Reading

The origin of agility,

its meaning and its characteristics
in the PM4R Agile methodology

Introduction
This reading will briefly explain the origin of agility and how this approach is
applied to the management of development and social impact projects. It will also
explain what the concept of agility within the PM4R Agile methodology of the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is and what are its characteristics.

Origin of the agility concept

The origin of the agile concept dates to 2001. On February 12 of that year,
seventeen software industry professionals met to review the procedures and rules
established up to that time for the development of software projects and to agree
on a new methodology that would better respond to the growing demand and
new needs of the sector.

This meeting resulted in a publication entitled "Agile Manifesto". Its authors chose
the term "agility" as the concept that encompasses methodologies and
frameworks that are highly adaptive to change.

The values defined in the Agile Manifesto imply a change of mentality, as well as
a change in the organizational culture of software companies, based on four pillars
that value:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

• Software that runs on comprehensive documentation.
• Collaboration with the client on the contractual negotiation.
• The response to change on the follow-up of a plan

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Agility in PM4R Agile
From the software industry, the concept of agility jumped to other private sectors,
such as startups (emerging companies) and other environments of innovation and
competitiveness in which it is necessary to be in constant renewal to stay in the
market. In the last ten years, agile implementations have also been observed in
the public sector, which have been successfully carried out.

The IDB developed the PM4R Agile methodology to work in the management of
projects, or parts of a project, especially those that are developed in a complex,
changing and highly uncertain environment.

Agility within the PM4R methodology represents a cultural change in the

management of development projects and a new way of working for the people
who make up a project team.

It is, therefore, about making a drastic change in the way of managing projects
and their most critical work, to obtain results with greater value and in less time,
understanding that creating new products does not happen sequentially, but
incrementally, as a result of teamwork.

Agility also affects the way risks are managed in a project. It enables what is
known as "organic risk management", i.e., risks are managed on a day-to-day basis
in a natural way, because they are part of the work dynamics.

Therefore, being agile is not simply using certain tools or practices or following a
specific methodology. Agility implies adopting a new way of thinking that is based
on agile values and principles.

Agility characteristics
In order to define the characteristics of agility within the PM4R methodology, the
following will explain what the four pillars of the Agile Manifesto (mentioned at
the beginning of this reading) mean, as applied to development and social impact
projects.

Persons
It is about valuing people more, since they are the central axis and the raison
d'être of development and social impact projects. This includes both the teams
that develop the project and its beneficiary population.

Processes and tools are also important, but never more important than people.
Processes should be as few as possible and, if necessary, they should be updated
or adapted so that they do not become an obstacle to the progress of the project.

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Deliveries of value
The aim is to adapt the design documents and reduce the bureaucracy related to
project approvals to deliver frequently and show tangible benefits as soon as
possible.

The earlier you deliver value, the faster you will get feedback, so you will find out
if there are problems and, if so, improve.

Frequent deliveries help to maintain simplicity in each period or sprint (pre-set

time interval for deliveries) and help the team focus on what is most important.
They also provide adaptability to course-correct and generate a better return on
social investment.

Collaborative teams
In the social world there are several clients: the project's beneficiary population,
the funders, the executing units, the government... and all of them are important.
For this reason, collaborative teams must be formed to achieve results and
respect the agreements adopted, as well as the legality of each country and
institution.

Agile work teams should be small, multidisciplinary, autonomous and

collaborative. Its members must be people with sufficient capacity and talent to
achieve the project's objectives and must be motivated, so they must be provided
with a safe space and sufficient support so that they can perform their work and
self-organize.

Flexibility in the face of change

In development and social impact projects, flexibility in the face of change must
be more highly valued, since these projects are developed in complex
environments where uncertainty exists. For this reason, it is necessary to re-plan
and make frequent adjustments to achieve progress as situations arise
throughout the course of each project.

Therefore, change is part of the nature of agile projects, as long as the pace of
work is sustainable and the teams do not have peaks of overload or, in the event
of the latter, the reason is analyzed and alternatives are proposed to avoid them.

In summary, the characteristics of agility in development and social impact

projects can be listed as the following:

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Figure 1: Agility characteristics in development projects.

Source: own elaboration

Although there are techniques, tools, methodologies, and processes to help apply
agility, the teams that apply the agile approach to their projects in a truly
successful way are those that manage to internalize these characteristics as part
of their mindset.

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Conclusions
Agility was born in the software industry to develop forms of project management
that were highly adaptive to change. Agility means having the ability to create in
uncertain environments and respond to change quickly in order to adapt and
achieve project objectives in an efficient manner.

For the IDB, agility means adopting a new way of thinking that is based on agile
values and principles and that makes it possible to manage projects that are
developed in a complex, changing and highly uncertain environment, so that
products with greater value are obtained in less time, as a result of an iterative,
incremental and teamwork process.

The four characteristics of agility present in development and social impact

projects are: focus on people, deliver frequently, have collaborative teams, and
show flexibility in the face of change.

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