment: In what format is the evaluation conducted: formal tests, instructor evaluations, or demonstrations of competence?
• Credential maintenance: Does the credential have a time requirement? What is required to sustain it: payment of fees, completion of supplementary courses, or engagement in professional activities such as attending conferences?
• Identification and student tracking: Is it possible for a prospective employer to authenticate your certification completion?

What are your evaluation criteria?

Which certifications offer the most significant return on investment in the job market? As a working professional, your personal capital is your most valuable asset. Therefore, it is crucial to factor in your available resources and spare time. Below are some aspects to ponder:

• Reflect on the benefits of adhering to a single certifying organization. This can reduce maintenance expenses and enable you to delve deeply into one organization rather than spreading yourself thin across multiple organizations.
• What is the expense involved in obtaining and sustaining the certification? Certain certifications can be quite pricey, necessitating attendance in instructor-led classes, payment of annual maintenance fees, or completion of continuing education units.
• Is there an alternative for self-study with solely an examination fee for the certifications?
• Do you fulfill the experience requirements to be eligible for the certification? Certain certifications entail a rigorous assessment procedure that necessitates several years of board-sanctioned professional experience.
• Is your employer willing to cover the cost of your certifications? It is beneficial to have your certifications paid for by your employer.
• Are you capable of self-directed learning, or do you prefer a more structured learning environment? Both approaches have their advantages, as we all have unique learning styles.

Certification organizations

Which type of certification organization suits you best? In this conversation, we will divide them into several categories. Please note that these categories are based on my own observations, and you may notice some similarities and differences. The essential point to remember is to explore all options without disregarding any possibilities.

Non-profit institutions

Non-profit institutions, such as the Scrum Alliance, have a mission to elevate the standards of the Agile community and overall professionalism. Consequently, they are generally less expensive.

These organizations typically provide an array of resources, including various certifications, white papers, training, blogs, and even conferences. There are substantial benefits to joining a community of like-minded individuals. If you plan on obtaining multiple certifications, it is worthwhile to consider remaining within the same certifying organization. Doing so could save you both money and effort.

PROS

• This certification enjoys broad acceptance among both industry and government.
• Affiliates provide training at numerous locations and on various dates.
• Cheaper than other options
• Self-study and examination fee options are usually available

CONS

• Usually has initial membership fees and maintenance fees
• Continuing education unit requirements may also be required
• Check on any restrictive prerequisites for their advanced certification

For-profit institutions

For-profit institutions have different intentions and pricing compared to non-profit organizations. As they are profit-oriented, their prices tend to be higher, and their focus may vary.

For instance, Scruminc specializes only in Scrum, while Kanban University concentrates solely on Lean Kanban. Some organizations provide a proprietary framework, such as SAFe.

Additionally, geography can also be a factor, with some certifications available through international institutions and others specific to the United States.

Just like non-profit organizations, it is important to research your alternatives carefully. Check the availability of training and the breadth of their certification offerings.

PROS

• Specialist credentials might better meet your demands.
• Depending on the certifying body, training could be widely available.
• Options for paying for self-study and exams may be offered.
• For your nation, an international certification would be more appropriate.

CONS

• Perhaps not generally embraced by business and government
• Maybe somewhat expensive in comparison to other choices
• There might not be training offered in your area.
• Restrictive requirements for advanced certification, such as several years of experience, may apply.

Academic or trade schools

You may want to explore the possibility of attending certification programs at local colleges, universities, trade schools, or adult learning centers. This option could offer more convenient locations, schedules, and affordable pricing. It’s worth checking with your human resources department to see if they offer any reimbursement for these programs.

PROS

• Centered on the requirements of your sector
• Provides assistance after graduation in the form of mentoring, career leads, or refresher courses.
• Credentials from recognized institutions are available upon request.

CONS

• Most likely a standalone certification
• Potentially too narrowly focused for your needs
• Due to a lack of instructors, the program may end early or be short-lived.

Vendor certifications

Certain certifications are geared towards particular products, such as Microsoft’s Azure or Atlassian JIRA. These are specialized tools, and if proficiency in a specific tool is advantageous, then it may be worth considering them.

Certain vendor-specific certifications can be very demanding, which may enhance their market value. It’s also worth considering that certification in one tool may not be of much interest if your organization has already committed to its rival.

PROS

• The advantage over competitors that use its products
• Depending on your area of expertise, your clients or business might appreciate you highly.
• Focused skills result in a low learning curve on-site.

CONS

• Offers a small benefit if your store doesn’t utilize that technology.
• These could require more work to obtain than other certificates.
• May only have a few training facilities, sites, or dates available.

Company-specific certifications

It is uncommon to come across an organization that meets the requirements of a certification program. If your employer does meet these standards, it can be considered a certification program. Keep this in mind when evaluating the available training options for your job.

PROS

• Free and on business time is a positive.
• Does it give your business a competitive advantage?
• The learning curve for new projects will be lowered by acquiring focused abilities.

CONS

• It’s possible that people won’t recognize it, especially rivals.
• May be tailored to your business to focus on particular policies or a significantly altered structure.
• The standard of the information and teaching will differ significantly.

Conclusion

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com

As a proponent of Agile, they have usually attempted to promote the methodology and persuade others of its advantages. Nevertheless, they have come to recognize that merely using Agile jargon and catchphrases may not consistently be fruitful in convincing others. To effectively advocate for Agile, it’s crucial to grasp your audience’s perspective, communicate using their terminology, and recommend gradual, incremental adjustments when starting out.

1. Understand your audience

To successfully advocate for Agile, it’s crucial to comprehend the concerns and perspectives of your audience. This requires investing time to comprehend their identities, responsibilities, and primary objectives. By doing so, you can customize your message and demonstrate how Agile can specifically resolve the issues and meet the requirements that are relevant to them.

Responding to these five inquiries can help you customize your communication to align more effectively with your audience and create a more compelling argument for Agile methodologies.

1. Who is the audience? Gaining knowledge about the demographics and job positions of your audience can aid in comprehending their concerns, obstacles, and primary objectives. For instance, if your audience comprises developers, they may be keen on learning about how Agile can enhance their effectiveness and output, whereas if they are managers, they may be more interested in how Agile can augment profits and ROI.
2. What word resonate most with them? Being aware of the vocabulary and phrases that your audience is accustomed to and that resonate most with them can aid in effective communication. For instance, if your audience is well-versed with the term “Agile” and comprehends its significance, you can incorporate it seamlessly into your discussion. Conversely, if your audience is unfamiliar with the term, you may have to use alternative phrasing or descriptions to convey the essence of Agile.
3. What are their goals? Grasping the aims and objectives of your audience can aid in harmonizing your communication with their primary objectives. For instance, if your audience seeks to enhance customer satisfaction, you can clarify how Agile can assist in accomplishing this by emphasizing customer participation and adaptability.
4. What are some real-world examples you can leverage (bonus if it is your own organization)? Incorporating tangible scenarios and analogies can aid in clarifying intricate notions and concepts for your audience. This can enhance the accessibility and comprehensibility of your communication.
5. What do they already know about Agility? Assessing their background knowledge by inquiring about their prior understanding can provide insights into their comprehension level and enable you to customize your communication accordingly. This can establish a shared foundation and facilitate building on their pre-existing knowledge while also covering the most significant information pertinent to their needs.

By comprehending your audience’s perspective, utilizing relevant terminology, and adjusting your message to correspond with their objectives, you can bolster your argument for Agile methodologies and heighten the likelihood of their acceptance within your organization.

2. Speak their language

One of the major obstacles in promoting Agile is that it frequently involves introducing a new lexicon and specialized terminology that can be perplexing and daunting for those who lack prior exposure to it. For instance, when discussing Scrum, a popular Agile framework, phrases like “Scrum Master,” “Product Owner,” and “Sprint” may be employed. Although these terms may be recognizable to Agile experts, they may hold little significance to others and result in misunderstandings or false impressions. Therefore, it’s advisable to use words and phrases that are more commonplace and relatable to your audience.

Below are some usually used business terminology and expressions that you could utilize instead:

• continuous learning and improvement in place of retrospective
• iteration in place of sprint or quarterly planning
• inspect & adapt in place of retrospective
• real-time status or predictability in place of the burndown chart
• capacity planning instead of velocity
• customer-centric instead of product owner
• early-and-often feedback instead of sprint review or user acceptance testing
• quarterly business review instead of portfolio Kanban
• weighted prioritization instead of the weighted shortest job first or cost of delay
• value delivery instead of the product increment
• uncertainty and complexity instead of story points
• the steering committee instead of a Lean-Agile center of excellence
• professional communities or learning networks instead of communities of practice

Using familiar language and terminology can enhance communication and facilitate comprehension of Agile concepts and advantages for your audience. It also indicates that you have empathized with their viewpoint and are utilizing terminology that resonates with them. As a result, you can cultivate trust and reliability, which can enhance the likelihood that your message will be acknowledged and acted upon.

3. Suggest small incremental changes

Having an understanding of the organization’s willingness to change is just as crucial as speaking their language. While some clients may be ready for a complete overhaul, most organizations prefer to start with small changes. This may be due to a preference for proof of concept, change fatigue within the organization, or reluctance to make a full commitment.

Proposing gradual and manageable modifications can facilitate the transition and enable you to create a sense of progress. Commencing with small changes can assist your audience in gradually embracing Agile practices and cultivating an Agile mindset. By exhibiting success with these modest changes, you can inspire others to take notice and become more invested in driving the changes that you are advocating for.

Here are five simple adjustments that you can suggest to your audience to help them embrace Agile principles:

1. Introduce a 15-minute daily team huddle: Regular communication and collaboration among team members are essential practices of Agile. A simple way to facilitate this is by suggesting the implementation of a daily stand-up meeting, commonly known as a Scrum meeting. Such meetings can aid in improving communication, alignment, and collaboration among team members.
2. Prioritize customer feedback: You can motivate your team to actively seek and integrate customer feedback into their work, which can lead to delivering value that meets customer needs and increases their satisfaction.
3. Experiment with an iterative approach: Propose to the team to experiment with a more iterative approach to their work by dividing larger projects into smaller, more manageable pieces and delivering functional software in short sprints. By doing so, teams can promptly adapt to changes and novel concepts, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction.
4. Encourage continuous learning and improvement: Motivate the team members to regularly evaluate their work and discover ways to enhance their processes. This can be achieved through frequent retrospectives or other continuous improvement techniques.
5. Emphasize customer value: Encourage your team to adopt a customer-centric approach by focusing on delivering value that aligns with the needs of the customers or stakeholders. By doing so, team members will have a better understanding of how their work impacts the customer and can prioritize their goals accordingly, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

Winning organizational support for Agile requires an understanding of the audience, their perspective, and the organizational appetite for change. It involves using relatable language and aligning the message with their priorities to build trust and credibility. It’s important to start with small, incremental changes to ease the transition and build momentum, and demonstrate success to help drive the change. Encouraging regular communication, collaboration, customer feedback, iterative approaches, reflection, and customer value can all contribute to Agile adoption. Ultimately, winning organizational support for Agile requires a persistent and collaborative effort to create a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com

Organizations can use cloud solutions tailored to their industry to automate tasks that were previously done manually. This allows them to redirect their attention toward differentiating themselves from competitors.

Cloud and software vendors are currently providing industry-specific solutions that update outdated processes and stimulate innovation. By doing so, organizations are able to allocate their resources toward distinguishing themselves from competitors.

To meet this demand, major cloud companies, software vendors, and system integrators are creating a variety of cloud-based solutions, accelerators, and APIs that are preconfigured to cater to the typical needs of various industries. These solutions are purposely designed to be easy to adopt and can be customized to form a digital edge for organizations.

Regardless of the specific combination of applications, tools, or services that users choose from these offerings, the cloud serves as the foundation that binds them to robust business process solutions. As an illustration, a leading automobile manufacturer has collaborated with cloud vendors to create cloud-based connected car application development services for the transportation sector. The platform incorporates industry-specific solutions as well as IoT, machine learning, analytics, and compute services that manufacturers can utilize to create connectivity frameworks for their vehicles.

Initially, the healthcare industry utilized cloud processes for handling administrative data. Compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) played a pivotal role in the next stage of the healthcare sector’s cloud adoption journey, as healthcare organizations started to store patient data in the cloud. Currently, innovative healthcare providers are investigating how they can utilize HIPAA-compliant cloud models to enhance medical treatments.

Within the next 18 to 24 months, we anticipate an increasing number of organizations across various industries will start to investigate how industry-specific clouds can assist them in meeting specific vertical requirements. In fact, according to Deloitte’s analysis, we estimate that the industry cloud market could be worth up to US$640 billion in the next five years.

Undoubtedly, the trend of adopting vertical-specific cloud solutions is rapidly gaining traction, and therefore, it is advisable to start examining the potential benefits it can offer to your organization. One way to begin is by assessing your business process ecosystem to identify which processes you would be open to sourcing from external vendors, and the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.

As an important aspect of this evaluation, endeavor to evaluate the extent to which your existing processes align with your short- and long-term business strategies, and identify areas that require enhancements. Furthermore, bear in mind that the expanding list of cloud-based capabilities could trigger innovative business models and unconventional possibilities.

Lastly, the trend of adopting industry-specific cloud solutions offers a much-needed chance to reorganize IT. As organizations commence to outsource IT functions and business processes that do not provide any competitive edge, they can reallocate their focus and resources towards developing “distinguishing” systems and services that do so. This will allow them to simultaneously establish an enduring capacity to adapt to change.

This evaluation doesn’t have to be an extensive, two-year undertaking. Instead, it can be carried out in smaller, manageable stages that enhance efficiency and efficacy in most processes along the way. Concurrently, you can begin redirecting your workforce and resources toward the unique processes that provide a competitive edge.

From infrastructure to industry verticals

The Cloud goes vertical trend is not a new concept, with organizations adopting cloud-based software for similar compliance, data management, and business process needs in the 2000s. However, what’s new is the availability of actual industry-specific processes and the expectation for cloud vendors to offer “common core” solutions that address shared needs across industries. Cloud and software vendors now provide a vast array of modular, industry-specific processes accessible through APIs, enabling engineers and system architects to connect targeted systems in a shared cloud network easily. This represents a significant advance from compliance-based offerings of the past.

Given this context, we can expect this trend to manifest in the following ways:

Hyperscalers climb the stack

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure offer cloud-based industry-specific enclaves that automate business processes unique to sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and media. They provide infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platforms-as-a-service (PaaS), along with hyper-scaler-developed products and services that automate higher-order processes. Organizations can also access a growing ecosystem of sector-specific business capabilities from established vendors like Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, and ServiceNow, as well as startups and open-source projects.

Focus on differentiation

Consider your home-grown code before adopting cloud-based industry-specific solutions. Your customized code provides a competitive advantage and meets your unique needs. Assess your existing capability and determine if it’s better than what’s available off the shelf. If it’s special and sets you apart from competitors, keep it. If not, consider using an industry API. Determine where your company wins in the marketplace and which technologies make those wins possible. Invest in in-house analytic capabilities that deliver competitive differentiation and guard them jealously. Everything that doesn’t separate you in the market becomes commodities and can be provisioned as business services from cloud or software providers.

Consider implementing the following steps as you explore the potential benefits of the Cloud goes vertical trend, some of which may be overdue:

1. Collaboration between business and IT leaders is crucial in identifying where the company currently excels and where it can win in the future. This requires a mutual understanding where the business must have a deeper knowledge of technology and IT must comprehend the business strategy and the pivotal role technology plays in driving it. This joint understanding enables both teams to pinpoint the essential technologies that will deliver success.
2. Compile a list of business procedures and the cloud-based tools that aid in their execution.
3. Determine which processes and technologies that provide a competitive advantage should be kept in-house. Additionally, identify areas of your business that could leverage the new set of technology offerings made possible by the cloud.
4. Collaborate with cloud service providers, software vendors, and integrators to strategize for the next stage of your cloud transformation.

Build the capacity for change

Access to best-in-class solutions and experimental tools is important for organizations to connect all the dots in their digital transformation strategies. This requires a willingness to embrace disruption and stay on top of the latest industry cloud offerings. With the constant evolution of tailored clouds for specific industries, cloud technology can provide the agility to change continuously. Adopting industry cloud solutions can be the next leg of your cloud journey, simplifying management and upgrading processes while enhancing scalability and affordability.

Conclusion

The positive aspect is that adopting the Cloud goes vertical trend doesn’t need a major overhaul. Instead, it can be achieved gradually with careful planning, which helps avoid complex legacy app renewals or disruptive core modernization projects. Each step taken towards this trend improves the efficiency and effectiveness of your systems.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com

Develop your practical skills in agile methodologies and adaptability

The Agile Change Agent course offers a hands-on approach to defining, organizing, and overseeing change initiatives for yourself and your team, focusing on acquiring strategies that can be implemented in various projects and change efforts.

The courses are structured around the second edition of the highly acclaimed book “Agile Change Management – a practical framework for effective planning and execution of change”. The program centers on utilizing agile planning methods to establish a roadmap that outlines which outcomes, ranked by their business value, will be accomplished and the timeline for their implementation.

The course comprises five modules, with each subsequent module expanding on the concepts of the previous one, creating a comprehensive lifecycle model that progresses from ideation to implementation and integration of novel methodologies:

1. Concept: These modules amalgamate agile principles with the most effective change management practices.
2. Roadmap: is an uncomplicated yet efficient agile planning method that establishes the timeline for completing work and attaining benefits.
3. Business Need: The course covers a variety of methods for recognizing the benefits of our change effort, which are employed to rank the work in order of importance and encourage ourselves and others to embrace novel methodologies.
4. Relationship Building: Creating a strategy for interacting with others, which involves determining what information to disclose, how to disclose it, and how to provide opportunities for others to enact change.
5. Environment: Strategies for fostering a supportive and motivating environment for individuals who need to adopt new work methodologies, which includes techniques for instilling reassurance and encouragement.

In courses, you’ll have numerous chances to observe, apply, and learn new skills, allowing you to develop proficiency through hands-on practice with customized checklists, questionnaires, and methods that are tailored to your specific circumstances.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com

Enterprises are embracing digital transformation, incorporating emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, and devising novel ways to offer their products and services in a more efficient manner to succeed in the post-pandemic landscape. To achieve their goal of digital acceleration, which is to reduce the lead time to market, many enterprises are adopting Agile approaches for their business, technology, and process-oriented projects. Agile projects typically involve small, agile teams that work in short cycles called “sprints,” lasting usually two weeks, to develop and deploy solutions. The objective is to quickly implement changes in technology and business and to facilitate a faster time-to-market for products and services.

With the adoption of Agile methodologies, enterprises must reconsider their control functions, such as risk management, to keep up with the more frequent release cycles and build the ability to provide prompt advice to risk owners. To address this requirement, an Agile risk management process combines project and enterprise risk management practices with Agile methodologies to establish a flexible, risk-based approach to project delivery. This process enables enterprises to determine which risks can be tolerated in pursuit of digital acceleration while taking into account their risk appetite and tolerance thresholds. The aim is to assist enterprises in making informed decisions by integrating risk management into Agile delivery processes and creating a risk-driven culture.

What is Agile Project Delivery?

Agile project delivery employs a collaborative, iterative approach to project management that prioritizes the prompt and incremental delivery of a solution and emphasizes the business value and progress transparency. Instead of creating rigid schedules and tasks, Agile divides time into sprints, which are defined periods (typically lasting between one to four weeks) during which specific deliverables are planned and executed. These deliverables are determined based on a running list of requirements, which is planned one sprint in advance.

Before commencing the sprint cycle, the product owner solicits input from stakeholders to identify the objective for the solution and prioritizes the product backlog (as shown in Figure 1). During sprint planning, the developers select prioritized features from the product backlog, determine how to accomplish the sprint, establish a deadline for completion, and create a sprint backlog. Throughout the sprint cycle, the team conducts daily scrum meetings to monitor progress toward the sprint goal, discuss obstacles, and plan for the following day. The sprint concludes with a potentially shippable solution that is prepared for customer review and use. The team then conducts a sprint review of the finished solution and a retrospective analysis of the completed sprint cycle, utilizing insights gained to inform the subsequent sprint cycle. This process repeats itself with a sprint planning session to devise the next incremental solution.

Figure 1 – Agile Risk Management Process

In Agile project delivery, the scrum team relies on frequent planning, objective-setting, and feedback loops to concentrate on the sprint’s objectives, ultimately leading to improved productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.

What Is the Role of Risk Management for Agile Projects?

According to the 2020 Standish Group Chaos Study, Agile software projects have a threefold greater likelihood of succeeding than Waterfall, while Waterfall software projects are twice as likely to fail. Nonetheless, it is crucial to recognize that “Agile is not a cure-all.” The necessity for organizational agility has not removed the need to handle uncertainty, which is commonly referred to as risk.

According to ISACA, the risk is defined as “the likelihood and impact of an event,” which encompasses both opportunities for benefit (upside) and obstacles to success (downside). Risk and opportunity are interrelated. To deliver business value to stakeholders, enterprises must undertake numerous activities and initiatives (opportunities) that involve varying degrees of uncertainty and, as a result, risk. In Agile project delivery, it is necessary to examine this risk assessment to determine which risks are worth pursuing and what value can be anticipated in return.

How Is Risk Managed in Agile Projects?

The agile methodology does not provide a universal definition of risk or a standardized approach to risk management. As pointed out by project management expert Roland Wanner, “the Scrum Guide does not explicitly address risk management, except for these brief references.”

• The incremental approach with sprints reduces risk.
• Sprints increase predictability and limit cost risk to a maximum of one month.
• Constant “Artifact Transparency” helps optimize (business) value and reduce risk.”

Despite the lack of explicit guidance on risk management, Agile methodology is described as risk-driven, and its implicit practices lend themselves to an adaptive style of risk management. For example, the flexibility of sprint planning is a response to uncertainty, allowing teams to tackle small portions at a time in order to ultimately deliver the completed solution.

Risk Management Limitations with Agile Project Delivery

While Agile methodology is naturally equipped to handle certain risks that arise during the sprint cycle, it is not the only type of risk that may occur throughout a project’s duration. In larger organizations, there may be additional risks related to the external, organizational, and project environments, such as corporate reputation, project financing, user acceptance of business changes, and regulatory compliance. Most Agile literature focuses on risks at the sprint level and does not address the management of this type of project risk.

A recent solution to address this challenge is to implement an Agile risk management process that customizes Agile methodologies to integrate project and enterprise risk management practices according to the specific risk context of the project, such as its size, complexity, and strategic significance.

What is Agile Risk Management?

The Agile risk management process, as illustrated in Figure 2, is a flexible and recurring cycle that is implemented per sprint, allowing for customization during the “setting context” stage to determine suitable project and enterprise risk management strategies to handle risk factors at the project level (e.g., project financing) and sprint level (e.g., meeting deadlines).

Figure 2 – Agile Risk Management Process

Although the two levels, project, and sprint, may appear distinct, they function cooperatively during project execution. The scrum framework implements its practices, such as roles, events, and artifacts, to identify and alleviate risk throughout the project and sprint cycles. The Agile risk management process endorses these practices by tailoring them to the risk context, thus supporting the scrum framework.

1. Setting Context Step

To establish the risk context, the project team discusses risk during the project kickoff and at the start of each sprint. At the outset of the project, stakeholders, including the project team, customers, and subject matter experts, come together in a workshop setting to identify risks associated with the overall project and known requirements. These risks are evaluated by the stakeholders, who then decide on a course of action. To illustrate, the sprint cycle typically begins by addressing requirements with the highest level of risk, following the adage “Fail early; fail fast; fail cheaply.” A risk register is established for both project and sprint risks and is continuously updated throughout the project at various points in the sprint cycles.

2. Risk Assessment Steps – Identify, Analyze, and Determine

During the sprint planning meeting at the start of the cycle, the project team evaluates the risk associated with each requirement in the product backlog, as well as any new risk that may have arisen, and devises appropriate response plans. This process allows the team to identify potential risks and take planned actions, such as pinpointing features from the sprint planning session that present technical challenges without any clear solutions. The team may also opt to perform an architectural spike, or proof-of-concept, during the sprint in order to explore viable solutions.

3. Implementing Risk Response

When selecting items for the sprint backlog, the team takes into account the risks associated with each item, ensuring that the sprint can be delivered successfully while incorporating risk response tasks. One important outcome of this process is the updating of the product backlog to include risk activities related to product feature requirements. This ensures that future sprint cycles will include these risk tasks in their effort estimation and sprint backlog items.

4.  Monitoring Risk

There exist various scrum events and artifacts that aid in monitoring risks, such as:

• Risk management is integrated into the daily stand-up scrum meeting, where the team discusses the progress of deliverables and identifies any potential risks that may arise.
• The sprint review serves as a platform to confirm whether the solution aligns with stakeholder expectations. During this event, stakeholders can discuss any required solution modifications to address new business needs, which helps minimize the risk of delivering an unsatisfactory solution at the end of the project.
• During sprint retrospectives, the project team examines any challenges encountered in the previous sprint and evaluates whether those challenges could pose a risk to the project and sprint levels.

To ensure successful Agile risk management, it is important to have a shared understanding of its significance and a collective dedication to the approach within the project team. Agile adopts a collaborative decision-making structure that necessitates active participation and the exchange of information among all team members regarding the association between solution requirements, risks, and opportunities. Risk ownership serves as the fundamental principle for Agile risk management.

Rethinking Control Functions

As organizations embrace Agile methodologies to realize their strategic goals through digital acceleration, they must re-evaluate their control functions, including risk management, to keep up with the frequent release cycles and build capabilities to advise risk owners in near real-time. To address this business need, an Agile risk management process can be employed, which incorporates best practices from project management and enterprise risk management with Agile methodologies to meet the demands for organizational agility.

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