Agile project management methodology applied in non-software development industry

Authors

dos Reis Sales, Ariane

Issue Date

2016

Degree

MBA in Project Management

Publisher

Dublin Business School

Rights

Items in Esource are protected by copyright. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/copyright holder.

Abstract

Agile Project Management is a popular method within the Software Development area, and has been pointed as responsible to deliver faster projects where change is accepted and uncertainty managed. Nonetheless, the positive impact on communication where different areas must work together, collaborating and eliminating formal and heavy procedures .Although, those benefits are outstanding in the past years and other Industry sectors that are not software related, started to adopt and adapt the practices into their projects in order to have better results. This research proposes to explore trough qualitative analysis the effectiveness of the method and how metrics as budget, time and quality have been achieved. Additionally in what way communication have evolved within these teams and how physical environment can affect it. Professionals from different sector using Agile in their project, where a final deliverable is not a software, were involved in this investigation. From data collected generalisation and conclusions were developed based on statements and literature. There is an overall consensus that Agile it is effective in decreasing lead time on these projects, delivering high customer satisfaction, with minor deviations presented in the budget metric. Communication within team have presented positive improvements, followed by personal development. Investment on physical environment and team organisations played an important role in this outcome. The practices can also benefit non-software sector, although some similarities in the nature of the project are needed such as release in slots, constant change, and flexibility in scope and most important is people mind-set to embrace and make methodology succeed. Professionals must bear in mind that transition and implementation requires training, change management and especially high executive support in order to bring agility to all levels in the organisation for solid results. Author's keywords: Agile, non-software, project metrics, team communication.