Transitioning to #agile is hard work. Especially if all involved are used to the waterfall approach. I have this analogy which might help the conversation… It reflects some of my experiences with bad waterfall.
The user community and IT community are in a large farmers field.
Between IT and the user community is a large stack of hay bales. To high to see over. On one side, is the user community, on the other is the IT community. The IT community have a small bucket to which the user community are trying to throw in small stones. Remember, neither team see each other due to the high hay bales. The process is simple, the IT and user community with want to get the stones over the hay bales and then into the bucket.
The user community throw over the stones, thinking either their stones are landing in the bucket or that the IT are picking them up and putting them in the bucket.
Not so in most cases…
What is actually happening is that the user community are throwing the stones over the hay bales. The IT are being hit by stones randomly, some fall into the long grass, some they find and pick up to put in the bucket but drop again, some they find and do manage to get into the bucket. On rare occasions the user community manage to get some into the bucket, but the success rate isn’t high.
The IT community are expecting 30 stones to be thrown over, they have a bucket sized for 30 stones. One of them diligently counts the number is stones being thrown over and soon realises that they have had nearer 70 stones come flying over. Needless to say they carry on trying to fill the bucket.
This is a timed event. The horn goes and all people stop. The IT team have managed to get some stones into the bucket, but some are covered in mud, some are not the stones the user community through over and there is a good amount of chaff and straw that has been included in the hurry.
The user community is disappointed as its not what they were expecting to see.
#Agile can help remove the hay bales and allow the two teams to see each other, count the stones as they pass them along an organised line and into the bucket. Please note, it will help and not completely solve. You need willing from the people. You still need the teams to agree to work together, counting the stones, carefully passing them between each other and ensuring that no straw or mud gets stuck on then as they move along.
Stones will always get fumbled and some will drop, but as a unit, they can all help pick it up, clean it and ensure that it gets back on track.
The other thing that is that everyone can see the order the stones are being out in the bucket. The user community can witness and influence the stones they want to go in first, ensuring it aligns to what they need. In this new process, if the horn goes off, at least the user community have got the stones in the bucket they most wanted… And they will be the stones they expect, in the order they wanted and with minimal mud and straw.