Many organisations award work to vendors as Fixed price contracts often based on proposals submitted by vendors in response to client work tenders.
In past, vendors have applied waterfall methodologies to freeze work scope & even design specifications with client sign off before they proceed for detailed implementation to avoid project rework & overruns later.
However many clients don't have upfront visibility and detail clarity about all projects deliverable thus vendor often experience scope creep, rework during project acceptance phase.
Agile methodologies can help to manage this situation better along with proper project governance and change management processes. While Waterfall methodology is considered to freeze scope/ specs at every phase within contracts work boundaries, Agile also doesn't mean changes can be added in every iteration/ sprint.
Understanding projects WHY and WHAT is very important before HOW part is discussed with larger teams and stakeholders. Business Case, ROI/ KPI Reporting, Project Charter, Statement of Work, Business Requirements are some arefacts which can help define project landscape. Project managers have used Progressive elaboration technique to manage scope ambiquity to develop dynamic project plans. It allows to build clarity of work which is plan to be scheduled in next few weeks/ months thus minimizing risks of rework. A phased/ iterative execution approach is often used to manage various work streams of a large project.
Project contracts defines key deliverables & timelines which project manager should translate into required resources & efforts. Building a work break down structure (WBS) of contract scope will help project manager to understand which workstreams have higher level of clarity and which lacks same. This can then help to prioritize WBS items into different iterations.
Making customer and key stakeholders part of the project journey is key to running projects using agile methodology. Proper communication plan and periodic information sharing can avoid surprises/ conflicts and rework for project teams.
All revisions to product backlog (master WBS list) should be reviewed and agreed with designated change control board with project impact assessment details. Work from product backlogs should then move to release back log followed by sprint work plans.
Agile approach can help get structure requirements development & execution in a way which can minimize rework and delays later on.
