How to unlock the promise of agile in the enterprise

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Introduction
  3. Definitions
  4. Enterprise’s (slow?) adoption of agile
  5. Multi-methodology in practice
  6. A culture of opportunity
  7. Focusing on people
  8. The right tools
  9. What to use where
  10. Key takeaways
  11. About Rich Morrow
  12. About AtTask

1. Summary

The promises of agile — getting product in front of users faster, embracing requirements changes, choosing and trusting solid contributors — map incredibly well to today’s business environments, where disruptive technology and the ability to quickly capitalize on opportunities either make or break entire verticals. While agile methodologies have had tremendous success in task-oriented teams, many larger businesses have been slower to embrace them as a corporate standard. But agile is not a panacea, and not all projects, business processes, and corporate cultures are natural fits.

The typical enterprise will support multiple methodologies, and making them work together isn’t easy. From budget forecasting to performance benchmarking and accountability, agile presents new disruptions to traditional processes. At the same time, its more granular, responsive approach and the tools that support it can bring new efficiencies to the projects, teams, and organizations implementing them. This report will examine the current state and the future of the multi-methodology enterprise and examine procedural and technological changes that can help enterprises integrate agile methodologies into a larger ecosystem.

Key highlights include:

  • A high-level overview of the palette of project-management methodologies available to enterprises, and how and where each can provide value.
  • Discussion of the cultural, technical, and political barriers to agile adoption in the enterprise, and how focus on culture, people, and product are requirements for an organization planning on using agile.
  • An examination of the software tools available that allow teams to collaborate and correspond in an agile fashion, and an investigation of how important tool choice is for the internal perception and support of agile.
  • A look at how independent, and seemingly non-complementary methodologies can be threaded together in even large, complicated enterprise-level projects.
  • Concrete direction and advice for CIOs, CTOs, and project managers on how to either introduce or expand agile adoption at their organization.

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