采用新技术是提高生产力的一种方式。另一种方法是简单地削减费用。更好的方法是提高其员工用来完成工作的方法和技能。敏捷方法通过更有效的沟通和高度响应客户需求来实现生产率。
对于读者不熟悉敏捷方法，请考虑以下几点。虽然为软件开发创建了敏捷方法，但它现在正在更广泛地应用。例如，法律行业 - 长期以来为其监管而闻名，重点关注传统 - 已经开始采用敏捷。合法的人, for example, uses the agile approach to produce services for its customers.
- TheManifesto for Agile Software Development（于2001年发布）说明：“将信息传达给发展团队中的最有效和有效的方法是面对面的对话。”
- According toHP research, agile practices were adopted by a majority of organizations in 2011-2012.
- 敏捷项目的失败率较低，而不是传统的瀑布项目。根据这一点2011年Chaos报告，敏捷项目有9％的失败率。相比之下，该研究发现，瀑布项目的失败率为29％。
- 敏捷培训和认证计划。敏捷认证的领先组织包括Scrum Alliance本月和项目管理itute (i.e.PMI敏捷认证从业者).
广泛说话，敏捷方法的发展强调速度和密切的通信。实现敏捷的最佳效果需要一个连接良好的团队。对于许多组织来说，获得敏捷福利的最佳方式在于定位在同一地点的员工，以减少通信摩擦。
从离岸项目到敏捷咨询
Mark Arntz, a consultant with ASPE, has become an advocate for the agile methodology to achieve better results. ASPE is a North American training company specializing in all aspects of the software development life cycle (SDLC).
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早期将原型产品掌握到客户的手中是敏捷的关键效益。他对敏捷的观点是通过在2000年代初的一个具有挑战性的项目获悉。那时，Arntz正在管理一个在围绕时钟工作的项目。从国外访问低成本的工作人员是该项目的关键驱动因素。但是，Antz的美国团队发现它在文件和返工上花了相当大的团队来维护质量标准。
In contrast, Arntz has seen significant productivity gains using agile and in person teams. “Given a six-month project, it could be three months to see any kind of prototype with a waterfall approach. In agile, it would be less than a month to see a prototype. In waterfall, the change process is often very difficult to navigate. In agile, we say change is good and we recognize opportunity cost incurred by change,” says Arntz.
The agile emphasis on face-to-face interaction and cooperation makes a difference to productivity. “With in-person communications, we can write a diagram in a meeting room. We can then start working on developing the product immediately afterwards. It is also easier and faster to do problem solving. Managing a growing volume of documentation means less time to work on the product,” says Antz.
“With increased distance between project team members, I see an increased need for documentation. More time spent on documentation means less time on software production,” he says. The cost of increased documentation and other formal communication is an important variable to consider as you plan your next technology project.
使敏捷与全球发展团队合作
面对面的互动有助于生产力。不幸的是，它并不总是可能的。如果您的组织有基于该国的开发人员，工程师和项目经理或进一步偏见？使得安排有效地挑战。敏捷仍然可以有助于一个支持性文化。
“Success with agile methodology is 5 percent due to the tools used and 95 percent due to the culture,” says Scott Rose, senior director of product management at Collab.net. Collab helps organizations develop enterprise-scale software with collaboration technologies. To support Collab staff located around the world, Rose periodically has early morning and late evening meetings. “It is important that we rotate the schedule – we don’t want one time to feel that they are always the ones who have to stay up late,” Rose says.
Collab’s customers include major organizations such as HP, Intel, Sun Microsystems, the Project Management Institute and Siemens. Cultural adoption of agile is driven by several factors including training and a willingness to try new approaches.
“Our agile approach starts with feedback,” Rose says. “We take in customer requests for enhancements, bug reports and internal suggestions and add that to our backlog.” Collab.net uses Salesforce to collect and manage customer feedback and deliver customer service. Collecting and managing customer feedback in a systematic way means complaints and requests are rarely lost in the shuffle.
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“用敏捷，我们可以将范围切成小容易管理，并将那些人付诸生产，”罗斯说。“通过在Sprint中提供新功能和增强功能，我们可以保持势头并对客户响应。”逐步提供小功能使得更容易调整和采取新方法。相比之下，传统方法强调变革管理和广泛的控制。风险不利组织可能更喜欢这种方法。如果您的组织优先于创新，采用敏捷是值得努力的。
在2016年在您的组织中采用敏捷？
Before you promote the agile methodology at your organization, take the time to do your research. Without a background on the philosophy, agile may be misunderstood as the latest in a long line of management fads. Here are a few specific points to explore as you plan your goals (and productivity improvement efforts) for the New Year:
- 确定您的项目生产力挑战。Finding out your organization’s current problems is the starting point. Some problems – speed, efficiency and productivity – may be improved with agile. If you have a large organization to manage, consider gathering feedback with survey service such as Survey Monkey.
- 确定对新想法开放的团体。作为IT领导者，您将知道您组织中的哪些人对新想法开放。他们是经常试验新软件的工作人员，投资培训努力，也许有助于开源项目。
- Ask the group to experiment with agile.在与早期采用者组会面中，向他们解释实验。您可以选择突出本文提到的一些敏捷案例研究和调查。此外，您可能会为第一个Sprint提出几种可能性。例如，您的第一个敏捷项目可用于解决长期支持的客户服务问题，例如修复订单跟踪工具。
This story, "How to improve productivity with agile" was originally published byCIO. .