SOFT FACTORS¶

The previous chapters have covered the various agile project management methods and frameworks, the so-called hard factors. Without these tools, no agile project can be managed and delivered. However, one important element has not yet been covered: The soft factors.

To work successfully in an agile project team, you need to know not only the agile methods, but also the soft factors, which will be discussed in more detail below.

Soft factors are relevant for every project, because a team that does not work together harmoniously will eventually not deliver a good product. Also stress - and conflict management play a major role in every project. However, since Kanban and Extreme Programming, unlike Scrum, are merely methods and not frameworks, the use of the soft factors and the associated responsibilities vary from project to project. In contrast, the roles in a Scrum project are clearly defined, so the soft factors in this chapter are explained using the Scrum framework. Of course, the soft factors can also be applied to other agile projects, so they are not limited to Scrum.