Gain insights into applying Agile methods in large projects and teams. Explore challenges, best practices, and strategies to secure organizational buy-in for successful implementation.

Agile methods allow us to handle rapidly changing requirements, typical in most software projects. These methods are conventionally used for small teams and software projects. However, in this course, you will learn how to effectively apply Agile methods to large software projects and large teams.

You’ll start with a recap of the Agile Manifesto, followed by a description of the common challenges associated with Agile methods in the context of large software projects. You’ll learn how Agile approaches have been applied to build responsibility. Next, you’ll learn about approaches to apply Agile methods in the processes. You will then learn best practices for applying Agile methods such as software testing, and software architecture. 

This course provides insights into successful and unsuccessful approaches to introducing agility to teams, processes, and technology aspects of large projects. It also teaches strategies to secure organizational buy-in for agility in the context of large projects and teams.

Applying Agile Methods to Large Teams and Projects

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## Resources
No matter how large the company and the project is, the team is almost never made up only of internal staff. So, although we can assume that the company has enough staff to not hire outside people, management will often find reasons why insourcing or outsourcing is required. When insourcing, individual external resources are contracted, often for the duration of the project. These external resources are always located on-site. When outsourcing, parts of the project are developed by a different company, usually off-site. Eventually, the company will do both insourcing and outsourcing.

Moreover, the problem often exists that staff members sometimes work on several projects in parallel. For example, they maintain an older system while developing another new system. This means that they are unable to devote all their time to the project.

All these different resource strategies can have a significant influence on the project. We'll look at them in detail and make some recommendations.

### Insourcing
It seems as if there are no large projects without external consultants. Although companies often claim that they want to get rid of them, they rarely do.



#### External consultant
External consultants typically provide some specific knowledge but, more importantly, they have an outside view of the project and the company and they can bring along their experiences from other companies and projects. This is why they play a special role when introducing change. The main advantage external consultants have over employees is that they are not aware of any political or social constraints between people and/or departments. It is also much easier for them to ignore the official communication flow. They are _allowed_ to ignore the hierarchy and can deliver information directly to the intended receiver. It is also much easier for externals to point out unpleasant things. They are not employed by the company so they do not have to fear the political and social consequences their work might have.

Unfortunately, sometimes external consultants are afraid of informing management about serious problems in the company. Of course, if the management is really stupid, this could cost the consultant the contract. Typically, management is grateful when someone finally lets them know what is going badly so they are aware of the serious problems before it is too late.

Another advantage of external consultants is that they are often unaware of the history of the organization. Sometimes, strange situations exist. For example, for historical reasons, Department A may not talk with Department B anymore, and vice versa. Alternatively, Department A may believe that Department B is always working against them. Consequently, Department A always tries to avoid Department B even though Department B may be able to provide really helpful skills. One problem with a situation like this is that it is either tolerated (“it has always been like this”), or management is not aware of the situation. Maybe management wonders why things turn out to be much more difficult than they ought to be. An external consultant might ignore the situation altogether, not knowing any better. They might just talk to Department B, unaware that this is politically unacceptable, although somebody will probably explain this to them. A good consultant would then try to find out why and eliminate the problem. Management has to rely on this kind of information because otherwise, it won’t be able to act accordingly.


Learn how to deal with challenges associated with insourcing and outsourcing in large projects.

Introduction to the Course

Agility and Largeness

Dealing with Large Teams

Dealing with the Process

Dealing with the Technology

Dealing with the Company

Putting It All Together: A Project Report (Case Study)

Final Thoughts

Resources: Insourcing and Project Members

Resources