Can Agile help your business?

One of the biggest business buzzwords of the past decade has been “Agile”. What began as a software development methodology has now morphed into a general business approach, being used in any and all business types.

But just what is Agile? How does it work? And can it help your business? That’s the topic of today’s article.

We’ll start with a history of Agile, then move into ways you can use it in your business.

The way it used to be

In the 1980s, when the computer age was still in its infancy, it typically took years to develop new software. By the time the software was ready, it was often already out of date—the business it was originally designed for had progressed, changing the way it did things, and therefore what they needed in a software program had also changed. That meant more tweaks, more time, and more money.

The standard approach at the time was to create software in discrete steps, each one expected to be completed before the subsequent one started. Typically, those steps looked something like the following.

The main idea with this approach is that the product is designed in its entirety at the very beginning of the project, and that design forms a strict basis for what happens in each of the following steps.

But there was a big problem with this approach—various problems and needs were often not recognized or imagined until they showed up in the development stage, or near the end of the project during testing. So that meant going back and tweaking things, or finding a way to work with the problem by adding a new fix or patch on top of the software.

By the time the final product got to the customer, they too might have some things they found didn’t work right, and so the software was sent back for more fixing and patching.

Agile is Born

In 2001, a group of American software professionals met to discuss how they could improve the status quo of software development. They analyzed what they felt were the main reasons that projects took so long. What they eventually came up with was what they called the Agile Manifesto—a list of values and principles that they felt underpinned a better way to approach software development.

Why did they call it Agile? Because at the core of their ideas was the idea of flexibility—being able to change during mid-flow of development, as needed, to fix or improve, rather than sticking to a strict written project plan that may have faults that were unforeseen at its initial writing.

The reality is, you just can’t predict everything that might be necessary, or that could go wrong, and account for it at the design stage. You often don’t know all of the needs and pitfalls that may arise until you actually start developing the project.

So the group felt it made more sense to work on the various stages of development more simultaneously, or at least with some overlap. It made sense to be more flexible in every aspect of the project path. Instead of following a plan, they suggested it was better to have the freedom to change the plan, as necessary, on an ongoing basis, without waiting for the end of the development cycle.

So Agile is a continuous process, with the various “stages” occurring simultaneously, rather than one after the other.

The basics of Agile

There are two main business aspects that are affected by Agile: processes and spaces. For processes, Agile workplaces usually do the following.

Work in small parts

Rather than have one team work on the whole project, development is broken down into many smaller parts, with individual teams responsible for those parts. The idea is that one team trying to coordinate the whole project is complicated. By having various sub-teams working on separate parts, work is more focussed. Those sub-teams are experts in the particular aspect of the project they work on, so work (and end product) are more efficient and effective.

Increase employee involvement

Rather than have all the design done by managers, Agile puts the employees more at the centre of the whole process. After all, they were the experts in what they did, and were the ones who were actually going to write the code. Who better to be part of the design and development? Agile proposes not only regular feedback from employees, but actually listening to them and putting their needs first—they know best what they need and how they need it to be done in order for them to get the job done and to perform at top levels.

Release early

Rather than wait until the very end to unveil the project, Agile proposes releasing an early, imperfect version as soon as possible. This allows team members (and clients) to see a working version early on in the development process, and to provide relevant input. This early input allows problems to be detected earlier, and feedback to be incorporated sooner.

Focus on collaboration

Agile puts great emphasis on collaboration. That means frequent (often daily) short meetings to share progress/problems/insights, and to ensure transparency of information. This regular communication means all players can benefit from the information others share as soon as possible, and they can then begin using it immediately to improve whatever part of the project they are working on.

But, in order to enable the processes listed above, the design of the workspace needs to change. Rather than have everyone sitting at their own desk 8 hours a day, frequent use of collaborative workspaces are the norm in Agile. That doesn’t mean no-one has a desk; it does mean that there are various places in the office where collaborative work can take place easily.

Two common examples of Agile workspaces are:

Informal meeting areas. These have a more relaxed feel, with chairs, couches, coffee tables, etc. They are often located in open spaces, in the middle of the work area, rather than in closed rooms.
Consultation/collaboration/breakout rooms. These are closed-door rooms where a few people can meet, in quiet, when they need to, with any equipment in the room that they might need.

The idea is that there are several different types of work spaces available, and employees can choose which is the best to use for individual tasks. Rather than being isolated at a desk, employees frequently meet, discuss, share, and collaborate. But, when they need quiet space, they have that at their disposal as well.

What does an Agile Workplace look like?

Now let’s put it all together and take a look at what a fully Agile workplace might look like.

Flexible schedules

Employees have some freedom to choose their schedules and work locations, including working from home.

Choice of workspaces

There are various types of work areas available, and employees are free to chose which to use, and when. They have quiet places (their own desk, or a quiet room), meeting spaces for informal sharing of information, and private breakout rooms where small groups can meet, discuss, and work on aspects of their projects together.

Collaboration tools

Technology is put in place that makes it easy to share information, updates, and ideas.

Frequent short meetings

There are daily, short touch points to share information and problem solve.

Multiple versions

Projects are released at an early stage and put to use. They are then analyzed/tested and improved upon, leading to various versions, each better and tighter than the previous.

Continuous improvement

Projects are often never considered complete. Rather, new improved versions continue to be developed.

Change on the fly

Agile workplaces expect and allow for continual changes. The frequent touch points allow errors to be caught early and fixed/changed immediately.

Multiple sub-projects

Projects are broken down into various sub-projects or tasks, with a small team with the appropriate expertise assigned to complete each task. This enables various parts of the project to be worked on simultaneously, saving time. It also ensures expertise is utilized where it fits best.

Hands-off management

It is largely up to the teams to decide how best to complete their given tasks. Management trusts their ability and recognizes that the employees know best how to proceed within their field of expertise. (However, the daily touchpoints keep them accountable.)

What are the benefits of an Agile workplace?

According to proponents of Agile, there are several benefits to the approach.

It saves time. Much of this is attributed to the fact that problems are discovered much earlier in the process than in traditional approaches. That prevents back-pedalling down the road, which can often involve large fixes, sometimes re-doing whole sections of a project.
It saves money. The less time it takes to complete a project, the lower the cost.
Project quality goes up. Because the process brings out the best in employees, and truly utilizes their expertise, the quality of the end product increases.
Employee engagement and morale goes up. That’s always good, because happy, engaged employees are more efficient and productive, and you have less attrition.

A word of caution

There is, of course, much more to Agile than we are able to cover in just one article. So, if you are thinking about implementing any Agile components in your own business, we recommend you do some more research on your own, so you can fully understand how it all works and how to go about it.

And a note of caution: before you implement any changes, it’s a good idea to ask your employees for input first. Here’s an example of why that’s important.

A friend of mine used to work in an office that consisted of many employees doing repetitive paperwork. The work required quite a bit of attention to detail.

Management decided to become more Agile by changing the cubicle set up. The height of the fabric walls was lowered to 4 feet. The purpose of this was to make the office feel like more of a collaborative place. Co-workers could see each other as they walked by cubicles, and it was felt that this led to a more friendly, interactive workplace, because people would feel less like they were in a private, cut off space.

However, the actual effect (which management was completely in the dark about) was that individuals in those cubicles were continually distracted by noise and passersby, and by people stopping to chat over the top of the wall.

So, while management adopted one aspect of Agile—more open concepts—they completely ignored others—employee involvement in decisions, choice of workspace, and need for quiet space to do work that required concentration.

So, if you are thinking about having your company become a more Agile workplace, we recommend you start by including your employees in that discussion and decision.

And to learn more about Agile, you can visit the Agile Alliance website.

Cheers,
Tim

[ This article is intended as general information only and is not meant as professional advice. ]