How to measure Agile Success?
Within the past decade, many organizations have implemented the Agile Methodology in their company knowing all the benefits that Agile could offer them. Agile has been a buzz around not only the software manufacturing market but also in other industries such as aerospace, finance, and banking, architecture, construction, government projects, etc. Many organizations are hiring Agile experts and Agile coaches to train their employees about the Agile implementation and the mindset that they need to develop so that the Agile transformation could be successful. Several organizations initially expect drastic changes in their company after the implementation of Agile. However, while implementing Agile is a big step, not every company that has transformed into Agile is successful. There would be much friction that they have to face during and after the implementation of Agile. Also, a measurement of success is crucial as it can clearly show the success or failure of the company.
Agile Metrics are measurement tools or strategies employed by companies to measure the success of Agile implementation in the company. The company needs to measure its success as it would give them an idea of how Agile has made changes in the company and also they could calculate their business value with the Agile metrics. The Agile Metrics shows how much the company has succeeded or failed before the Agile transformation. This measurement would help the company to see whether they are making any progress or not. Hence, they could change their strategy according to the Agile metrics and help their company succeed in the market. Various types of Agile Metrics could measure a company's success. Every company can use these metrics or parameters according to their needs and understanding. Let us discuss more types of Agile success parameters or Agile metrics.
Agile KPIs: How to Measure Agile Success?
Choosing the best Agile Metric is easier said than done. It takes a keen set of eyes to judge and understand which parameter would best suit the organization and which one would be appropriate to measure success. However, we have valuable information from the recent stage of the Agile report that could tell us more about the popular methods by which organizations measure their success. This is the 14th state of Agile report that has been examined that provides more insights about the metrics that most of the respondents are using for their organization. The 14th state of Agile is the most recent report released that accounts for various aspects of the Agile world. This year over 40,000 respondents have participated in the survey. Hence, the results seen over the Agile success metrics would be more accurate. Let us have a look at the most popular Agile success metrics among most of the Agile organizations.
Here is a list of Agile success metrics recorded from the survey along with the percentage of respondents that selected it.
54% of the respondents organizations believe that customer satisfaction is a top measure for Agile success and also consider business value as a yardstick for success.48% consider on-time delivery.
45% agree that quality is an important factor.
44% say that if their business objective is achieved.
40% consider productivity to be a success measurer.
37% say that their organizational culture/morale is the reason for Agile success.
35% go with process development.
33% predictability.
29% with project visibility.
15% say that product scope gives an idea of Agile Success in the organization.
Customer Satisfaction
The survey found that 58% of respondents' organizations considered that Agile success can be measured based on customer satisfaction. There are multiple ways to measure customer satisfaction such as net promoter score, number of support calls vs the number of features delivered within a period, sales figures, and usage statistics of the site or product capabilities. Agile organizations consider that customer satisfaction is a prime factor for the measure of success of their company as it is the customers that have to use the product developed by the company. By measuring customer satisfaction by the several methods mentioned, companies can keep a track of their success metrics and use it to motivate their employees to grow in the industry.
It is important for Agile companies to always consider the perspective of the users while developing the product as they are the ones who are using it. When they are satisfied with the product that the developers build, it becomes a great way to measure the success of the company. Hence, customer satisfaction remains one of the top Agile Key Performance Indicators that effectively shows the success of the company.
On-Time Delivery
According to the survey, 48% of respondents believe that time-delivery measures the success of their Agile initiatives. Agile fixes the time is taken to develop each iterative and strictly schedules the product releases but the scope of the project is flexible. This makes the term on-time ambiguous. Here the term on-time theoretically means that the project releases are always on time. However, time is generally measured in context with the expectations about what product releases are to be delivered. This measurement can be made effectively by using the out-of-the-box metrics of burndown or burnup charts.
By continuously delivering the product releases and delivering them on-time, Agile companies have seen significant success in their business value. Burndown charts have made it simple and easier to track the progress of the team as they are reaching the expected deadline. This makes the work environment productive and pushes the team to perform better. And ultimately delivering the product on-time, Agile companies maximize their business values and become more successful.
Product Quality
A total number of 45% of respondents from the survey agree that the success of their Agile initiatives is measured through product quality. Product quality depends on the effective leadership of everyone working on the team. With creative minds working on the product and the team collaborating successfully, the product quality remains high. Product Quality could be measured using different aspects such as revenue growth, customer satisfaction, considering the technical aspects of development which is conducted through the development life cycle. Measuring quality among the Agile teams has an interesting approach. The quality could be measured by the velocity of completing working software with quality built-in. Monitoring the quality of the product includes constantly overseeing the testing trends along with continuously inspecting the build and code health. Using these techniques one can have a graphical idea about the product quality and could measure the success of their company.
Business Objective
Almost 44% of respondents from the survey believe that the accomplishment of their business objective has been a key indicator in their organization's success. As most organizations begin with a strong objective for their business, it should always be simple and clearly understood by everyone. Measuring whether the business objective is met is quite explicit as we know that the company has to function by adhering to its business objectives. Hence, stating the business objectives and fulfilling them would be a great indicator for the success of the Agile organization. One has to understand that the Agile business objectives are the definition of the results that have to be achieved, and once the team archives its results, it becomes an important factor to measure their success.
Productivity
About 40% of the respondents from the survey have answered that productivity is a key indicator of Agile success. Productivity is one of the top five major indicators that shows the success of the company. The concept of productivity in the Agile world focuses more on the measurement of outcomes and less on the outputs. Productivity can be measured by looking at the burnup charts for the value a product has provided. Also looking at the burnup chart for the count of stories or features overtime becomes a great way to understand how much the team is delivering over a specific amount of time. Productivity becomes an integral part of Agile success as the number of successful product releases determines how much the company is productive. Measuring productivity with the methods mentioned could significantly help the company to measure its Agile success.
Organizational Culture/Morale
Organizational culture or morale was not given much importance in the past decades, but companies realized slowly that a company whose employees are happy are the successful ones. The Agile environment with an Agile mindset is one of the driving forces for the success of the company. The survey revealed that 37% of the respondents believe that organizational culture and morale was one of the major factors that helped the company become successful. But how can the satisfaction of employees be measured? It should be done in a simple yet effective way. By taking surveys that would include questions about the job satisfaction and happiness of the employees has proven to be a great way to measure how happy or satisfied the employees are working for the organization. There are also various apps such as Happy Index, Friday, office vibe, that would conduct anonymous surveys and determine how happy the employees are. The workplace environment should be cheerful and also challenging for employees. This would promote growth for the individuals and also for the organization as a whole.
Process Development
According to the survey, about 35% of the respondents agree that process development is an essential factor for measuring the Agile initiative. Process development implies that there is always room for improvement of the process. The more improvement that takes place in the process, there are more chances for the company to become successful. There are cumulative charts that show how well the work is flowing through the development lifecycle. The chart also shows the places where there are slowdowns and bottlenecks, which could be pointed out and improved. Another method is to use the cycle tie which is a great metric to view how the process has performed over time. The tweaks and adjustments of the process could be seen by the team where the team can analyze whether they are having any impact on productivity.
Predictability
About 33% of the respondents have said that they measure the success of their Agile process with the help of predictability. Assessment of predictability can be done successfully by using a predominant metric called Velocity Trend. The Velocity Trend shows how much work has been finished at a sustainable pace on an average for a period of three to four-month. When the velocity of the team widely fluctuates, it means that the team is changing and the work is becoming more unpredictable. It also implies that the team is still getting used to define the work that they could complete in one iteration. Hence, using the Velocity Trend chart, one can track the performance and determine whether the team's output is at a predictable state.
Project Visibility
Approximately 29% of the respondents have said that the project visibility is their choice for the success of their Agile initiative. To build proper project visibility, one of the key elements to incorporate is transparency. This means that the plans for the project should be open to all and the progress should be visible to all. This transparency of the project would provide different perspectives for different Stakeholders and these Stakeholders can make sense of the project in their way. Agile metrics that show the features and overall progress against a targeted plan is one of the great ways to measure project visibility. Project visibility also gives an alignment among the internal teams such that they can manage their work by doing their best.
Product Scope
The survey revealed that 15% of the respondents believe that the product scope is a great way to measure the success of their Agile initiatives. Setting goals for what has to be completed for the next three months and tracking the status of the goals is a rewarding process. The scope of the product can be tracked by looking at its progress over a period. Agile software development projects can always rely on the burndown charts for looking at the progress of the project. Also, looking at the cards that move from left-to-right on the project Kanban board can give a picture of the progress of the project.
Conclusion
As Agile companies are exponentially increasing over the past decade, it is very important to track down the success of the company using the Agile key performance indicators. Many companies can adopt Agile but there would be only a few companies that would succeed in this Methodology. Measuring the success of the company becomes a crucial factor for any company to survive. By reviewing the 14th state of Agile survey, it has become clear that the above-mentioned factors are the major points that companies look for to measure their Agile success. Hence, by using these metrics, companies could measure their successes and work on the factors more effectively to drive the organization into a successful one.
References
- https://www.cigniti.com/blog/10-parameters-to-measure-the-success-of-your-agile-efforts-2/
- https://stateofagile.com/#ufh-i-615706098-14th-annual-state-of-agile-report/7027494
Useful Links:
Leading SAFe Training Bangladesh, CSPO Online Certification Manchester, Advanced Certified Scrum Master Course Training Durham, CSM Training Madison, Advanced Certified Product Owner Certification Seattle, CSPO Online Training United Kingdom, Leading SAFe Certification Training Coimbatore, Product Backlog Vs Sprint Backlog, Advanced Certified Product Owner Online Training Hartford, Certified Scrum Product Owner Certification Newark
