As the next generation of IT process models emerge, we are seeing exciting opportunities. New trends like agile project management are providing a robust structure for enhancement of the IT project office. Agile began as a new way to “do” software development. As we learned more about the benefits in using this approach, agile practices began to be incorporated into broader project management. Agile is now on the cusp of breaking into IT governance, bringing us a lightweight decision-making process.
As agile methodologies gain momentum in the corporate world, we are seeing a growing trend in the higher education community as well. Agile in any form, whether it be software development, project management or IT decision-making, produces results quickly and allows teams to work together closely. With this in mind, institutions are finding agile to be a creative solution to meet the demands resulting from economic challenges.
Institutions ranging from small liberal arts colleges like Bates College in Lewiston, Maine to state-wide systems such as the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities have made the choice to adopt agile methods. Proof of this is the growth of the group called “ScrumU” formed in 2008 by IT leadership at Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest University. ScrumU was formed to share ideas on how to best implement agile and scrum, a popular flavor of agile, with the challenges and strengths in a higher education environment. The number of institutions interested in ScrumU has grown to over 25 schools and they have met regularly and with strong interest for the past 20 months.
As institutions look to innovative solutions to address economic challenges, three key benefits that may draw them to agile for development and implementation, project management and IT decision-making are:
1.) The focus on value
2.) The sense of accomplishment
3.) The ability to adapt to change
Focus on Value
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits for any organization using an agile model is the concentrated focus on what is referred to as Business Value. Business Value or, in Higher Education, what we may consider Value to the Organization, may be defined most simply as getting the “Biggest Bang for the Buck.”
The “bang” is the importance or value to the customer.
The “buck” is the difficulty or complexity of the technical solution.
Mathematically, the Value to the Organization is then calculated by dividing importance by complexity. For instance, consider this:
| Project |
Customer Importance |
Technical Complexity |
Value to the Organization |
Backlog Order |
| Project A |
120 |
100 |
1.2 |
3 |
| Project B |
100 |
20 |
5 |
1 |
| Project C |
90 |
40 |
2.25 |
2 |
Although Project B may have a lower priority, higher value is achieved organizationally by making Project B #1. In fact, Project C, with an even lower priority will still bring greater value to the organization than Project A due to the lower technical complexity.
Sense of Accomplishment
A second benefit of agile is the intense and frequent sense of accomplishment for the team. In agile, the work is broken into smaller activities that can be completed in 2-3 week cycles. The team is empowered to define what they believe can be completed in the 2-3 week cycle. At the end of the cycle, the team members celebrate the completion of all the completed work by demonstrating to the customer.
Agile also fosters continual self improvement. Each cycle, the team reflects together how well they performed and how they can work more effectively. Areas to improve are identified together as a team and activities are integrated into the following cycle so the team is self-improving continuously.
This intense sense of accomplishment leads to significant increases in morale that other models do not offer. This is illustrated simply by a comment to me recently from an agile/scrum team member at a university. He stated, “Scrum was the best thing that happened to our institution.”
Adapting to Change
A third benefit to agile is the ability to adapt to change quickly. How many times have we completed a long-term project, say anywhere from 6-18 months in duration, only to find that our end goal has now shifted? Where we thought we wanted to be at the start of our project is no longer where we want to be when we reach the end of our project because technology changed, our organization changed, life changed.
Agile project management suggests that work be defined with the concept of “Just Enough, Just In Time” in mind. In this emergent process, the agile model supports using the knowledge that we have gained to adapt the project and the product that we are developing or implementing.
The technical team and the customer can develop a partnership based on transparency and trust. Change then can be harnessed and even encouraged, allowing the needs of the customer to be satisfied.
Institutions implementing agile have seen these benefits and more. As the trend shifts toward adopting an agile model for development and implementation, project management and IT governance and decision-making at institutions such as those self-organizing in ScrumU, we will continue to learn more about how we can maximize the potential of agile in higher education. Challenging times can bring us enormous benefits if we open ourselves to the possibilities.