Managing change in agile projects
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A learner in my LinkedIn Learning online project management course asked, “Is it true that agile methodologies don’t require change management to handle new requests?” Actually, change management is baked into the Agile approach. Here is how Agile manages change using the terminology of traditional project methodologies.
There is a Change Control Board. In Agile, the team plays the role of the Change Control Board. When features are being developed and improvements are suggested, the team accepts or rejects them. When new features are proposed, the team determines whether they will be included in the product backlog. Like a traditional project approach, the team consists of both technical and business team members, so appropriate backgrounds come together to make change-related decisions.
Change requests are received and evaluated. During each sprint, the team examines the work in progress and discusses improvements. This serves the same purpose as the submission and evaluation of change requests in traditional methodologies. Similarly, when additional features are added to the backlog, the team examines and prioritizes them. If the team prioritizes them to be completed within the project’s schedule and budget constraints, the features are delivered.
The impacts of change are assessed. When a new feature is accepted, sized, added to the backlog plan and prioritized, the impacts on time and scope are evaluated. Sizing the feature describes the impact to cost. Adding the feature to the backlog changes the scope. If no features are removed when the new feature is added, then the scope is increased. If another feature is removed when the new feature is added because of time and/or cost considerations, that means the scope is managed according to the business value.
Change requests are resolved and communicated. Features that are developed come from the backlog. Any feature added to the backlog during sprint cycles is the equivalent of a change. Delivery of that feature is essentially the same as resolving a change request. Communication of change resolution occurs through the backlog status boards, iteration plans and release plans.
For more about Agile projects, check out the LinkedIn Learning Agile learning path.