An Agile team has become the necessity of companies who are dedicated to finishing projects faster than anyone else. Such a team does not devote attention to any other project while they are working on a single project.

What is an Agile project?

An Agile project allows team members to work on different aspects of the project independently but in coordination.

But ever since remote work came into the picture it’s tough to handle these Agile teams.

Earlier these teams were located together and worked easily. The main reason why Agile teams have become inevitable is that the conventional project handling approach is no longer feasible. When changes are required in project needs, an Agileteam can cope up quite swiftly.

How technology can help?

The chief information officers of companies have responsibilities of handling such agile teams.

The major part in the delivery of an Agile project is played by the technical team of a company. It’s because the project can only go on smoothly when the company has the latest technology.

With such technology, a company can ensure that the customers are given project deliveries after some time gaps as their requirements change. Through technology, all this is possible because there is a sample of customers through which you get knowledge about how the developed work-in-progress meets their expectations.

An Agile team can introduce changes on its own and the project manager only sees that the project happens without any obstacles. Therefore Agile teams are easier to control. But, the job of technology is to ensure that the teams are guided well. Let’s get to know how technology helps such teams. The technology officer of the company can take various measures and inform the senior management if the teams are facing issues.

He should call such team members daily on audio or video:

The technology officer may not be present in such calls but his job is to see that the team members can get access to each other. Now how does such a team collaborate? These team members should have access to collaboration software that allows them to talk to each other and share screens and notes. There are private team collaboration tools where chats can only be accessed by team members.

The job of a technology officer in such a case is to make sure that Agile teams have access to such software and call each other to discuss any new developments. Such members should be able to post on social networking sites which can only be accessed by other teammates.

Make sure that the stakeholders are happy:

This implies that they get regular information about how the project is progressing. So as a technology officer your job is to know from them the required frequency of such updates. So, you can send them daily/weekly/monthly updates on emails as required.

Make sure that the project updates are given frequently because the Agile teams are not doing any other project in the meantime. They are supposed to work wholeheartedly on the project and complete it fast. Make sure that the Agile teams are continuously informed about the project feedback from customers.

Make sure that the project is terminated when there are danger signs:

Such signs emerge when the customers don’t know the goals. They are finding faults even after making changes.

The customer is not happy with the project team and is giving negative feedbacks which can be due to the inexperience of the latter. The team might be unable to implement changes suggested by customers because they are not aware of the technology. In this case, the project will take a longer duration than expected and will exceed the agreed budget and timeline. So the customer won’t make payments.

The team can’t function due to the mounting pressure which can be true for some people. Hence this is how an Agile project can be managed.

Have you ever wondered what is Agile?

An Agile project works in the following manner. First, the project is segregated into a small number of outputs. Then the outputs are supplied to the customer at small time intervals. Agile delivers output in two-week stages because it develops it in parts. The software project is divided into parts based on functionality and then output is distributed to customers. Generally, Agile is about producing software in small stages known as sprints. In each stage, the software is designed, developed and tested.

A sprint is a short time when the software development team completes some predetermined work. So, what are the challenges faced in Agile? So, customer feedback is taken at each output. During the production process, whenever each output is discovered, the list of outputs is grown.

Changes in project cost, time: As per this methodology, there is a change in the cost of the project and even time because the project is completed in stages. After one sprint, the developers learn about some changes which are introduced in the next sprint. Hence the next sprint may take longer than the planned time.

However, this is not possible for many projects which have a specific budget. Even the time required for such projects can’t increase because there is a fixed deadline. So, an organization which works on Agile has to realize that the time and cost cannot increase after a specific point. The organization needs to realize what point is that. The organization needs to understand that the project cant go overboard after a certain cost or time. The sooner this cost or time is decided, the better it is.

Cooperation from team members: In Agile, cooperation is needed from team members because a lot of changes have to be imposed. That’s why, the leaders of the company need to show the team members why they need to work with a new methodology because it’s more productive.

The work has to preplanned making sure you can get the feedback of the workers for it
Make sure team members are in sync with each other daily.
There should be team meetings held early so that there is the correction of the way workers are working.

Choosing labour in Agile: It’s tough to choose labour in Agile because it can’t be chosen according to job descriptions, but those who show a flair for working. Individuals have to come forward and then get chosen for the job. Collaboration is also needed on the part of individuals. Agile involves working in teams. So, the employees who are interested in working in teams are suitable for such projects. The organization should be willing to reward such employees financially. They should be willing to give rewards to teams.

Taking in scrum masters: Scrum is an Agile methodology. The IT leaders must have scrum masters on board so that the employees can get the right idea about their capabilities. When they don’t have the right idea about their capabilities, they over-commit themselves which leads to problems later. They suffer a burnout trying to fulfil the deadlines. They are unable to sleep at night due to work. To avoid this, scrum masters need to be hired so that employees know from the very beginning how much they can attain in a specified period.

Following Agile uselessly-Agile should be followed to ensure that there are certain goals which are met. These goals are increased satisfaction of customers. If there are no such goals set for Agile methodology, it can lead to reduced productivity. Reduced customer satisfaction can also be the key outcome of following this approach without any goal.

So, these are the problems faced when Agile is implemented.

Tag: agile

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Have you ever wondered what is Agile?