Project management frameworks come and go, but with more than twenty years of practical application and adjustments, Agile is most definitely here to stay.
2023 saw Agile jobs remain among the most secure in the market, with Agile Professionals continuing to influence industry standards. According to Motion Recruitment’s IT Salary Guide, despite uncertainty in 2023, the tech industry will continue to grow in 2024, with project management playing a vital role in that growth. With agile roles such as Product Owner, Developer, Business Analyst and Scrum Master equipping organizations with the skills that they need to not just survive, but thrive in a turbulent market environment, it is no wonder that businesses of all sizes are committed to filling Agile roles; here’s what we can expect in 2024 and beyond.
A continued focus on customer experience
Since the Agile Manifesto was signed in 2001, the world of technology has transformed beyond recognition, however, the tenets of the manifesto remain appropriate.
Agile’s commitment to functionality with an emphasis on “individuals and interactions over processes and tools” enabled the world to respond effectively to the disruptions caused by the global pandemic as well as continuing changes and challenges across industries. Agile exemplifies a dexterous, responsive and proactive approach and as the world changes at a rapid rate, it is likely that we will continue to see Agile acting responsively, with change driven by customers as opposed to the bane of a COO’s life: change for change’s sake.
An Agile/AI compromise
For a framework that explicitly puts people before processes, there may be some tension between Agile and AI and machine learning. There is speculation that, while AI currently informs many organizational activities, Agile will retain control of the process, striving to organically incorporate automation and the many benefits of AI and machine learning without losing the sense of self that is central to Agile’s ethos.
Scale will remain a priority
The enforced nimbleness of even the largest and most cumbersome organizations during the pandemic demonstrated that size doesn’t have to mean immobility and can be attributed in part to the rising desire within large organizations to become more agile. SAFe – Scaled Agile Framework, is designed to apply the Agile principles at a much larger scale. While there may be initial (and some may say inevitable) teething problems, the ideal outcome of an organization-wide Agile approach will almost certainly make the inevitable tensions worth it.
More Agile, more motivation
With Agile becoming seamlessly integrated across departments, it is likely that employees will experience increased job satisfaction and motivation. Agile provides a framework in which team members can express their creativity and work freely within the set framework, simultaneously providing boundaries and freedom. The manifesto states that it will give motivated individuals the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done; by implementing an Agile approach, organizations can expect to see rising motivation and, hence rising productivity.
A greater demand for multitaskers
Previously, Agile Professionals would be employable based on the possession of one core skill with Scrum Masters and Product owners stepping into posts with ease. According to Scrum Alliance, the conventional “T” model of expertise, where the vertical stroke of the letter depicts a single skillset, is no longer attractive to employers, who are instead looking for a Pi configuration (with two or more strong skillsets). For example, Scrum Master may no longer be the strongest candidate when competing against a Scrum Master with technical and stakeholder management skills. In order to remain employable within the changing and increasingly competitive market, Agilists need to continue to develop their skills, adding more levels of expertise so that they can best serve their organization.
The challenge of the emergence of the need for multiple skills is for organizations to find candidates with the right combination of skills. Forward thinking executives may consider identifying appropriate in-house talent to reskill or upskill, equipping them with a suite of skills that will meet anticipated needs so that the internal resources are available when required.
Agile has proved itself to be just that, proving impactful for organizations of all sizes across industries. For those looking for Agile jobs now and in the future, it is advisable to remember that developing Agile capabilities is likely to be a wise investment, with an emphasis on a broad skillset.
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