The Agile methodology is one of the fastest-growing approaches that software development companies have been adopting lately. The Agile method has been proven to be of immense help in assisting companies to create successful products. This is mainly because of how focused Agile is on teamwork and how much importance it gives to customer satisfaction. Creating project roadmaps and continuously evolving them with the changing needs of the consumer is another reason why Agile projects are so successful.
Agile methods give companies frameworks they can use to complete their projects in an effective manner. All the project needs and requirements are listed in the framework and all projects progress in a smooth manner. This is a much better way of managing projects when compared to the traditional waterfall method. The waterfall method did not take into account the changes in the market and competitors, along with the changing demands of the consumer. This created a big disadvantage for developers and often led to the failure of the project.
When companies started to shift towards an Agile approach, they were able to move along with the changing market trends and easily adapt to them. This helped them create products that were actually in demand in the market. This made the Agile methodology an extremely popular approach in the software development domain. The article lists five top reasons why Agile is the preferred method of developing software and projects today.
Agile Helps to Incorporate Customer Feedback Quickly
Customer feedback and its incorporation is extremely important for a product’s success, but this is something that gets ignored very frequently. In a survey conducted, it was noticed that only 1% of all the respondents believed that their feedback was considered and the product met their expectations completely.
Incorporating customer feedback is extremely difficult when developers are working with the waterfall method of software development. This is because they do not have the freedom and the resources to incorporate the changes. The traditional method restricts developers from making changes easily, whereas the Agile methodology is created to adapt to any changes that may arise. Due to the sprints or iterations used by Agile teams, it becomes easier to create features in breaks and get feedback from them. Future iterations can be focused on incorporating this feedback into the product.
Agile methods focus on the importance of feedback. The team understands that feedback can be used to tailor better features based on customer requirements.
Agile helps with Improvement in Project Organization
Proper planning for any project is fundamental to its success. According to a survey conducted, nearly 35% of projects are not completely planned at the starting stage. This can result in failure. With Agile, this problem can be avoided.
The Agile framework is focused on efficiency, which focuses on proper planning at the beginning of each iteration. This helps each sprint become more organized in the project. Also, there are many Agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, sprint meetings, sprint review, and sprint retrospective conducted by the Agile teams to help them stay focused on their main goal.
These meetings help improve organizational processes because the scope of work and the capacity of each team member is carefully outlined and addressed, making sure no one is overburdened and can work efficiently.
The Agile method creates an exceptional working strategy for the team which results in an exceptional end product. The following Agile practices help Agile teams in improving the organizational process for any project:
- Listing all the functionalities of the project with each iteration
- Using various management tools to help with task and time management
- Prioritizing duties of each team member
- Assigning tasks to appropriate team members
- Evaluating all tasks once they are completed and evaluating each iteration once it is over
- Restructuring tasks and functionalities after evaluation to improve the project process in the next iteration
Agile Methods Help with Team Building
The Agile method is highly focused on teamwork. One of the biggest reasons why Agile projects have a higher success rate is because Agile teams work together and collaborate. This is possible because of effective communication among team members. One example of this is the daily stand-up meeting.
Once a day, at a specific allotted time, the entire Agile team gets together for 10 to 15 minutes to discuss their progress. This is known as a daily stand-up which is a part of the Scrum method in the Agile methodology. This opens up a platform for team members to discuss their progress and what they plan on doing in the day. It also creates a space to discuss any problems that any team member may be facing.
Team building and teamwork are a big part of working as an Agile team, and software developers have noticed the improvement in their projects once they have started to work together and communicate.
There are many stages of team formation and team functioning with Agile teams. These stages are used to build teams that can work together efficiently and focus on achieving the goal of the project. They are:
- Forming stage
- Storming stage
- Norming stage
- Performing stage
Agile Methods Show Teams How to Use Tools to Their Best Ability
Another reason why so many organizations love to work using the Agile methodology in their teams is because of the level of efficiency that comes with using Agile tools. Agile tools help break down complex tasks easily into manageable ones that the team can work on.
The many Agile tools and processes available for Agile teams help them get a better understanding of their projects, which helps with the prioritization of functionalities in the product. This helps improve the overall management of the project. Assigning tasks based on expertise is also simplified for Agile teams, and tracking the progress of these tasks becomes a lot simpler as well. This helps with completing the project on time.
Agile Teams help Raise The Level of Productivity of Their Team
Agile methods help team members stay motivated. The short iterations show results quickly, which helps the team members see the actual workable product. This helps them in staying true to the main goal because there is visible proof of their progress.
This motivation helps increase the productivity level of the team greatly. Along with the measurable progress, other aspects that come with adopting Agile such as clarity of product vision and goals, clear assigned timelines, efficient task assignment, and more, help with increasing the productivity of the team members.
Final Thoughts
Implementing Agile has proven to be beneficial for many organizations, but Agile methodologies need to be implemented correctly in order for them to work. This is why training the workforce in popular Agile Project Management Certification will be really helpful for organizations. Once teams get a better understanding of Agile processes they can inculcate the Agile mindset in their operations and work in a more Agile way.
Some of the popular Agile Certification Courses that individuals and enterprise teams can take up are:
