Several organizations are still working in a slow and inflexible-mannered environment or the implementation of traditional methods. Their vertical means of reporting, hierarchy and numerous other factors often leave the customers, shareholders, and what say more, the employees unhappy.

This results in delayed project delivery, top project failure, non-coordination among team members, and too many contact points. Organizations decided to transform the traditional procedures by adopting a new methodology, 'Agile.'

Agile prioritizes test-and-learn approaches over detailed planning and has become one of the most implemented developmental tools in many industry verticals like education, banking, software industry, construction and many more.

Let us look at the basic concepts of Agile such as What is Agile? What are the challenges of implementing the methodology? and Industries that benefit from Agile. 
 

What is Agile?

Agile principles are critical software market drivers that help learn, innovate, and adapt quickly. It is developed for quick and seamless company workflow. Agile is a tedious process to deliver software progressively from the initial phase of the project rather than providing the entire project at the end. 

This term is mainly applied in project management, and if the project is classic, then the Agile practice is a great approach to follow.

The practise focuses on the product delivery to the end customers in smaller sprints than delivering at a time. This makes it easier for them to verify and validate the project module and its quality.

Agile assigns to the principles of lean development, which accentuate efficacy to optimize the delivery of value to customers. The pillars of Agile methods are provided in the Agile Manifesto as follows:

• Operating software over comprehensive documentation.
• Responding to the business transformation by following a plan.
• Interactions and individuals over tools and procedures.
• Customer alliance over contract negotiation.

Though the method is designed to simplify the procedures, adopting Agile in a company is a lot more complicated than it seems to be. It is a total rework of a business process, and it needs fundamental transformation to be made in every aspect of the venture.

Many companies recruit Agile trainers, send their workforces for methodology training or even recruit consultants to recreate their operational manuals. However, companies have too many questions and challenge to face when implementing Agile.

Understanding the implementation challenges and discussing different methods to resolve the problem beforehand could prove a critical decision whether Agile is a profit or loss.
 

What are the Challenges Faced by Companies on Agile Implementation?

Challenge 1: Boosting the communication within company teams

One of the leading reasons behind the failure of Agile in a company is the lack of communication. To go Agile, all senior management, executive, and middle-tier management must be aware that there will be some transformations in project management practices.

They must understand the advantages of the Agile changes and how the changes will impact the organization's workflow. Hence, companies need to develop proper channels to interact for smooth and efficient communication among different teams.

This creates a good flow of information among the employees, keeping them up-to-date on the project progress. If the teams are located in one place, it helps in the swift adoption of the methodology as it takes place more organically and assists in creating a proper feedback system on each project.
 

Challenge 2: Developing ownership among teams

The prime objective of Agile transition is to create a sense of ownership with the teams. For a project to be successful, the crucial point to understand is the responsibility of completing the task on/before the deadline.

Once ownership is developed among the members, they will be more prone to work dedication and time-oriented to complete the projects. Tasks' independence is also a factor that will aid the teams to finish their task on time and create engagement with the project.

This will also help the members to have the freedom to come up with solutions to the issues that arise during the project without approval from their superiors due to full task ownership, thus motivating the workforce to achieve better outcomes.
 

Challenge 3: Resistance to change

Resistance to the change by the company's internal infrastructure is one of the biggest challenges faced by the organizations. It is challenging to transform people's way of thinking and work. 

The belief and habits of technology giants are naturally well-established. People often argue against the change of traditional software processes, and when Agile transition is leveraged to challenge them, they create a barricade or an obstacle to resist the transformation.

For instance, a project manager takes a one-hour-long meeting with the developer to discuss the essential requirements for their latest projects. The manager is adjusted to this type of working environment. 

Imagine if the manager is asked to shorten the meeting to 15 minutes and develop the product updates in sprints? What would happen? The person would find it a challenge, which they might try to resist and lead to Agile implementation failure.
 

Challenge 4: Inconsistent practices and procedures across teams

Customer satisfaction is the central part of the Agile methodology, or in other words, we could say customer satisfaction determines whether the method is a success or failure.

To meet customers' demands, Agile frameworks like Kanban create service networks within the company, where all teams, departments and individuals can self-organize around the task, evolve and collaborate their operational method by quality enhancement.

For optimal working of service network, the employers must follow the same rules and apply the same principles. A team that collaborates and communicates entailing the project delivery's cross-functional responsibilities.

Challenge 5: Lack of education and training

Another top reason for Agile methodology failure is insufficient education and training. For the method to work, one must have a thorough knowledge of its concept, principle, frameworks, values and practices. This is when an Agile coach or trainer comes into action.

They ensure that the company succeeds with flying colour with the implementation of Agile. They will train on how the process works and approach decision-making according to the Agile mindset.
 

Challenge 6: Fragmented measurements and tooling

To choose an apt solution to the existing problems in your company, you must consider the business nature, pros & cons of different agile methods and company characteristics.

To be successful with Agile, a crucial requirement is to choose the right tools such as Jira, Kanbanize and ClickUp. But for these tools to be beneficial for an organization, you must be consistent in its leverage.

After leveraging any of the tools mentioned above to an extent where you have gained significant experience, start customizing the tools to suit your company or project prerequisites. To keep in mind, project-related measurements and data are precisely defined.
 

Industries that Benefit from Agile Adoption

1. Marketing and Advertising

Agile practices help advertising and marketing companies to make better decisions to produce valuable content for attracting consumers. Some of the successful companies in this industry, thanks to Agile methods, are:

Teradata Applications that sell software for marketing support. They leveraged the Agile approach to automate their work procedures and approval processes. It helped them in enhancing the project communications. 

Next is a business named CafePress that sells customized designer gifts and services to people interested in launching their own merchandise. The company adopted the method to communicate with their customers and assist them in uploading their designs in no time.
 

2. Healthcare

It is one of the most profitable industries with numerous breakthrough innovations. Agile adoption in the healthcare industry is more likely to benefit the owners and their customers. 

Why is that?

Healthcare is the most booming industry vertical as people require treatments. However, in several countries getting proper therapies has been a daunting task due to its lack of seamless procedures. People feel hectic and frustrated with the setup.

If healthcare marketers are willing to create real-time solutions and connect with the customers, then Agile principles can help. By leveraging the technique, the industry can quickly transform the features that are not working as expected. By using Scrum, weekly Sprints can maintain privacy and security when new features are rolled out.
 

3. Engineering and Product Development

Agile methodologies are leveraged in IT sectors where people leverage traditional software like a waterfall to create their products. Agile practices became a perfect approach to stay on top of their games due to increased market competition.

With the introduction of the practice, companies can plan for a short period and choose to execute and organize their projects or tasks. It helps businesses to bridge the gap between employees and shareholders. It also minimizes the risk of reworking in product development, saving its budget and time.
 

Final Call

When small-scale and large-scale decide to adopt Agile methodology, it means more than adopting some random principles to complete a project. It is a transition in the working environment, targets and mindset.

 All workforces need to prepare and stay committed to adopting the operational environment changes and resolve the issues that come hand-in-hand with Agile practices. It’s a plus point for the organizations if their team members or top-tier employees are Agile certified to mitigate the methodology risks.
 

About Us

iCert Global is a one-stop solution offering certification training courses in a wide variety of techniques that will give you a head start in this competitive world. Visit our website to find out the different Agile & Scrum courses.

https://www.icertglobal.com/ 

Our company conducts both Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions and Instructor-led Classroom training workshops for learners across the globe.

We also provide Corporate Training for enterprise workforce development

Agile & Scrum

• PMI-ACP Certification
• CSPO Certification
•  SAFe Agilist Certification

Quality Management Training

•  Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB) Certification Training Courses
•  Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB) Certification Training Courses
•  Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB) Certification Training Courses

 DevOps Training

• DevOps Certification Training Courses

Business Analysis Training by iCert Global:

• ECBA (Entry Certificate in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses
• CCBA (Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses

CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) Certification Training Courses