Browsing by Author "Tiihonen, Kalle"

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    Effectiveness of Agile Project Management in Large Projects
    (2012) Tiihonen, Kalle; Erlingsson, Magnus; Tuotantotalouden laitos; Perustieteiden korkeakoulu; School of Science; Artto, Karlos
    The purpose of this study was to investigate the relevant characteristics of agile project management and effectiveness considerations in large projects. In addition, applying agile methodologies in a large project was included to the research topics. The study consists of the literature review and ten in-depth interviews in the case project. The case project was selected by its size: it was a large agile project that had more than 100 members involved in eight different teams, each team consisting of 8-15 persons. In addition, the project was deployed to 16 countries around the world. Majority of the literature sources suggest using agile methodologies only in small or medium-sized projects. Large agile projects are not common, thus not well-researched topic. The best-known source for agile methodologies is the agile manifesto that was written in 2001 by a group of IT experts. This study used the agile manifesto as a main framework for researching the case project. The case project indicated that agile elements in a large project are challenging, but not impossible to implement. Continuous product delivery, effective communication, prioritized product features by customer, small and highly skilled teams, collocated stakeholders, customer commitment and experience with agile methods were found from the case project. The mentioned elements helped the large project to be effective and agile. However, time-consuming software testing, strict and siloed processes, mini waterfalls and dealing with defects were the challenging factors that prevented the project to be fully agile. Concerning the interview results and effectiveness factors by Wateridge (1998, p. 60, 63), the case project seems to have majority of the factors: it meets user requirements, satisfies customer, meets quality and delivers working software on time. Successfully implemented agile elements help the project team for favorable outcome and improve the effectiveness. The profound question "why" is asked more often than question "what". The agile working methods enable doing right things because of the iterative nature. In addition, the quality prize from the customer's organization and willingness to expand the current agile working model to the other business units at the customer's organization are also strong evidences of effective agile project.