Today Agile methodologies such as Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum,
Crystal, etc., are becoming more popular because the industry demands
that software development be done quickly and be responsive to change.
To compete in the global economy, software companies must move fast to
provide solutions to their customers.
Agile approaches of incremental build can deliver software faster than traditional plan-driven approach that follow a sequence order of life-cycle phases. This shift in approach also changes the traditional project management from planning and controlling to facilitating and collaborating. The Agile approach is depending mostly on the skills of the project team that is self-organizing to develop software without the command of a manager. This approach also leads to a shift in the organization structure and the skills of people who work there. For an established company with highly skills people, it is easy to adopt Agile but for a lesser matured company without a skilled workforce, the switch could be a disaster and that is why so many Agile project failed.
With Agile there is no role for project manager. This makes project managers confused whether they are needed or not. They must understand that their new role is to guide the team in responding to change as the team must make decisions instead of being told what to do. It also means more individual responsibility for team members, and more facilitation skills required for the project manager. The most popular Agile method is Scrum has two key individual roles that a project manager could do: Product Owner is the person who works closely with customers to decide what will be built and in which order. The Product Owner defines the feature of the product, chooses when the software will be released and adjusts features and priority as needed. The Scrum Master is the person who works closely with the team to ensure that the team is working together and productive. The Scrum Master facilitates team activities and enables cooperation across all roles and functions, removes barriers from external interferences, ensures that the process is followed such as the daily scrums, sprint reviews, and sprint planning.
Most traditional project managers are uncomfortable with these roles when transition to Agile but eventually many recognize that it does not matter what role they do, it is their responsibility to build a project team that can deliver quality product at a faster time. Of course, not everyone is willing to make this shift but for those who are willing, they will find both the process and the new skills they have learned to be rewarding and well worth the effort involved.
Agile approaches of incremental build can deliver software faster than traditional plan-driven approach that follow a sequence order of life-cycle phases. This shift in approach also changes the traditional project management from planning and controlling to facilitating and collaborating. The Agile approach is depending mostly on the skills of the project team that is self-organizing to develop software without the command of a manager. This approach also leads to a shift in the organization structure and the skills of people who work there. For an established company with highly skills people, it is easy to adopt Agile but for a lesser matured company without a skilled workforce, the switch could be a disaster and that is why so many Agile project failed.
With Agile there is no role for project manager. This makes project managers confused whether they are needed or not. They must understand that their new role is to guide the team in responding to change as the team must make decisions instead of being told what to do. It also means more individual responsibility for team members, and more facilitation skills required for the project manager. The most popular Agile method is Scrum has two key individual roles that a project manager could do: Product Owner is the person who works closely with customers to decide what will be built and in which order. The Product Owner defines the feature of the product, chooses when the software will be released and adjusts features and priority as needed. The Scrum Master is the person who works closely with the team to ensure that the team is working together and productive. The Scrum Master facilitates team activities and enables cooperation across all roles and functions, removes barriers from external interferences, ensures that the process is followed such as the daily scrums, sprint reviews, and sprint planning.
Most traditional project managers are uncomfortable with these roles when transition to Agile but eventually many recognize that it does not matter what role they do, it is their responsibility to build a project team that can deliver quality product at a faster time. Of course, not everyone is willing to make this shift but for those who are willing, they will find both the process and the new skills they have learned to be rewarding and well worth the effort involved.
Prof John Vu
Carnegie Mellon University
Original source: http://www.segvn.org/forum/mvnforum/viewthread_thread,1539
Original source: http://www.segvn.org/forum/mvnforum/viewthread_thread,1539
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