Agile Trap: Sprint-based Waterfall
When thinking more about swapping agile values, I believe there’s an Agile trap teams or even organizations can fall into when saying they are Agile, but acting as if they are waterfall - enter what I have heard: “sprint-based waterfall”.
Time and Scope
To get to understanding what sprint-based waterfall is, we have to understand the difference between waterfall and Agile.
The primary differences are around how the organization manages time and scope for a project.
From my waterfall vs agile article, we can summarize the difference between waterfall and agile in terms of: scope, time, and resources as:
| Waterfall | Agile | |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | variable | fixed |
| Time | variable | fixed |
| Scope | fixed | variable |
Sprint-based Waterfall
In a “sprint-based waterfall”, this could be the scope, time, and resources:
| Waterfall | Agile | Sprint-based Waterfall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resources | variable | fixed | fixed (in general) |
| Time | variable | fixed | fixed by implementor and variable by stakeholders |
| Scope | fixed | variable | fixed by stakeholder and variable by implementor |
What the?? “fixed by implementor and variable stakeholder”?? “fixed by stakeholder and variable by implementor”?? How isHow is that a thing, it might as well just be all “variable” then, right? Who are the implementor and stakeholder?
Time
When time is “fixed by implementor and variable by stakeholder” - the implementation team works on a fixed period, like a sprint, to deliver the solution. The stakeholder can extend the deadline for the implemention.
Scope
When scope is “fixed by stakeholder and variable by implementor” - the stakeholder decides the final solution and the implementation team has to deliver it, with varying degrees of quality.
Usually stakeholders give more time whenever the implementation scope is unsatisfactory.
Agile AND Waterfall??
If we separate the Sprint-based waterfall fixed/variable items in terms of implementor or stakeholder, this is what we get:
| Implementor | Stakeholder | |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | fixed | variable |
| Time | fixed | variable |
| Scope | variable | fixed |
And this is where waterfall and agile can meet! The implementation group is operating in an “Agile” mindset (or at least believe they are). The stakeholders operate in a waterfall mindset (they control scope by deciding what is acceptable and giving more time to “get it right”).
Is this a Problem?
Well, ignorance is bliss, and it may be a problem for you now if your organization operates in this manner. 🤷
In my view, the problem would be the trick stakeholders play on implementors. Where the “end” just keeps on moving, further and further away at their whim.
For implementors, getting work done and moving on is essential. Nothing worse to morale than a project that keeps dragging on and on at an unkown whim.