By Jason Roys
There is often a moment when leadership, which was supposedly out front, is forced to catch up. That might be what’s happening as Agile project management for government agencies picks up steam. The Project Management Institute notes that “problems that public agencies are being asked to address often are interconnected and do not have clear, direct solutions.” That necessitates the need for a “process of trial and error to determine what works.” Government agencies are finding success with Agile, a project management tool that’s ideal for iterative work in the information technology (IT) field.
According to the Agile Assessment Guide, a 2020 GAO report, the federal government “spends at least $90 billion annually on information technology (IT) investments.” That report describes initiatives that can help agencies avoid overruns and scheduling glitches that lead to dismal outcomes and tremendous waste. Agile project management can address those issues, as it has long done in the private sector.
Let’s consider how an Agile adoption strategy might help. This article will cover five shifts in thinking that will make Agile a more effective tool for government agencies and four ways an agency can maximize Agile.
What is Agile project management?
Agile project management, put simply, is a method for delivering a project that uses an iterative approach that can offer both speed and adaptability. It allows users to adjust as they work through a project, rather than sticking to a linear path. Software developers nurtured Agile at the turn of the century. Frustrated by the inefficiencies and failures they saw in software development, they wrote the “Agile Manifesto” – the written principles and goals that described what they believed would be the best way to develop software.
Agile operates under four basic principles. It values:
Individuals and interactions more than processes and tools.
Functional software more than comprehensive documentation.
Customer collaboration more than contract negotiation.
A system’s ability to respond quickly to change more than following a set plan.
The Agile process uses collaboration, business value, and quality to assure the satisfaction of its customer or end-user. Individuals and teams operate across a system of networks. Innovation is encouraged, risk is identified early, and team members are empowered. Above all, the focus of Agile is the doing, not the documenting.
Is Agile used for IT?
Since government agencies are under pressure to deliver quickly, and usually with a smaller budget and fewer resources than one finds in the private sector, the adoption of Agile project management can allow agencies to work more efficiently and more effectively. In a more traditional IT infrastructure, an organization requires a significant amount of manual effort from its teams. An Agile organization’s self-service tools allow application developers to configure and control the infrastructure (with, of course, appropriate guardrails in place).
In a traditional organization, teams are technology- or function-specific. Agile teams are more integrated and more cross-functional. And while the work in a traditional setting may be more labor-specific and repetitive, implementing Agile allows for the automation and streamlining of many tasks. The adoption of Agile project management for government use allows public sector organizations to both learn and move at a much quicker rate, for more successful projects.
Mixing Agile with Lean Project Management
Lean Project Management’s goal, according to the Project Management Institute, is “to provide what is needed, when it is needed, with the minimum amount of materials, equipment, labor, and space.” Its five key principles are value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection. While Lean thinking leads teams to increase their speeds by managing their flow, Agile thinking leads them to work in small batches and to deliver those batches quickly (in “sprints”). When Lean is applied in conjunction with Agile principles, a method can be developed that helps teams to both identify waste and refine their processes. This mindset, across the organization, encourages not only efficiency, but also effectiveness and continuous improvement.
How Lean Agile can benefit the government
By combining the strengths of Lean and Agile, government agencies can eliminate waste (by creating nothing but value). This combination also can:
Encourage the learning of different ideas in a culture of improvement.
Deliver solutions quickly in smaller iterations that use just-in-time methods.
Defer irreversible decisions until the moment at which the customer realizes the need.
Empower teams by moving decision-making to the lowest possible level.
Build integrity.
Focus on value to the customer.
Agile project management for government
As government organizations look to partner with vendors using Agile, some strategic planning and rethinking needs to occur. Agile combines design with development and with the acceptance of the user; the product’s design comes out of the collaboration between its developers and its users. This can require five different shifts in thinking:
From contract-centered to project-centered. In the Agile framework, individuals and interactions are more valued than processes and tools; collaboration, working software, and collaboration are strengthened.
From vendor-run to agency-run. Using Agile, the agency and the vendor jointly build the system, with the vendor often providing project management as well as development.
From purchaser/purchasee to relationship. In the Agile methodology, the contract does not serve as the ultimate blueprint for the project. It is merely a guide that structures the relationship between the vendor and the government agency.
From lump sum and fixed pricing to upon-receipt-of-item pricing. Agile’s specifications are not always precise at the start of the contract, so it can be difficult to pre-calculate an accurate price for the entire project. Instead, incremental pricing is used, so that payment is delivered at specific “development points.”
From the management of the contract to the monitoring of performance. It’s critical, for Agile success, to monitor performance. The contract is not a race-to-the-finish. Instead, after each “sprint,” the project is reviewed and adjustments are made, if needed.
This shift in thinking requires government agencies using Agile to identify their top priority: their government client or end-user. Rather than having the customer fit their existing systems, the agency must use the needs of the customer to drive what the unit does. Agile teams are learning to work in shorter production cycles, some as short as an intense two-week-long period, with autonomous teams and customer-based metrics, to create a fluid network in which collaboration among teams and stakeholders is encouraged.
4 ways an agency can maximize Agile
How might your government agency best use Agile project management to achieve better results?
Be realistic. While Agile can improve the quality of projects, it’s hardly a magic wand.
Create a roadmap. But it shouldn’t be so fixed that it hampers the Agile process. It should simply serve as a lay of the land.
Explain. Be sure that your employees and team members understand that Agile is a way to ensure quality, not just a method for finishing tasks.
Start small. Try it out. Find a smaller project that can be chunked and use the Agile method to get it done.
Sure, Agile sounds smart – but does it work in government? (Hint: it already has!)
The U.S. Air Force uses it to modernize its space command and control systems. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services uses it to process its millions of applications from people who wish to study, work, or visit the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security uses it as the preferred approach for all its IT projects. And FEMA’s complex IT environment has to support grants management across disparate platforms; Agile thinking aids in the effort.
Of course, the methods traditionally used by the federal government may clash with Agile values. Management can be slow to change time-familiar routines. There may also be resistance from teams to this new method of accountability and openness. It may be difficult to teach teams to work in collaboration, with shared tools. The U.S. government can be a huge ship to try to turn. But, as the government leadership moves toward the use of Agile, Public Sector Agility has issued five recommendations for its public-sector use:
To the maximum extent feasible, Agile should become the preferred operating model across the federal government.
Agile methods of management and operations should be championed inside federal departments and agencies and incorporated into as many of their activities as possible.
Key barriers to Agile functioning within the federal government should be identified and appropriately addressed within the nation’s checks-and-balances political system and legal framework.
Agile approaches, successes, and challenges should be highlighted across the federal government.
Department and agency leaders should ensure that readily accessible training opportunities about Agile principles and approaches, especially including management skills, are available.
Because of the size and scope of the projects government agencies handle, the adoption of Agile technologies may not always be an easy shift to make. However, but Agile’s insistence on strong relationships between clients and contractors, with accountability built in at every step, should help direct the shift in focus.
Is my organization ready for Agile?
Admittedly, it can be difficult to get anyone – leader or team member – to do things in a new way. Is your organization ready for Agile? It’s a change to bottom-up management, and sometimes, those in the upper echelons can be a bit resistant. The Project Management Institute (PMI) has built an Agile Self-Assessment Tool that you can take to determine your group’s readiness for change.
Change is difficult
Yes, change can be difficult – but one way to assure that your government agency becomes more Agile is to work with consultants who can guide the agency through the process and show you how it’s done. SDV International can offer you all that they’ve learned – to help you use the Agile tools smoothly and efficiently.