Agile has become one of those trendy buzzards that's repeated so often it starts to lose meaning. If you work in IT, you've probably heard a manager claim they have an agile team, or a programmer describe him or herself as an agile developer. Though you might assume this means they’re flexible and able to adapt to new situations and projects, the true agile model is a lot more complex.
The Agile Organisation
In an agile workplace culture, there are stable elements that do not change much, and there are elements of the workplace culture that are able to adapt rapidly and effectively as per situations. The guidance is provided by the leader to the development team so that they can act upon each day that has an outcome that moves their dynamic strategy towards their goals.
The agile organization is a business that has implemented specific strategic decisions that enable flexible working, in and out of the physical work-space so that they perform effectively. This strategy allows employees to work to their best ability, when and wherever they like.
What makes an Agile space:
- Team meeting arena
- Concentration zone
- Conversation space
- Rest zone
- Collaboration Space
- Inspirational space
Agile Methodology
Many agile frameworks that provide specifics on development processes and agile development practices, aligned to a software development life cycle.
Scrum
Scrum is a management framework with far-reaching abilities to control and manage the iterations and increments in all project types. They are lightweight and can be used with other agile methodologies for various engineering practices. Scrums have grown in popularity within the agile software development community because they are simple and have a proven productivity rate.
- Planning — where sprint priorities are identified
- Responsibility— where the team reviews a list or backlog of user stories and decides how much work can be done in the sprint’s duration
- Communications — so teams can communicate updates on their development status and strategies)
Sprints end with a demo meeting where the functionality is shown to the product owner, followed by a retrospective meeting where the team discusses what went well and what needs improvement in their process.
Many organizations employ scrum masters or coaches to help teams manage the scrum process.
Those companies that have either their entire workplace or specific units working in an agile fashion perform better than companies and units that are not agile. They are better able to respond to the rapid changes and volatility that are found in most sectors.
The goals of the agile development model
- Customer satisfaction
- Always accept change of requirements
- Efficient creation of working software
- Launching products and updates faster
- Motivate people to create a project
- Promotes sustainable development
- Self-organized teams produced the best architecture
- The team should reflect through inspections to be more effective
Roles in Agile
The Product Owner oversees all the business conditions of the project to ensure the right product is built and in the right order.
The Scrum Master is the team’s coach; they help the team work together effectively. Scrum Masters service the team by removing barriers that impair the progress, facilitating meetings and discussion groups, tracking progress, problem-solving, and performing other project management duties.
The team works together to determine the best approach to achieve the product goals that are outlined by the product owner.
Conclusion
Agile management is an exciting and fascinating approach to software development. By integrating the product developers and customers in the planning and implementing processes, the result is a more rewarding experience for everyone involved.
