Incorporating an Agile approach
         into a Waterfall Project



Incorporating an Agile approach into a Waterfall Project

Q2 2011  Print

For many the move from Waterfall to Agile, however strong the motivation, can be difficult for a number of reasons.  Common challenges include the structure of the organisation, a lack of executive support, and that a complete adoption of the Agile approach is simply not suitable for every project. However, I have had successes using Agile ideas in Waterfall projects and believe we could all improve our chances of success by being a little more Agile!  

We all know what it’s like working within a process that seems unnecessarily complex or leads to delays and excessive paperwork.  Or meetings where we struggle to find the relevance while a colleague gives us an hour by hour description of what they have been doing in the week since the project team last got together. In an Agile approach we ask ‘What does the customer want?’ and ‘Would they pay for what we’re doing right now?’  The aim is to remove any waste from how we work and the product that we are delivering to the customer. 

The Agile approach is based on clear Agile principles and elements that work together to deliver the ultimate aim of giving the customer what they want.  Agile elements include daily stand up meetings where we only discuss what is relevant to the whole project team and attendees wear ‘problem solving hats’, while collaboratively finding ways to remove issues and create motivation. Having used stand up meetings in waterfall projects in Financial, Manufacturing and Pharmaceutical projects, I can assure you you will be rewarded with engaged and motivated project teams!

The Agile Project Manager or SCRUM master is a facilitative role where priority is placed on empowering the project team to succeed by respecting each individual’s skills and strengths and encouraging creativity, decision making and innovation within the team.  The Agile PM is responsible for protecting the Project Team from interference by stakeholders.  As a waterfall PM we must accept these responsibilities to ensure our Project Teams perform to the best of their ability.

One of the principles of the Agile process is to create knowledge. This means constantly creating opportunities to learn through demonstration and feedback; and with a more lean process we enable time for creativity and innovation.  Time and time again I ask project teams to explain their ‘lessons learnt’ process for gathering and recording relevant information throughout a project.   Unfortunately however, the processes I see are often flawed through information gathered too late in the process, where key learnings have been lost or information stored in a way that does not give teams easy access.  In Agile the daily stand up meeting allows for lessons learnt to be discussed and gathered daily while information is fresh and can be used as soon as appropriate.

Agile development methodologies such as SCRUM and XP have become popular approaches to project management in Australia, particularly in software development.  At DDLS we offer an introduction to understanding Agile, Fast Start in Agile Development and combined with our 2 day Change Management course offers a great starting point for organisations and projects teams contemplating a move to Agile.