Hybrid Delivery on Trayix

Flexibility without losing control

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Many consultants still sell one true method. They arrive with a framework, a set of templates, and a firm belief that if the client follows it exactly, everything will work. We’ve seen that approach produce plenty of binders and not much delivery. There’s a better argument for letting teams choose how they work, and it now has some support from research.

PMI’s 2024 Pulse of the Profession report found that organizations can provide flexibility and empowerment without affecting project execution and performance. In other words, freedom doesn’t have to cost you control. That finding matches what we see in the field, and it gives leaders a reason to loosen their grip on method.

Retire the methodology wars

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 09:00:00 +0000

We started this series in 2013 with an article called “Waterfall isn’t the enemy.” Nearly a decade later, we’re glad to report that the argument has mostly run out of steam. Conference talks that once pitted agile against waterfall now spend their time on how to combine them. It’s time to retire the methodology wars for good, and to be clear about what should replace them.

Judge by outcomes, not loyalty

The wars were never about method. They were about identity. People who had built careers on one approach heard criticism of it as criticism of themselves, and consultants discovered that a strong allegiance sells. But a method is a tool. The test of a tool is whether it produces the result you need, in the time and at the cost you can afford.

Tailoring the approach to each project

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 09:00:00 +0000

A one-size-fits-all method has a certain appeal. Everyone learns the same templates, the same gates, the same vocabulary. The cost shows up later, when a three-week internal change carries the same paperwork as a multi-year infrastructure program. The alternative is tailoring: choosing the approach for each project based on what that project needs. It takes judgment, but you can structure it.

Assess the project first

Before choosing a lifecycle, understand the work. We look at six factors:

The case for hybrid delivery

Wed, 08 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Walk into almost any large organization and you’ll find a mix. The contract with a supplier follows a fixed plan. The regulatory filing has a date set by someone outside the company. Meanwhile, the software team down the hall works in two-week iterations and changes its priorities as it learns. Nobody designed this combination. It just happened. We think the better approach is to design it on purpose.

Why mixing makes sense

Plan-driven (predictive) methods suit work where scope is clear, change is costly, and commitments are external: procurement, construction, contracts, and regulatory milestones. Iterative (adaptive) methods suit work where you’re still learning what the customer needs: product and software development. A program that includes both is normal, not a failure of discipline.