What is agile?

Agile is a project management methodology that uses short development cycles called “sprints” to focus on continuous improvement in the development of a product or service.

The principles of agile

There are 12 key principles that still guide agile project management today.

1. Customer satisfaction is always the highest priority and is achieved through rapid and continuous delivery.
2. Changing environments are embraced at any stage of the process to provide the customer with a competitive advantage.
3. A product or service is delivered with higher frequency.
4. Stakeholders and developers collaborate closely on a daily basis.
5. All stakeholders and team members remain motivated for optimal project outcomes, while teams are provided with all the necessary tools and support, and are trusted to accomplish project goals.
6. Face-to-face meetings are deemed the most efficient and effective format for project success.
7. A final working product is the ultimate measure of success.
8. Sustainable development is accomplished through agile processes whereby development teams and stakeholders are able to maintain a constant and ongoing pace.
9. Agility is enhanced through a continuous focus on technical excellence and proper design.
10. Simplicity is an essential element.
11. Self-organizing teams are most likely to develop the best architectures and designs and to meet requirements.
12. Regular intervals are used by teams to improve efficiency through fine-tuning behaviors.

The benefits of agile

Agile was originally developed for the software industry to streamline and improve the development process in an effort to rapidly identify and adjust for issues and defects. It provides a way for developers and teams to deliver a better product, in a faster manner, through short, iterative, interactive sessions/sprints. In the era of digital transformation, with many companies migrating to a digital workplace, agile is a perfect fit for organizations looking to transform how they manage projects and operate as a whole. Agile can help ensure company-wide process and methodological alignment. In terms of business benefits, both the digital workplace and agile provide:

• Increased flexibility
• Increased productivity
• Increased transparency
• Higher quality deliverables
• Decreased risk of missed objectives
• Increased stakeholder engagement and satisfaction

Advantages of agile for project management

In the project management field, agile provides project teams, sponsors, project leaders and customers many project-specific benefits, including:

• More rapid deployment of solutions
• Reduced waste through minimization of resources
• Increased flexibility and adaptability to change
• Increased success through more focused efforts
• Faster turnaround times
• Faster detection of issues and defects
• Optimized development processes
• A lighter weight framework
• Optimal project control
• Increased focus on specific customer needs
• Increased frequency of collaboration and feedback

Popular agile methodologies

Within agile there are some frequently used or popular methods, with Scrum, Kanban, and Lean being the most popular. Some agile methods include:

• Scrum
• Kanban
• Lean (LN)
• Dynamic System Development Model, (DSDM)
• Extreme Programming (XP)
• Crystal
• Adaptive software development (ASD)
• Agile Unified Process (AUP)
• Crystal Clear methods
• Disciplined agile delivery
• Feature-driven development (FDD)
• Scrumban
• RAD(Rapid Application Development)