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Uniting discovery and agile to drive results
While the discovery phase of a project offers numerous benefits, it's important to understand its limitations and how it fits into the broader project lifecycle.
A new project begins, goals are defined and possibilities are explored to map the road for success. While this initial exploration is undoubtedly valuable, it’s essential to recognise its limitations and highlight the need for agility and user stories, delivering frequent value that meets the rapid demands of today.
However, as we'll uncover in this blog, true success comes from sustaining inquisitiveness far beyond the discovery stage, experimenting and remaining open to finding answers along the way.
Discovery is not a silver bullet
Whilst a discovery phase offers significant benefits, it's important to understand its scope and limitations. Let's first recap the key advantages of a well-executed discovery phase:
- Risk identification and mitigation: Uncover potential challenges early, allowing for proactive problem-solving
- Budget and resource clarity: Provide a clear understanding of budget requirements and aids in efficient resource allocation
- Objective prioritisation: Enable clients to define and prioritise objectives, ensuring focus on critical aspects
- Requirement validation: Aligning project requirements with business goals, usually defined through establishing the vision and curating the users stories, enhancing overall value
- Process transparency: Discovery creates visibility into the project roadmap, fostering stakeholder engagement.
These benefits lay a strong foundation for the project. However, it's important to recognise that discovery, despite its value is unlikely to provide all the answers or eliminate all uncertainties. Today's market is and always evolving and an agile approach allows your business to anticipate new challenges or opportunities that may emerge as projects progress.
The need for flexibility
Agile methodologies acknowledge that requirements can soon evolve and adaptation is key to success. Explore our more towards this agile, value-driven approach in our evolution to a HubSpot consultancy or book a quick chat with our experts today.
Combining discovery with agile for optimal results
By following the discovery phase with an agile project delivery method, you can:
Iteratively refine: Use the insights gained during discovery as a starting point, then continuously refine and adjust based on new information and feedback.
Respond to change: Quickly adapt to shifting priorities or unforeseen challenges that weren't apparent during the initial discovery.
Deliver value incrementally: Break the project into manageable chunks, allowing for earlier delivery of valuable features and the ability to course-correct if needed.
Maintain stakeholder engagement: Regular sprints and demos keep stakeholders involved and informed throughout the project, not just at the beginning and end.
Balance planning and execution: While discovery provides a solid foundation, agile execution allows for the right balance between planning and adaptive development.
The synergy of discovery and agile
Think of paid discovery as creating a well-informed roadmap, while agile provides the vehicle and navigation, adjusting the route as needed.
Discovery isn't always needed as the process of agile is continuous discovery, sometimes the best approach is to dive in and start delivering value as incremental delivery will always result in continuous discovery.
Optimal results utilise the best of both
Paid discovery sets the stage for project success by providing crucial insights and alignment at the outset. However, it's the combination of this initial understanding with the flexibility and responsiveness of agile delivery that truly maximises your chances of achieving optimal outcomes.
As you consider your next move, remember that discovery is just the beginning. Embrace it as a valuable first step, but be prepared to couple it with an agile approach to navigate the complexities and changes that inevitably arise in significant digital projects.
