Agile methodologies
Contemporary agile approaches
There are several Agile methodologies used by modern organizations. All share similar approaches, attributes, and practices but vary in how they are implemented.
Some agile approaches require a complete restructuring of business practices and roles within an organization, others can be quite easily integrated into pre-existing project governance frameworks.
Some of the most popular agile approaches include the following.
Scrum
Scrum is a lightweight agile project management framework that can be used to govern iterative projects of all types. Scrum has gained increasing popularity in the agile community due to its simplicity, ease of use, scalability and ability to be used in combination with other agile methodologies.
In Scrum methodology, product owners work closely with developers to create a product backlog. The backlog consists of features, product requirements and anything else that needs to be completed to deliver a working product to consumers.
Tasks are prioritized by the product owner. Development teams divide the work amongst themselves and aim to deliver increasingly complete, complex and fine-tuned products over multiple iterations.
Once an iteration has been started, nothing else can be added to a development team’s schedule. When the iteration has been completed, the backlog is analysed and reprioritized.
Lean agile development
Lean agile development methods are another iterative approach initially developed for use in the IT industry. Lean methods have been used to great effect in the manufacturing industry and is used by large organizations such as Toyota.
Lean agile focuses an improving the efficiency of the mechanisms that deliver value. It focuses almost exclusively on the actual development process rather than the product and trusts that better development practices will naturally provide more value to consumers by providing cheaper, high-quality goods.
Lean agile methodology eliminates waste and inefficient processes by identifying the value-positive elements of production and removing those that hinder or slow progress. It emphasizes speed and efficient workflows, relying on quick and reliable feedback between developers and consumers.
Lean focuses on the idea of work being ‘pulled’ by consumer request. Small teams are given almost complete autonomy over their work. Management is only required to ensure that developers have access to pools of assets required to complete their tasks, thus minimizing inter-departmental work dependencies.
Lean agile also heavily favours the use of automation, not only in the sense of software but in the ability for individuals and teams. Think of Lean agile as a ‘sandbox.’ Workers are given tools and resources and are otherwise left to their own devices.
Which agile method is right for me?
Choosing the right agile framework to structure your business practice and project development is a difficult task.
Agile isn’t just a project management methodology, it’s a mindset. As such, it only works if those involved really believe in agile practices and do their best to contribute towards creating an agile work environment.
That’s no easy task. Luckily, the process is made easier by the wealth of agile online training available to business owners. Make no mistake, training is arguably the most vital aspect of agile, which relies on transparency and understanding of its principles to work effectively.
If you’re unsure whether you can fund the enterprise change required to adopt more complex agile methodologies such as Scrum, consider a more lightweight approach such as Crystal. Or, perhaps dip your toes into the agile method by using an agile collaborative tool such as Kanban to see how your employees react to the introduction of agile in the workplace.
