This is a question we have seen floating around recently, and many people have passionate views about it. I myself have shared a very opinionated take previously. That is still largely how I feel about the whole situation. In a nutshell: It depends. And I don't mean it in a way of not taking sides and being on the wall, just that it largely depends on the framing we are talking about.
In fact, agile has become more of an expected skill in technology people than the need to have a team dedicated exclusively to it.
I've noticed that the agility team at the company where I work has practically disappeared. Currently, we only have one senior agilist who acts as a consultant for the different teams in the company. He helps define processes and methodologies, but is not present in the day-to-day running of the teams.
Previously, I had someone dedicated exclusively to agile in my team, but I didn't see much real benefit, given the cost involved and the number of times meetings were held to review processes and define things that barely helped us at all. It's useful to have someone to help with daily organizational tasks, but I always questioned whether we really needed it, it took up a lot of the team's time and that comes at a cost.
Nowadays, I realize that the market is demanding these skills more in management positions (especially product-related positions). I don't think companies expect you to play the role of an agilist, but rather to understand the principles of agile and know how to apply them on a day-to-day basis. It's important to know how to plan and how to effectively conduct software development based on objectives and stories defined for the product, and agile helps a lot with this.
In fact, agile has become more of an expected skill in technology people than the need to have a team dedicated exclusively to it.
I've noticed that the agility team at the company where I work has practically disappeared. Currently, we only have one senior agilist who acts as a consultant for the different teams in the company. He helps define processes and methodologies, but is not present in the day-to-day running of the teams.
Previously, I had someone dedicated exclusively to agile in my team, but I didn't see much real benefit, given the cost involved and the number of times meetings were held to review processes and define things that barely helped us at all. It's useful to have someone to help with daily organizational tasks, but I always questioned whether we really needed it, it took up a lot of the team's time and that comes at a cost.
Nowadays, I realize that the market is demanding these skills more in management positions (especially product-related positions). I don't think companies expect you to play the role of an agilist, but rather to understand the principles of agile and know how to apply them on a day-to-day basis. It's important to know how to plan and how to effectively conduct software development based on objectives and stories defined for the product, and agile helps a lot with this.
It’s starting to feel like this to me too as a Scrum Master and I’m not sure how to pivot in this complex world.