The expansion of Agile capabilities continues to be top of mind for insurer CIOs. As more insurers adopt a minimum viable product (MVP) approach in a bid to accelerate the delivery of key technology capabilities, successful implementation of Agile at scale is essential.
Last week, I hosted the 12th Virtual Meeting of the Novarica Women’s Network on the topic of the Agile advantage. Our panelists, Emergent Holdings Managing Director, Business Agility Susan Boyd; Glatfelter Insurance Group Senior Developer Samantha Ellis; and Pinnacol Assurance Director, Project Management and Agile Services Melissa Page discussed their experiences working on and leading Agile teams at their organizations. I’ve included some key takeaways from our conversation below:
Agile adoption offers great benefits to both business and IT teams. From a developer’s perspective, one of the greatest advantages to adopting Agile is the better understanding of business requests and desires by IT. When Waterfall methodology is used, any miscommunication between the business and IT is not immediately accounted for and addressed. As a result, the IT team may only find out that they misinterpreted the business’s request upon delivery of the final product, which ultimately slows the development process and widens the rift between business and IT.
Agile adoption does not come without certain challenges. One panelist shared that some experimentation around team size is required. Shrinking team size excessively creates just as many problems as supporting too-big teams. Small teams of seven to nine members seemed to work well for one panelist, while another cited teams of at least ten. Another issue that came up during the discussion was that of siloed developers who might be unwilling to embrace certain aspects of Agile methodology. Some developers may even view frequent deadlines as micromanagement and may push back by being less transparent and communicative.
Product owner organizational alignment varies. With Agile methodology, IT and business teams are required to work together throughout the entire development process. The role of the product owner is critical to the success of an Agile team. Panelists shared different views on whether the product owner is part of the business or IT. Everyone agreed that the product owner needs to have the full support of the business to effectively define the product and align priorities. Constant iteration of product and shared feedback across both business and IT teams is an added benefit. Agile methodology allows for quick and regular refinements of products, which not only creates stronger business/IT alignment, but also leads to generation of the best possible product for the consumer.
The next Novarica Women’s Network Virtual Meeting will take place on April 28, 2021, at 11AM ET on the topic of “Communicating to an Executive Audience.” Speakers include Novarica’s Vice President of Research and Consulting Nancy Casbarro. More information is available here.
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