Top 10 challenges of Implementing Agile methodology

Agile methodology is mainstream nowadays. Furthermore, with time more projects are migrating from Waterfall to the Agile model. As per the market study, an agile software development project is 16% more productive and 37% faster because of its flexibility.

Besides, the success rate of a project when adopted Agile methodology is high. Also, its sprint-based delivery model never makes a project 100% fail. There are several agile failure case studies. However, despite its multiple benefits and popularity, Agile methodology has several challenges that work behind its failover.

According to PMI reference, the challenges of Agile methodology are associated with diverse problems with agile. They may occur due to many reasons, which include –

– the mismatch of the culture of the organization and its people

– how the agile methods have been implemented

– what all practices it follows and other factors. 

Hence, an Agile project faces several challenges associated with it when it comes to the question of successful implementation.

Additionally, we can say that no project is theoretically 100% Agile because of these challenges of agile methodology. As a consequence, in most cases, the hybrid agile method works as a solution. But what are all those challenges of agile methodology which can cause an agile project failure? Let’s explore 10 such challenges.

Read more - What are the Fundamentals of Agile?

Challenge #1. Selecting the right Agile methodology

This is the very first step in an agile software development project. Hence, if not taken properly, it will create one of the biggest challenges of agile methodology implementation. In fact, it will direct whether the project will work on the right track or not. Not all the projects are the right fit for Agile or Agile migration. Similarly, not all agile methodologies are suitable for every project.

For example, Scrum, Dynamic Systems Development Methodology (DSDM), Feature Driven Development, Crystal, and Extreme Programming advocate iterative development and the incremental software release. On the other hand, Lean and Kanban are continuous processes. However, Scrum is the most popular methodology used in the market as it is lightweight, easy to use, and clearly defines roles.

But which method should be adopted that merely depend on the popularity or availability of the methodology? It depends on many factors like -

- Whether the organization has the acceptance capability

- The project is the right match for that methodology

- The team is ready to accept technically

- Most importantly customer is available for time to time clarifications

Unless the above-mentioned factors match properly, the method won't work successfully.

Challenge #2: Improper communication may cause bigger challenges of agile methodology execution

Agile project management aims to develop a collaborative environment among team members. Hence, communication is one of the backbones to build up good relationships among the team members and streamline the project process. An agile project typically handles multiple teams. Hence, if the inter-team communication and intra-team are not transparent, it can jeopardize the project. This causes a lack of proper understanding of the method and project progress.

Besides, it helps in understanding the company culture. Also, timely feedback from the customer and stakeholder come under the communication category. Maintaining strong communication between teams, team members, and customers is definitely one of the serious challenges of agile methodology adoption.

Challenge #3: External and internal dependency assessment

As mentioned in the previous point, in an agile project, multiple teams may involve. Thus it is an open risk that the teams may have internal or external or both types of dependency. This can significantly affect the delivery timeline. Hence, it should be analyzed at the upfront.

However, as an agile project is a change process, the dependency can generate despite proper steps already taken for it. So, though Agile Manifesto says about responding to change over following a plan, it could be a real challenge in reality.

Challenge #4: Setting Agile values and principles in the team

The Agile project management practice needs to set appropriately across the team and management. Otherwise, it becomes difficult going forward to align with the changes and timeline. What does that mean? Assume a large scale enterprise project which is being operated from different global locations covering different time zones.

In such a situation, what will happen if the last minute change occurs during UAT execution? Will, the project team get proper user support always? So, it could be a potential business issue if such changes are not evaluated considering business aspects.

Challenge #5: Assessing interdependency between scrum teams

Agile software development project divides a whole problem into multiple solutions and delivers them iteratively. So, it is a typical scenario for large agile projects to consist of multiple scrum teams. These teams not only depend on each other's but also work parallel. Hence, coordinating among the teams is a pertaining issue to avoid any gap in agile methodology. This may ultimately lead to project failure or scope creep.

Challenge #6: Prioritizing the problems and getting teams on the same page

In agile software development projects, the budget is determined based on the product backlog, feature prioritization, changed business rules, and iteration planning. However, feature prioritization is an essential parameter among these, which are developed based on their priorities.

It is common to follow an agile methodology in an agile project; multiple scrum teams can work parallel. Hence, it is possible that the topmost priority for one team may not have the same weight as the others. However, the aggregated solutions from the teams are considered as an enterprise solution. But making this perception clear sometimes becomes a challenge, which can lead to a struggle during implementation.

Image source: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/agile-problems-challenges-failures-5869

Challenge #7: Proper leadership and decision issues

As the agile projects may have a cross-functional team; thus, multiple leaders may belong to the respective teams. Here, agile project management principles and the responsibilities must be crystal clear among the leaders and the teams. Otherwise, it may raise conflicts during team management activities. This could include member selection or replacement, decision making related to any issue solving, etc.

Challenge #8: Motivating the team in the proper direction

A good leader must not be a dictator rather a coach. Agile Manifesto prioritizes the human workforce over processes and tools. Thus Agile principle encourages Motivate, support, and trust the people involved in the project.

However, it is not as easy as it sounds to be. An agile project generally executes a leader who always needs to keep its resources on their toes! It is possible to face stubborn team members who are not easy going to adopt the deliverable frequent changes. Sometimes they are not even ready to present in simple daily scrum calls! Hence, generating trust towards him and establishing himself as a supportive leader sometimes become a mammoth task for a leader.

Challenge #9: Proper expertise among the team members

Each iteration in an agile project usually spread for a small duration, requiring expert execution from programmer perspectives. Also, it requires proper agile concepts among the members. Thus if an agile team lacks proper expertise in the respective field, it can turn into a danger for the estimated timeline. Sometimes this needs cross-functional roll out and hiring external Agile coach to teach the team properly.

Challenge #10: Testing challenges

Implementing agile methodology in testing often becomes a real challenge due to a code change for the unanticipated issues. Due to this, testing often lacks some test coverage. Consequently, it increments the task overhead for the testers as they need to identify the modules. Moreover, if frequent code changes happen, it becomes tough for the testers to test the modules every day.

Final verdict

To conclude, to make an agile project successful, the project manager must consider why they want agile. Moreover, they must assess how it will be adopted in the current situation. Here is a guideline from PMI to avoid some of the challenges of Agile methodology as mentioned in the article –

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