The turn of the century saw the birth of a framework known as the Agile. 17 developers came together to develop an alternative to documentation driven-heavyweight software.
This led to the inception of the Agile Manifesto in 2001. With this introduction setting the prologue for the definition of Agile.
What is Agile?
Agile framework is a specific approach to project development to planning, managing, and implementation. It is an iterative process that includes continuous testing, testing, integration, and other forms of continuous development.
The Agile Manifesto is centered on the Agile values-
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Reasons Organizations are choosing an Agile Approach
If you’ve clicked on this blog post to know the reasons why organizations are choosing an Agile approach, then be all ears.
Here are 10 reasons why organizations are adopting Agile
- Best in class product
Regular testing takes the centre stage in the Agile development process. This minimizes the chance of bugs when the product hits the market. The client is made a part of the development process so that the product can be developed as per their requirements.
Agile is based on iterations and mistakes in the current sprint don’t happen in the next. This paves the way for a best-in-class product.
- Customer Satisfaction
Customers are a priority in the agile process since their feedback is accommodated at every stage of the product development. The waterfall method only involves the client in the planning stage which leads to a poor output.
By making a customer a part of the development process, you’re making a product that meets their expectations. Since a working product takes precedence over documentation, you can launch your product to their customers. This gives the time to market and first mover advantage.
- Minimized risks
Agile minimizes risks in the product development since it happens in sprints. These sprints or iterations focus on the principle of continuous delivery. Things that don’t happen as planned can always be worked on in the next sprint.
- Enhanced flexibility
Agile methodology offers the benefit of flexibility. Cross functional teams work in small sprints and are assisted by the Product Owner as to what features to be built.
Since Agile focuses on sprints that last between 1-4 weeks, work is divided and things are worked on according to priority. These are realistic and manageable which makes it highly flexible.
- Constant Improvement
The 12th Agile principle states ‘At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.’
In simple terms, the work in agile happens in sprints. Every mistake happening in the sprint should lead to continuous improvement. Mistakes occurring in the previous sprint should not occur in the next.
Every sprint is an opportunity to learn and improve.
- Boosts team morale
Agile teams have an advantage over run of the mill teams. Can you guess what that could be?
They are self-organized and independently managed which gives them the authority to make decisions. This autonomy helps the leaders guard the team from the unnecessary subjugation of the stakeholders and management.
- Better Authority
Agile enables managers to have better authority over projects because of its transparency, regular feedback, and quality check. The stakeholders are kept in loop regarding the progress through advanced dashboards and other reporting tools.
- Crystal clear communication
The Agile methodology prioritizes face to face communication and continuous interaction. Daily stand-up meetings are conducted to update the progress till date.
This avoids any confusion between teams and other stakeholders.
- Boosts predictability
Agile is a time bound approach that is iterative. Since each iteration is 1-4 weeks, new features are built quickly thus improving the predictability. If the market is conducive, a minimum viable product can be launched to see customer reception.
- User Centric
Agile favours the customers. It factors in their needs where user stories come in handy. The user stories have business-oriented acceptance criteria to describe the product features.
By having user stories that describe the perspective of the end user, every feature can be built in a sprint and tested to determine business value.
Conclusion
By now it should be clear as to why organizations are choosing an Agile Approach. If you’re still thinking, there you’re going to miss out on superior quality products, customer satisfaction, better authority, minimized risks, better predictability.
The list continues with user centric products, transparent communication, upgraded flexibility, improved team morale, and continuous improvement.
So, grab the opportunity while you still can!
Author Bio_________________________________________________ Naveen Kumar Singh is an Agile Coach and a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST), facilitates Scrum Master Training, Scrum Developer, Product Owner, Agile, Kanban, and LeSS Practitioners as well as provides agile technical workshops. Naveen is active in the agile community and participates in major events as a speaker and volunteer. He has also presented papers in Global Scrum Gatherings as well as in many other Scrum Alliance conferences and meet-ups.