The Benefits of implementing Agile in your Organisation.

6 min readApr 5, 2023

Building an Agile Business Part#1: Agile ways of working have become increasingly popular in recent years, offering organisations a more flexible and collaborative approach to project delivery.

In this first article on Agile adoption within your business, we look at the Pit-falls and benefits of implementing Agile processes and techniques, especially in the business/non-ICT environment.

We will explore the benefits and pitfalls of implementing Agile ways of working in the delivery of operations and change within an organisation. We will also discuss best practices, risks, and examples of where this has worked, and some of the lessons learned.

Benefits of Agile Ways of Working

Agile ways of working offer several benefits to organisations, including:

Improved Customer Satisfaction: Agile methodologies emphasize customer collaboration, enabling teams to develop products that meet customer needs and align with the organisation’s strategic objectives.
Faster Delivery: Enable teams to deliver working software or products more frequently, reducing the time to market and improving customer satisfaction.
Increased Flexibility: Flexibility and adaptability, enabling teams to respond quickly to changes in requirements or the business environment.
Enhanced Collaboration: Collaboration between stakeholders, enabling teams to work together more effectively and align their efforts with the organisation’s strategic objectives.

Pitfalls of Agile Ways of Working

While Agile ways of working offer many benefits, there are also potential pitfalls that organisations should be aware of, and mitigate or manage accordingly

Resistance to Change: Implementing Agile ways of working can be challenging, particularly in organisations that are accustomed to more traditional project management approaches. Resistance to change can be a significant barrier to Agile adoption.
Lack of Clarity: Agile methodologies emphasise flexibility and adaptability, but this can sometimes lead to a lack of clarity around project goals and objectives. Teams may struggle to stay aligned with the organisation’s strategic objectives, potentially resulting in project failure.
Poor Communication: Agile methodologies emphasise collaboration, but this can sometimes result in poor communication between team members and stakeholders. Lack of clear communication ( or availability of friction-less communications) can lead to misunderstandings and delays in project delivery.
Lack of Documentation: Agile emphasise ‘good-enough’ and completed products over documentation, but this can sometimes result in a lack of supporting information that is needed for security, compliance, audit, or future reference.

Best Practices when Implementing Agile Ways of Working

Some clear options to to avoid these pitfalls (==Risks) when implementing Agile ways of working, include:

Engage Stakeholders: Engaging stakeholders, including team members, customers, and sponsors, is critical to the success of Agile adoption. Stakeholders must be aware of the benefits of Agile ways of working and committed to the change. Gaining clear senior stakeholder endorsement and support is critical to success.

Develop a Comprehensive Plan: Developing a comprehensive change plan that outlines project goals and objectives, timelines, resource requirements, stakeholder management, communications is essential to Agile adoption. This plan should be flexible and adaptable, enabling teams to respond quickly to changes in requirements or the business environment.

Implement Agile Engineering Practices: Implementing Agile “engineering” practices, such as continuous improvement and automation (where possible), is critical to the success of Agile adoption. These practices enable teams to deliver high-quality outputs that meet customer needs.

Provide Training and Support: Providing training and support to team members is an essential part of the Change approach, and to the success of Agile adoption. Team members must understand the Agile principles, methodologies, and tools and have the skills to implement them effectively.

Risks of Implementing Agile Ways of Working

Implementing Agile ways of working also presents risks that organisations must be aware of, including:

Lack of Control: Agile methodologies emphasise self-organising teams, but this can sometimes result in a lack of control over project delivery. organisations must have appropriate governance mechanisms in place to ensure that projects and teams remain aligned with strategic objectives.

Resistance to Change: Resistance to change can be a significant risk when implementing Agile ways of working. organisations must be prepared to address resistance and provide support to team members who may be struggling with the change. Senior Stakeholder/SRO support will be needed to overcome friction and changes to ways of working.

Lack of Clarity: Agile methodologies emphasise flexibility and adaptability, but this can sometimes result in a lack of clarity around goals and objectives. Organisations must ensure that delivery and operational goals and objectives are clearly defined and communicated to team members and stakeholders.

Lack of Documentation: Organisations must ensure that appropriate documentation is created and maintained throughout the project life cycle.

Examples of Where Agile Ways of Working Have Worked

Agile ways of working have been successfully implemented in various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and finance. For example, Toyota, the automobile manufacturer, has used Agile methodologies to improve production efficiency and quality. Kaiser Permanente, the healthcare provider, has used Agile methodologies to improve patient care and reduce costs.

Lessons Learned from Implementing Agile Ways of Working

Organisations that have successfully implemented Agile ways of working have learned several lessons, including:

Emphasise Collaboration: Agile methodologies emphasise collaboration between team members and stakeholders, enabling teams to work together more effectively and align their efforts with the organisation’s strategic objectives.
Focus on Continuous Improvement: Agile methodologies emphasise continuous improvement, enabling teams to learn from their mistakes and make adjustments to the project as needed.
Provide Support and Training: Providing support and training to team members is critical to the success of Agile adoption. Team members must have the skills and knowledge needed to implement Agile methodologies effectively.
Adapt to Change: Agile methodologies emphasise flexibility and adaptability, enabling teams to respond quickly to changes in requirements or the business environment. Implementation Teams must be prepared to adapt to change and adjust their project plans as needed.

Conclusion

Implementing Agile ways of working in the delivery of operations and change within an organisation can bring significant benefits, including improved customer satisfaction, faster delivery, increased flexibility, and enhanced collaboration. However, there are potential pitfalls that organisations should be aware of, including resistance to change, lack of clarity, poor communication, and lack of documentation.

To avoid these risks and ensure the success of Agile adoption, organisations can follow the following mitigation, including a) engage stakeholders, b) develop a comprehensive plan, c) implement Agile engineering practices, and d) provide training and support to team members.

By following the lessons learnt from the experiences of others similar organisations, who have successfully implemented Agile, organisations can successfully implement and transfer their efficiency, quality and effectiveness in the delivery of their core operations and change agenda.

An Agile Approach to delivery in Business

This article is part of a 4 part mini-series, designed to support senior managers, business leaders and executive’s looking to accelerate their business growth, and provide better predictability to outcomes and delivery.

The other articles are available via our Blog Home page or through the links below.

References

There are many useful publications and materials on this subject. We include a number below, some of which we have used to provide examples and conclusions. All rights reserved, All Trademarks Acknowledged, and all original content referenced is owned by the third parties identified.

Beck, K. (2000). Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change. Addison-Wesley Professional.
Cohn, M. (2013). Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum. Addison-Wesley Professional.
Highsmith, J. A. (2010). Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products. Addison-Wesley Professional.
Agile Business Consortium. (2021). Agile Business Framework. https://www.agilebusiness.org/pages/agile-business-framework
Agile Alliance. (2021). Agile Manifesto. https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/the-agile-manifesto/
Ambler, S. W. (2002). Agile Modelling: Effective Practices for eXtreme Programming and the Unified Process. Wiley.
Sutherland, J. (2013). Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time. Crown Business.
Schwaber, K. (2004). Agile Project Management with Scrum. Microsoft Press.
Taibi, D. (2014). Agile Project Management with Scrum: A Literature Review. Journal of Information Systems Engineering & Management, 1(2), 139–155.
Ahmed, S., Ahmed, S., & Ahmed, F. (2016). Exploring the Risks and Benefits of Adopting Agile Methodologies. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 7(10), 85–91.

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