How to Sell a Customer the Agile Methodology
You just joined a company, hired as a scrum master. The client that you are going to attend already has the agile mindset and therefore is open to the application of the Scrum framework in its daily activities, because its waterfall past was enough for it to understand that it urgently needs to reduce waste. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of the scrum master is to be a change agent, ensuring that Scrum is implemented.
This will be a smooth task, right?
Well… not quite!
No matter how open the client is, when it enters the first sprint, it is quite common for it to have insecurities about the framework for an obvious reason: this is a change. It’s not a simple change either. The client is probably accustomed to having a project with well-defined phases established early as well as mapped its costs and risks over a long period of time. Now they are suddenly faced with a new model in which everything is focused on short term deliveries and changing priorities.
Now planning is not in the medium or long term, only the short term. Major tasks are distilled into sprints of at most four weeks, and the risks and costs are discovered along the different work iterations. As a scrum master, our role is also to ensure that the client is comfortable with the agile methodology and that it recognizes value in it. So, don’t be afraid to throw the first stone because it is human to feel anxious or have some fear in the face of a whole new methodology.
Based on my experience in the field, rather than focusing on explaining the theory itself, it is best to present the advantages that the Scrum framework. Try to focus on what you can achieve with the agile methodology. Trust me, it is better than the alternative getting bogged down in process discussions.
So here are some tips that the well-respected, Dutch, agilist Christiaan Verwijs has brought to us:
Focus on change: Agile development expects there to be changes in the scope as a natural part of software development. Changes in scope can occur for several reasons, such as, evolving ideas about how a system should work or how a process should be automated, new ideas that appear during the process, complexity due user experience or feedback or even external factors (economic, political, judicial, etc.). As a scrum masters, we must ensure that the client sees the value of an approach that allows for change. Many projects fail simply because the project delivered the system that was designed for an environment that evolved during the project’s development.
Focus on iterative development: Agility claims that the best way to deal with the complexities of software development is to use “stepping stones” while working to gradually head toward a goal rather than trying to map all the details from the start. The details will change anyway, as new knowledge is gained. This avoids costly functional and technical re-work during projects that are difficult to understand and possibly have many interpretations. In the end too much detail upfront will only result in contract negotiations and heated discussions about functionalities as they emerge. The customer needs to see the benefit of being able to get started as quickly as possible, instead of having to wait for those huge design documents.
Use feedback loops: Agile development emphasizes that frequent feedback loops are required for change to be recognized. In Scrum, we do this through the daily scrum meetings, which aim to promote communication between the team and check their progress against the sprint goal, sprint review meetings, where the team shows the interested parties the releases delivered and the one still in development, and sprint retrospective meetings, which identify what worked and what did not work well in the previous sprint. The customer is always welcome, because it gives the team visibility to transform ideas into changes.
Focus on the delivery of features that add commercial value: Agile development emphasizes the delivery of functionalities to achieve commercial value at the end of each iteration or sprint. Instead of having to wait months, the customer can check progress periodically. Better yet: every sprint can potentially give rise to features that can be put into production or used to convince the larger management or end users that the project is really progressing.
Focus on removing the “black box”: Agile development emphasizes that the best way to develop software is to share with the customer what is to be done and probably delivered in the next sprint, respecting their needs. The Product Owner has the burden of making sure that the customer sees the added value of the project and is responsible for one of the main pillars of Agility: transparency. This facilitates more direct communication, the widest possible sharing of knowledge, and helps the customer unravel the “black box” that is software development.
Attention Scrum Masters! When you are using an agile approach for software development, you need to recognize that the change will occur, be able to adapt to changes that are coming, contribute to the changes so they help fit into the scope of the sprint goal and make sure that the customer understands the changes impact in the most positive way possible. By showing benefits such as constant feedback at each stage of the work cycle, having the chance to self-inspect, and the delivery incremental goals which add value in each sprint you can help keep the customer happy with agile. Also, constant feedback will allow the team to adapt to the next iterations, deliver functionalities that help it achieve the desired commercial value, and allow frequent communication among team members increasing efficiency.
So, the change should be welcome, translated into a joint effort with the Product Owner and the Development Team to deliver on promises to the customer. Doing this will always reassure and gain customer trust. The scrum master must facilitate the process as much and transparently as possible.
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Article originally published in: https://www.concrete.com.br/2017/12/18/como-vender-a-metodologia-agil-ao-cliente/
