Why and how to build a relationship with Customer in Agile Projects
The very first thing you must do to become Agile is establish a good relationship with your customers, users, and domain experts; who ever it is that directly or indirectly pays for your work. The first symptom of a damaged customer relationship is when your customer considers it a waste of time to participate in the project. You may have delivered software that just doesn't meet return on investment (ROI). In any case your customer is important and you need to repair your relationship first. One way to start a partnership with your customers is to listen to their needs and respond immediately. The best way to guarantee your customer's time (and thus money) isn't wasted is to involve them enough to guarantee success. Respect your customer by acknowledging their expertise, listen carefully, defer to their authority, and never insert your own opinions into your code. Communicate with your customers simply and in a language they understand. If your customers think b...