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Avoiding Agile's Hidden Pitfalls
Organizations make surprising mistakes when transitioning to agile. Managers don’t allow their teams to self-organize. Developers obstruct collective code ownership. Senior executives expect miracles in productivity. All too often, firms confuse the simplicity associated with agile practices with ease of adoption.
In the new report Avoiding Agile's Hidden Pitfalls, Cutter Senior Consultant Jens Coldewey draws from his years of experience helping organizations transition to agile to identify some of the unexpected problems organizations encounter as they proceed. You'll discover common misconceptions companies have during agile transitions, patterns in conversations with new adopters, and frequently asked questions posed by key stakeholders.
This report will help you:
- Recognize when individuals are blocking transparency for their own personal reasons
- Promote true self-organization
- Understand that adopting agile's management practices isn't enough -- you must also invest in the necessary technical infrastructure and developer training
- Determine where quality assurance fits into agile software development
- Succeed at agile planning
- Learn what makes a good backlog
- Better define the role of the product owner
- Develop a good product vision -- and make sure your team shares that vision
- Determine the best sprint size or iteration length
- Differentiate between being efficient and being productive
You'll learn how to cope with managers who think "user contact" means directing all development questions to the consultants who envisioned the systems, and why increased transparency only works if everyone feels safe in his or her position.
This report will help you sidestep some of the more common pitfalls of agile transitions, so that when you do face a problem that's more context-specific or complex, you'll have the adequate resources and energy to tackle it head on.
Order your copy of Avoiding Agile’s Hidden Pitfalls today!
Published: October 2012, 47 pages, PDF format
Author: Jens Coldewey
Cutter members: Request your membership copy
