Agile Project Management: Five Obstacles to Agile Success

Proponents of Agile believe it is much more of a way of life, than just a way to run projects. After all, the tenets of Agile are motherhood and apple pie; it focuses on improved collaboration, reduction of waste, a focus on quality craftsmanship, and producing as much value as possible in as short a period of time. Professionals who have lived in the Internet society have shown significant frustration over traditional project methods (such as Waterfall), as too slow, to cumbersome, and a way to ensure nothing gets delivered. Agile proposes to be the opposite – to be nimble, flexible, fast but not careless or sloppy. The promise of Agile is higher quality output, a better work environment, and increased value. But getting there from here is fraught with obstacles. Let’s look at five of those, and discuss some solutions.