When should you work in sprints (agile) and when not?

15 Novembre 2017
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Agile is a big buzzword. Every person and every organization should go agile to become more flexible, especially for the digital developments. And indeed, in many cases, it will be the best way of developing in the long-term because of the complexity and the many changes along the way. According to a study I conducted early this year, 80% of the people have issues with long-term planning. The plans keep changing, sometimes even before the implementation has started and it drives people mad. "Last week, we decided to go that way and now you are telling me, we should go the other way? I don't follow you anymore." And why do we keep changing our plans? Because we have received new information coming from a new technology, new customer demands, new competitive developments or new regulations. And not changing the plans with that information would be deadly. But changing it constantly is deadly as well as people keep running without ever getting anywhere. In that situation, working in sprints with a greater vision in mind is the best way to implement a plan.

When shouldn't we go agile then?

When what you need to plan is not operating in a volatile environment! Not everything is volatile. For instance, when you need to change the architecture of a platform or when you build a house, usually those plans are not subject to many changes. The environment in which those plans operate is pretty stable with a few changes of course but not constant changes. That is when you can still make a very detailed planning before you implement it. In that case, it would even be counterproductive to work agile. It would cost you extra money and extra time.

In summary, if what you need to plan is subject to high volatility, go agile. If not, make a detailed planning.

Management often request more details when the volatility is high

In my experience, most management teams, headquarters or shareholders request more information and detailed planning when the votality (and uncertainty) is high. And that request represents a huge cost in time, money, frustration and agility.

How is it in your organization?

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