r-17518 agile in the enterprise report - circle.gartner.com in the enterprise - full... · joining...

CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARYThis presentation, including any supporting materials, is owned by Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is for the sole use of the intended Gartner audience or other intended recipients. This presentation may contain information that is confidential, proprietary or otherwise legally protected, and it may not be further copied, distributed or publicly displayed without the express written permission of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. © 2017 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

//

R-17518 Agile in the Enterprise reportQualitative findings collected June 2017

Explorative research to understand the challenges of implementing Agile working within organizations and how to overcome them.

2 © 2017 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Thank you noteThank you for contributing to our research efforts by participating in the online chat about how organizations overcome cultural challenges on their path to success in agile development.The results show that... There are several potential benefits shifting to an Agile workplace

However, there are multiple organizational challenges to be overcome first

In order for Agile to work, a culture shift is required

– A culture of trust, with freedom to experiment and try new approaches, is essential for Agile to be successful

– Close collaboration with end users

– Focusing on customer satisfaction metrics instead of traditional metrics

We hope you find value in this summary of the results, which can be accessed by INSERT LINK. Sincerely, Claire, Gartner Research Circle, on behalf of Mike West and William Holz


Research leads

Mike West covers development methodologies,with a primary focus on the adoption,organizational impact and governance of agile,scaled agile, and Web-scale development andcontinuous deployment using DevOps approaches.Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. West worked as adeveloper and manager at financial services (JohnHancock and Fidelity Investments) and high-tech(Apple) companies. Mr. West has extensiveexperience as a developer, as a manager and asan analyst in application development tools,methods and platforms.

Mike WestResearch Director, Web Mobile & Application [email protected]

Bill Holz covers a range of technical topics, includingsoftware development methodologies (focus on agile) andWeb development.Mr. Holz has more than 28 years of industry experiencemainly focused on Web and mobile development projectsand adoption of agile development methodologies. Prior tojoining Gartner, Mr. Holz led the Application Developmentand Enterprise Architecture team at the ProjectManagement Institute (PMI) where he led theimplementation of agile development practices,modernization of the application portfolio, delivery of PMI'sfirst mobile application, formation of an enterprisearchitecture team, and acquisition of Gantthead(projectmanagement.com).

Add profile picture from G@W

William Holz, Research Director, App [email protected]

Add profile picture from G@W


Research objectives and hypothesis

Hypothesis Objectives

Organizations will need to adopt different ways to build systems requiring changes for both IT

and business people

Examine the most common stumbling blocks faced by organizations adopting agile which is around organizations’ ability to change the culture and how successful organizations overcame their constraints.

• How agile teams overcome the organizational culture challenge?

• What were the necessary culture changes/ transformations for organizations that adopted agile?

• What are the key processes and practices that led to success?


Approach and sample

2 x online chat sessions

Panelists participated in 60-minute online focus groups with 4-6 other Research

Circle panelists, where they were asked to share their thoughts and experiences on

Agile in the enterprise

Methodology

Thursday, June 1st 2017

Fieldwork dates

We spoke to a total of 11 Research Circle panelists who work in a range of industries in different regions and use Agile in varying degrees

Respondents’ profile

North America panelists: 8 EMEA panelists: 3

IT focused panelists: 9Blend of IT & business focused panelists: 2

Use Agile for some of their app developments: 6

Use Agile for most of their app developments: 3

Use Agile for all of their app developments: 2

8 panelists feel Agile development in their organization has been successful, 1 feels it has not been very successful, and 2 think it’s too early/difficult to tell


Overcoming organizational

cultural challenges to Agile


Optimized tools and changes in HR/Governance

will future-proof Agile

• Optimized tools that allow more time for developing ideas and automated, AI-based QA testing will increase efficiency

• Governance and centralized management will need to adjust to accommodate Agile

• HR teams also need to understand Agile better

Summary

There are several potential benefits shifting to an Agile

workplace

• Agile offers rapid feedback, quick iterative refinement and direct feedback from the end user leading to products better suited for the customer.

• At the same time, development teams work closely together to share best practices and spark new thinking.

However, there are multiple organizational challenges to

be overcome first

• Organizations often struggle to come up with a shared understanding of what Agile is and how it works.

• New approaches are needed for budgeting, as well as clear prioritization of tasks to prevent backlogs from piling up

• Changing too much, too soon can also be a major challenge

In order for Agile to work, a culture shift is required

• A culture of trust, with freedom to experiment and try new approaches, is essential for Agile to be successful

• Close collaboration with end users.

• Focusing on customer satisfaction metrics instead of traditional metrics


There are several benefits of adopting Agile practices

The nature of Agile and associated project team

structures mean communications travel top

to bottom quickly

Rapid feedback

“Rapid feedback has worked very well. Highly visible status/progress also.

Changing external processes to work well with Agile is

always challenging.”

As each Agile sprint is short, it means that

organizations can quickly learn and adapt from experiences, and can

seek to refine

Iterative refinement

“Devs need to learn how to think long term within an

iterative cycle. Short sprints doesn't mean you can't build sophisticated architectures

over time.”

Customer feedback leads to final products that

provide customer value

Better outcomes

“By delivering what the business asks for quickly,

they've realized that wasn't what they really wanted and

we were able to adjust, usually in the next sprint, to deliver something they didn't

originally ask for but was more in tune with what they

really wanted.”

Development teams work closely together to share best practices and spark

new thinking

Collaboration

“The key advantage is when dev teams interact closely

and produce demos.”


But for Agile to be successful there are challenges and risks to overcome

XXX

• xxxxA clear, shared common understanding of what Agile is

XXX

• xxxxRequires a new approach for budgeting

XXX

• xxxxBusiness stakeholders have new

responsibilities for articulating & justifying the business outcomes

XXX

• xxxxChanging too much, too soon can be a disaster

“The first thing is to understand Agile.”“The business doesn't like dealing with a long list

of backlog items and prioritizing because they usually want it all and they want it now.”

“Budgeting is an issue... usually, management wants to know what they are getting for their

money and how much it is going to cost.”

“What hasn't worked for us it trying to do all projects at once.”


Making the transition towards Agile development

XXX

• xxxxStart small and then expand it.

“Start with a small dedicated group and project to work out the process

that works for you in your environment and then expand it.

I will second that doing all projects at once does not work or changing all your processes to agile at once…

start small and take it in steps”

XXX

• xxxxAdditionally – organization

specific best practices need adjustments. Think before you

discard them.

“It is too easy to throw the baby out with the bath water. In other words,

too easy throw out best practices like project planning, architecture, and

data modeling. Agile does not prevent best practices, but developers

are quick to take short cuts.”

XXX

• xxxxEnsure that you make Agile results visible to the whole

organization.

“Adopting agile needs a mindsetchange, start in areas where the

changes are dynamic and benefits can be demoed to the business.”


Required steps Agile organizational

transformation


There are 3 key hurdles to overcome in order for Agile to be successfully adopted

XXX

• xxxxAGILE MINDSET & THE WATERFALL LEGACY

XXX

• xxxxMANAGEMENT SUPPORT

XXX

• xxxxTIME AND PERSERVERANCE


The legacy mindset is the primary, initial barrier to Agile – developers and customers need to learn to work in a new way

XXX

• xxxxEmployees need compelling reasons to believe in Agile

before they can get behind it

XXX

• xxxxDevelopers have to change the way they work to be

successful

XXX

• xxxxEqually, customers have to change the way they work

(and when they do they like it)

“For us the challenge has mainly been certain people, rather than roles, but in general developers

have been very willing to adapt as long as they know that we are not

compromising on quality and design considerations.”

“Our customers like Agile because they get demos every 2-to-6 weeks. They get to provide feedback and see it implemented. They quickly discover when a project is lacking

behind its predictions.”

“I've had a small number of people move to other positions rather than

adapt to the Agile processes, but that hasn't happened for years now”


Plus, letting go of the legacy of Waterfall is a significant challenge

“We worked in phases, started with just doing small waterfall releases, then took on

estimating, and then went on to integrating with product management and backlog modifying

our processes along the way. We let the engineers executing the work write the

processes first and then had our process engineers adapt them”

“Adopting Agile to fit your needs and process is key, you just can't open the book and say this is

what we are doing and how we are doing it.”

“We originally had to promise deliverables one year in advance and then we would do Agile

and deliver what the customer wanted. Management has now adapted to a quarterly

schedule for approving deliverables.”

“This was a tougher thing than I expected at first. Developers were so used to the schedule

death march that they always assumed fast was the way to go and that it was ok to say it

would take longer to do it right.”


From a top-down perspective, management needs to be fully committed and drive the change

XXX

• xxxxCulture change requires strong leadership and change agents

XXX

• xxxxAgile requires management support and delegation to give teams autonomy

XXX

• xxxxThis also includes management roles in finance, HR and other areas of the business

“Having a strong business PM committed towards the solution on a day to day basis is key

once this is established, he/she can be the change agent driving the business transition.”

“HR Resource profiles have been changed.”

“It [empowerment] tends to be over-used and under-practiced...management throws it around like it is a

magic bullet for employee satisfaction, yet very seldom really understands that it means bottom-up decision-

making and actions”


But, these changes will require time and persistence to embed effectively

Employees (not just in IT, but all areas) may initially resist Agile and

struggle to adapt

To get employees on-board, they need to see the benefits – which

can take time

Once customers are clear on what Agile can deliver – they are also

enthused, which can improve satisfaction levels

“Our customers are driving the move to Agile because they love the

involvement and they get products that work better for them. Even though it is hard for IT to measure and report on all the facets of customer satisfaction, our customers are happy and want Agile.”

“In my current role and in my previous role with a larger, internal development team I've never seen Agile done easily. I think it represents a huge sea change for an organization of any appreciable

size. Not to say it can't be done or doesn't have benefits, it's just slow and

challenging.”

“We're starting to see development and other technical staff working more

closely with business users. This isn't a bad thing, but it's caused some

miscommunications and slow-downs while people get used to it.”


Process and practice evolutions


Teams working with Agile need to be adaptive, flexible, self-managing - with a clear view of the tasks that need to be prioritized

Being adaptive is key in making Agile work –

teams need to be flexible and ready to respond to

change quickly

Being adaptive

It is necessary to keep Agile simple, without overly complicating a

concept that is rooted in a basic, simple philosophy

Keeping it simple

Teams that work with Agile need to be self-managing and able to work autonomously,

taking the initiative when necessary

Empowering teams

Prioritizing tasks and determining which

aspects to focus on is crucial in Agile

Setting priorities

“The change comes from allowing people to work in an Agile/flexible manner where members' opinions matter.”

“Agile is indeed simple however sometimes hyped probably.”

“There is a need to determine the big stories that you work on

and maybe the first level of drilling down inside those

stories.”

“This is key because the team is now self empowered.”


Shifting from a culture of control to one of trust is a key requirement for Agile to work

In certain instances, there might be a need to maintain

more direct control to ensure project success, so some

discretion is required

Ensuring team members

understand the desired business outcome and find

their solution

Creating a shared vision with everyone

having a responsibility for shaping it, teams

working in collaboration

“Trust provides the team the ability to suggest how they could meet a

business need instead of being told how to meet that need.”

“QA should be a collaborative endeavor and

not the code police.”

“Teams need to deliver things the business needs …and that implies some work up front to determine the big stories that you work on.”

“Control vs. Trust...there's still a fair amount of truth to the adage "when everybody is responsible, nobody is responsible"...not all people and not all teams are well-suited

to an agile methodology or that level of trust/responsibility, you have to figure out where to put your trust and where to maintain more direct control”

“It's very difficult for directors whose heads are on the block for

success to release enough of their decision-making authority for trust or empowerment to happen”


Working in collaboration with customers keeps focus on the business outcome

Closely working with the end users in mind can result in a range of benefits

Collaboration with the end users ensures the amount of rework

needed is minimized, and completing the work in smaller

increments helps maintain focus on customer goals

Vision

Closely working with end users ensures that:

Everyone is constantly reminded of the end goal

End users can provide a clear definition of what they want

Clarity

End users’ vision might change, so teams using Agile need to take this

risk into account

“Our customers like agile because they get demos every 2-to-6 weeks. They get to

provide feedback and see it implemented.”

“Not possible to work on the most important thing first and deliver true value

to the user if the user is not part of defining this.”


Moving from productivity to customer satisfaction metrics requires a culture shift, but helps the team understand how to improve

XXX

• xxxx

Many feel that switching to Agile would, in turn, also require a shift from productivity oriented metrics to customer satisfaction metrics. This is seen as a key prerequisite for Agile to become a successful practice.

Customer satisfaction metrics could:

Be measured at every release – for instance by using Net Promoter Score

Provide feedback loops Give the team motivation and

understanding of how to improve

“This is a culture shift, really. If you don't measure customer satisfaction you don't have the motivation to

support and utilize the feedback loops.”

“It is harder to measure customer success than being on time and on budget.”

“I have recently seen the effect on customers liking what they are getting; presentations to upper management have the business saying that what we are doing is

critical to their future and success.”


Placing emphasis on doing things right rather than fast is challenging but necessary, as stakeholders expect both speed and high quality

This can be challenging, as stakeholders want both –

fast and right

Focusing the discussion on

investment rather than cost is key – especially

upfront investment

“This was a tougher thing than I expected at first. Developers were

so used to the schedule death-march that they always assumed fast was the way to go and that it was ok to say it would take longer

to do it right.”

“I really believe in doing things right and not just fast. This is a very hard

one to get our developers to do. After doing this for ten years, our

culture has moved to fast and experimental. We need a course correction, but it is very hard to

shift.”

People feel that this [speed] is a core requirement for Agile to be successful, but delivering high quality work is the main priority

“Our capex processes are so slow, agile would out-pace the available

funding and other components nearly every time...that's something

we need to change organizationally”

“Doing things right tends to mean doing things fast[er] as

you're not doing a lot of rework.”

Productivity in agile arises from reducing

the amount of rework, as the focus is on completing the most important tasks

first

“We want to shift the conversation to investment, not cost.”


People feel that moving from specification to experimentation is a risk worth taking, as it could lead to important breakthroughs

Although they feel experimenting is

sometimes done for the sake of it, they see

the merit of it and acknowledge that

important breakthroughs come through this process

People feel that Agile gives them the opportunity to

experiment with more technologies, but they

want to make sure that experimenting will bring a real benefit to

the project

Learning how to move away from

specification and more towards

experimentation is important in successfully

implementing Agile

“Often people would do nothing rather than something for fear of failure.”

“When you have good ideas and you allow people to pursue them you get results that

surprise people sometimes... a few successes can lead to more freedom to take

chances and try things out.”


The future of Agile


Agile success depends on organization and culture change

XXX

• xxxx

Governance and centralized management will need to focus on this adaptation

process and how it fits the changing needs of each

business

XXX

• xxxx

By extension, this assumes that HR understands and

embraces Agile themselves. Currently, not all HR

personnel fully understand it

“Agile needs to be augmented by good governance. ”

“It’s still a problem to hire good people who ‘get’ Agile.”

XXX

• xxxx

Teams need to ensure that Agile processes are adhered

to across all levels – this involves better upfront

planning and user feedback

“Up front work is critical to ensure you understand the use cases, architecture, data rules, etc.”


HR, in particular, needs to be more clear on what qualifications to look for and work with management to revise job descriptions and career paths

“Team managers and directors have to keep pace with the market and work with HR to revise job titles,

descriptions, and salaries.”

XXX

• xxxxHR may struggle (at least initially) to hire the

employees that understand Agile, or are able to adapt

“I've had a small number of people move to other positions rather than

adapt to the Agile processes, but that hasn't happened for years now”

XXX

• xxxxProvide incentives to developers to encourage them to be cross-trained in Agile skill sets

XXX

• xxxxWhile some may prefer to move to other positions rather than adapt to Agile

“The problem we had was cross-training. it took a year to get

developers familiar with other apps -but when they did we got a more

responsive team”


Agile tools and test automation will create more efficient Agile processes

Ideally, in the future this should be AI-based and automated, as this

would create more efficient processes

Agile tools Test automation

Tools should be improved to allow more time for developing ideas rather than programming small

details later on

“Better tools that allow more time for developing an idea and less time spent on

programming the details will help move things along.”

“Agile will probably just continue to be augmented by better QA processes like AI-based automated testing and better

documentation practices.”

Working towards shorter sprints while maintaining quality is a key challenge, so it is necessary to build in enough time for testing


Suggestions


Suggestions

Effective collaboration requires

SHARED VISION and

TRUST

Collaboration with end-users maintains

CLEAR FOCUSfor delivery of

CUSTOMER VALUE

ImplementFEEDBACK LOOPS

by trackingCUSTOMER SATISFACTION METRICS

to enable the teams to

CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE

Create an AGILE CULTURE

byENCOURAGING EXPERIMENTATION

and DOING THINGS RIGHT,RATHER THAN FAST

in order to deliverHIGH QUALITY and VALUE

r-17518 agile in the enterprise report - circle.gartner.com in the enterprise - full... · joining...

Documents