Agile coaching: The knowledge management perspective

Abstract

Currently, almost half of IT projects are managed in a traditional, sequential, plan-based manner. The leading development methods, successful for decades, are based on the so-called waterfall model. However, rapidly changing business environments push software development companies to adapt newer, leaner and more agile development methods. They promise development teams to welcome changing requirements, deliver software quickly and respond to new customer requests instantly. This is why transition to agile, mostly scrum-based development methods have been common lately. In order to avoid learning from their mistakes, companies usually seek help while adopting agile practices, related knowledge and experiences. Professionals, Agile Coaches, offer it. This paper summarizes the rationale for adopting agile methods, the role of an Agile Coach in this area, and the knowledge needed and offered by Agile Coaches. The correct selection of knowledge management facilities is critical in this process; this is why we also present them. We present our own experiences as an example of a successfully executed coaching project. The outcome is rather interesting: A novel agile development method implies lowering the degree of ICT support in an application’s development lifecycle. On the other hand, we managed to level up the communication between employees. As a result, general project-related knowledge increased.