Comments on: Does an Agile Methodology work in a Government Environment? | TwinTechs http://blog.3months.com/2009/04/06/does-an-agile-methodology-work-in-a-government-environment-twintechs/ 3months are a New Zealand based web development and Agile consulting services company. Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:52:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: robi http://blog.3months.com/2009/04/06/does-an-agile-methodology-work-in-a-government-environment-twintechs/comment-page-1/#comment-4318 robi Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:05:55 +0000 http://blog.3months.com/?p=74#comment-4318 Jake, We see, in certain parts of the US Govt, a real willingness to embrace Agile. Even more so that commercial but in the big public focused agencies they are much more like you describe. On the Macro they want waterfall but on the Micro they are more flexible until you build trust. Jake,

We see, in certain parts of the US Govt, a real willingness to embrace Agile. Even more so that commercial but in the big public focused agencies they are much more like you describe. On the Macro they want waterfall but on the Micro they are more flexible until you build trust.

]]> By: shanan http://blog.3months.com/2009/04/06/does-an-agile-methodology-work-in-a-government-environment-twintechs/comment-page-1/#comment-3350 shanan Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:08:48 +0000 http://blog.3months.com/?p=74#comment-3350 Thanks for your responses. Nic, I love your six key selling points for Agile and appreciate the idea behind not getting caught up on the language (I know I felt pretty put out the first time I was told that as a Chicken I had to zip it!). For me the opportunity is to get decision makers to see Agile methods as a way to get more value and more delivery out of their projects, rather than as something software people do behind the scenes. Points 2-5 in Nic's comment above are great ones to focus on for this. Thanks for your responses. Nic, I love your six key selling points for Agile and appreciate the idea behind not getting caught up on the language (I know I felt pretty put out the first time I was told that as a Chicken I had to zip it!).

For me the opportunity is to get decision makers to see Agile methods as a way to get more value and more delivery out of their projects, rather than as something software people do behind the scenes. Points 2-5 in Nic’s comment above are great ones to focus on for this.

]]> By: jake at SprintPlanning.com http://blog.3months.com/2009/04/06/does-an-agile-methodology-work-in-a-government-environment-twintechs/comment-page-1/#comment-3349 jake at SprintPlanning.com Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:49:51 +0000 http://blog.3months.com/?p=74#comment-3349 In my experience, government agencies tend to insist on a classical, non-agile approaches on the macro, but give teams free hand to handle the week-to-week in an agile manner. We had more success in first using such a hybrid approach, and when we gained credibility, ask for more agile contractual approach for the following engagements, or for maintenance work. Apart from that, I agree with the comments of original article. In my experience, government agencies tend to insist on a classical, non-agile approaches on the macro, but give teams free hand to handle the week-to-week in an agile manner.
We had more success in first using such a hybrid approach, and when we gained credibility, ask for more agile contractual approach for the following engagements, or for maintenance work.
Apart from that, I agree with the comments of original article.

]]> By: Nic Tunney http://blog.3months.com/2009/04/06/does-an-agile-methodology-work-in-a-government-environment-twintechs/comment-page-1/#comment-3317 Nic Tunney Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:03:06 +0000 http://blog.3months.com/?p=74#comment-3317 Glad you got to read my post! This post comes from experience of a painful situation I've encountered a few times. I've been shut down at the door of some Agencies when selling an agile approach. Remember that this is when speaking to the original audience, not the boots on the ground managers and developers. That being said, there are also some US agencies that welcome an Agile approach readily. The fact of the matter is that every organization can benefit from Agile. Government, at least in the US, is a slow moving machine. Some employees do not readily welcome change for a multitude of reasons. Even employees who want to adapt to Agile and can see the benefits know that it is difficult to enact change from within at any great speed. Hitting key selling points of Agile while introducing or bidding a project such as: 1. Exposing Team Velocity and Strengths/Weaknesses 2. Allowing Constant Reprioritization and Goals 3. Frontloading Most Important Features 4. Constant and Improved Communication 5. Frequent Stakeholder Review 6. Rapid Delivery without getting hung up on terminology is key. Sell the solution and even the actual process during the initial phases. Don't confuse decision makers with unfamiliar terminologies though, they need to hear about the process in clear and succinct terms. Semantics is a fun and important part of the process but so is having the opportunity to enact a force multiplier. When you are on the team level and are past the bidding process, you can call the decision maker a Chicken all you want ;) Glad you got to read my post! This post comes from experience of a painful situation I’ve encountered a few times. I’ve been shut down at the door of some Agencies when selling an agile approach. Remember that this is when speaking to the original audience, not the boots on the ground managers and developers. That being said, there are also some US agencies that welcome an Agile approach readily.

The fact of the matter is that every organization can benefit from Agile. Government, at least in the US, is a slow moving machine. Some employees do not readily welcome change for a multitude of reasons. Even employees who want to adapt to Agile and can see the benefits know that it is difficult to enact change from within at any great speed. Hitting key selling points of Agile while introducing or bidding a project such as:

1. Exposing Team Velocity and Strengths/Weaknesses
2. Allowing Constant Reprioritization and Goals
3. Frontloading Most Important Features
4. Constant and Improved Communication
5. Frequent Stakeholder Review
6. Rapid Delivery

without getting hung up on terminology is key. Sell the solution and even the actual process during the initial phases. Don’t confuse decision makers with unfamiliar terminologies though, they need to hear about the process in clear and succinct terms. Semantics is a fun and important part of the process but so is having the opportunity to enact a force multiplier. When you are on the team level and are past the bidding process, you can call the decision maker a Chicken all you want ;)

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