Many companies begin testing agile software development methodologies with a very small pilot program. Oftentimes, these pilot projects are very successful. But when the company begins scaling out agile to all of its developers, they often encounter problems that weren’t seen in the pilot program.
“Quite often a pilot project gets a lot of attention: You have access to more resources in terms of external coaching, training and attention from senior management because everyone is watching and wants to make the project successful,” explained Flowmotion business productivity coach Collin Lyons. “When you expand agile [out], you can underestimate how much those things contributed to the pilot project’s success.”
This lengthy article offers an in-depth examination of the challenges in scaling agile practices.