Agile has become the stone of many organizations in the fast-changing business landscape. The need for adaptability, flexibility and efficiency has created a demand for agile methodology as it has revolutionized the organization’s approach towards project management. The methodology has undergone significant changes since its inception, adapting to the changing needs of the organization. In the current article, let’s explore the evolution of agile and its impact on organizations.
Agile Inception in Response to Challenges of the Waterfall Method
Many organizations relied on the dominant waterfall method before agile inception. The waterfall method is a rigid system that directs the teams to work in a fixed schedule and sequence. Though the methodology has its benefits, lack of flexibility is a major challenge. The completion of projects in the methodology would take a longer time, and any changes in requirements from the client in the middle of the projects would further delay it due to a lot of rework. Addressing the challenges of waterfall methods emerged the agile manifesto in the year 2001. The methodology is focused on teams, their interactions, customer feedback and collaboration and responding to the changing requirements of the customer.
The Agile Methodology 2001
The agile methodology has evolved in different industries, including software. Agile principles have been adopted by organizations to increase their productivity and collaboration with customers to deliver maximum business value. The impact of the agile methodology on organizations cannot be overstated. It emphasizes continuous improvement, establishing collaboration and fostering flexibility in project management. Agile benefited organizations with faster time to market and delivering maximum value to the customers. If you are looking to establish your career in the agile industry, you can do many certifications like SAFe DevOps Certification to initiate your career.
Core Values of Agile Manifesto
Unlike the waterfall method, the agile manifesto focuses on establishing effective communication and collaboration among the team members. The methodology encourages effective collaboration with the customers and gets them involved in the process throughout project development. The agile manifesto embraces flexibility and can adapt to changes even in the last stages of project management without any delay.
Emergence of Agile Frameworks
The agile manifesto has introduced different frameworks to handle different projects as per their requirements. The frameworks are as follows:
Scrum
Scrum is a popular agile framework that defines four critical activities of project management, like sprint planning, where project managers plan the tasks to be done in the current schedule. Scrum divides the project into sprints where the teams will be responsible for producing shippable increments. Scrum masters use product backlog and sprint backlog to control the work handled by the teams. The scrum team will be responsible for updating every day progress of their project development. Each sprint cycle is reviewed and demonstrated for clients for any product increments, followed by a sprint retrospective where teams can enhance their performance.
Kanban
Kanban is a central process that visualises a team’s workflow in three columns: backlog, work in progress and completion. The process enhances the visibility of the project among the team members about what is happening and what is not so that they can prepare for the upcoming tasks. The Kanban method establishes transparency in project management along with good communication between team members for the proper development of the product.
Extreme Programming (XP)
The framework is tailored for team programmers, where developers and customers have to exhibit a high level of participation. The methodology works similarly to scrum and involves frequent releases at the end of each cycle and planning sessions with standup meetings to start your day. The key aspects differentiating extreme programming from scrum are Pair programming, test-driven development, and continuous integration. Use of the framework needs greater coordination between the team members to execute the project successfully.
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
SAFe is a popular framework for scaling agile in large enterprises. Many organisations broadly use it as it can deliver complex solutions. It is built on a scrum framework and is adopted at the enterprise level. The methodology helps organizations synchronize ART teams. SAFe uses program increment iterations like sprints to help product managers stay focused on project management goals. The framework helps the managers oversee complex project roadmaps without introducing more changes. SAFe is for larger organizations that are looking for agile transformation.
Impact of Agile on Organizations
Enhanced Collaboration
The organizations could witness improved collaboration and communication between the teams for better project outputs after implementing agile. Teams with different expertise will be able to work together. The teams get better visibility into project progress and are able to handle the bottlenecks before they turn expensive, as the stakeholders will stay informed throughout the project lifecycle.
Organizational Agility and Flexibility
By implementing the agile framework, organizations will be able to respond to the changing market needs and technology advancements. Agile facilitates iterative development cycles and fosters flexibility in project management without any major disruptions. With sprint retrospectives at each schedule, the teams will be able to implement new strategies without any major disruptions. Certifications like SAFe for architects certification will help you deal the phase effectively.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
Agile delivers more value to the customers with continuous feedback. Frequent feedback from the customers at the end of each sprint ensures their requirements are met effectively. Test-driven developments ensure the delivery of quality products. Incremental delivery makes the organizations provide the product to the market faster and gain an edge over competitors.
Conclusion
Agile has influenced the project development process in organisations and also changed the way businesses deliver value to customers along with their way of interacting with them. Irrespective of the agile framework you implement in the organisation, it helps to increase your productivity and growth, helping you gain a competitive edge in the market. Thus, professionals who gained knowledge on Agile methodologies are getting more opportunities in different industries. Therefore, earning Agile certification will be a great benefit for professionals looking to advance their careers.