What is the Agile methodology?
The Agile methodology is an approach to project management to improve the speed, flexibility, and responsiveness of software development teams and their customers through collaboration and self-organisation. The goal is to enable software developers to quickly deliver a product in workable increments while discovering evolving demands and addressing them along the way.
The methodology stems from the principles and values of the Agile Manifesto and was created to address the shortcomings of the Waterfall development method and other similar linear, sequential approaches to software development.
The problem with these traditional models was that they do not provide software developers the speed and flexibility they need to keep up with the market’s demand for constant and rapid innovation.
If you wish to know more about this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: How does it work?
One of the main features of the Agile methodology is that it breaks down projects into bite-sized deliverables that teams need to complete within a specific time frame called a sprint, which usually lasts anywhere between one and four weeks.
At the end of each sprint, the development team must have a draft, a prototype, or a workable version of whatever the final deliverable is to present. The goal here is to allow development and refinement to pretty much simultaneously at a rapid pace instead of spending months to produce a slightly more complete product before getting feedback on it.
Question #2: What are the core Agile values?
The Agile methodology revolves around four core values:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
The first value means that in the Agile methodology, effective and efficient communication is key instead of blind adherence to established processes or attachment to available tools. The goal is to work with everyone involved to identify challenges and come up with solutions.
The second value means that the main priority is to produce an actual working solution. Everything else is secondary. The goal is to prevent everyone involved from wasting time on tasks that do not contribute to the completion of the project.
The third value means the utmost importance is placed on fostering an environment of cooperation and collaboration, which makes the development process so much more frictionless and productive.
The fourth and final value means that it is important to be able to quickly make the necessary adjustments along the way in the interest of completing the project instead of stubbornly trying to make the original plan work despite the changes in the circumstances surrounding the project.
Question #3: Does the Agile methodology actually work?
Yes, the Agile methodology actually works. In fact, according to a report published by the Project Management Institute (PMI), projects that have been managed following the Agile methodology are 28% more successful than those managed using traditional methods. This is probably why according to the same report, over 70% of the organisations PMI have surveyed have started using Agile for their projects.
Question #4: Is it better than Waterfall?
While Agile has been developed to address the shortcomings of the Waterfall methodology, the former is not necessarily better than the latter. At the end of the day, it would still depend on the type of project, its goals, and several other related variables.
As a general rule, Waterfall is best suited for projects that have clearly defined variables and timelines. Agile, on the other hand, is the better choice for more unpredictable projects with lots of unknowns, such as when you are developing a new solution, which makes determining the timeline and scope in advance quite challenging.