Flexible approach to project implementation — Agile

Magical guide about product management. Part 4, article #29

Agile methodology?is an iterative approach to project management and software development, allowing teams to accelerate the delivery of value to customers and avoid unnecessary headaches. Instead of releasing the entire product as a whole, the agile team performs work within small but convenient increments (stages). Requirements, plans and results are constantly checked for relevance, so that teams can quickly respond to changes.

When using the traditional cascade approach to development, one specialist finishes work on the project and passes the baton to the next, withdrawing from participation in the further process. Unlike this model, agile involves active interaction between members of multifunctional teams. Agile is based on open communication, collaboration, adaptation and trusting relationships between team members. Although the project manager or the product owner is usually responsible for prioritizing the delivered functions, the team decides how the work will be done. She independently chooses which parts of the work to do and how to divide responsibilities between the participants.

Agile is not limited to a number of meetings and specific development techniques. Agile is a group of methodologies, in each of which there is a desire for non — stop implementation of feedback cycles and continuous improvement.

What are the advantages of agile?

Teams are switching to agile in order to quickly respond to changes in the market or customer feedback and not disrupt plans made for the year ahead. A team that carries out planning on the principle of sufficiency and delivers the product often and in small “portions” can receive feedback on changes and take them into account when drawing up future plans at no extra cost.

It’s not just about the indicators. The main thing is people. According to the Agile Manifesto, a natural human attitude when interacting is more important than strictly following instructions. Cooperation with clients and colleagues is more important than standard agreements. And solving the client’s problem is more important than detailed documentation.

The agile team has a common goal and achieves it in the most effective way, in its opinion. Each team sets its own criteria for quality, usability and work readiness. They can be used to estimate the speed of the team’s work. At first, company executives may be intimidated by the idea of entrusting such responsibility to an agile team. However, over time, they discover that this trust only strengthens the sense of responsibility and the team makes every effort to meet (or exceed) the expectations of management.

(the material is interwoven with Attlassian.com )

What are the disadvantages of Agile?

• It is almost impossible to calculate the final costs — the requirements can constantly change depending on the specifics of the project. The difficulty lies in the fact that they may contradict an already existing structure.
• Agile requires a lot of involvement in the process and full immersion in it, which can be difficult, especially for young contractors.
• The possibility of making frequent edits can turn into a risk in the endless improvement of the project. The downside is also possible here — a decrease in the quality of the product.

Both Agile and Waterfall will help in creating almost any product. However, first of all, the methodology that can implement the project as efficiently and efficiently as possible is chosen. Maybe the product is universal. Then you need to start from parameters such as time, budget, qualification of performers and other important criteria for you.

The flexible model requires high professionalism from the performer and is ideal for startups and advanced niches. The waterfall model is most often used in the field of construction, investment, etc.

When choosing a particular methodology, the customer should carefully study the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches, take into account the advice of specialists, and determine a set of requirements for the project. And then the choice will be much easier to make. Some developers believe that Agile and Waterfall can be optimally combined within one project.

Agile Manifesto

We are constantly discovering more advanced methods of software development, doing development directly and helping others with it. Thanks to the work done, we were able to realize that:

• People and interaction are more important than processes and tools
• A working product is more important than comprehensive documentation
• Cooperation with the customer is more important than agreeing on the terms of the contract
• Readiness for change is more important than following the original plan, that is, without denying the importance of what is on the right, we still value what is on the left more

The project approach is focused on the organization of well-normalized labor, and Agile methods — on the organization of creative and research intellectual labor

What is PMBoK?

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) is a body of knowledge, the most complete presentation of information on project management.

In fact, it is a kind of encyclopedia of management, which contains a description of methods and recommendations for work. PMBoK is developed by the American Institute of Project Management (PMI).

Experts call PMBOK a classifier of management processes. There are 47 of them in total, and these processes are grouped into five groups: initiation, planning, implementation, control and completion.

In addition, PMBOK offers managers ten areas of knowledge — in fact, the focus of the manager’s attention. Among them are content management (what should happen in the end and how to make changes during the project), time management (development and control of the calendar plan), risk management (identification and response methods), personnel management (creation and teamwork) and other important points.

This body of knowledge is popular because of its versatility: it is suitable for most projects, regardless of the field of business. However, PMBOK is not a ready — made methodology, but rather a framework for a methodology that can (and should) be adapted, customized for itself and only then used.

Frameworks

• Kanban?is an approach to implementing agile software development that involves real-time performance discussions and full transparency of workflows. The stages of work are visually presented on the kanban board, which allows team members to see the status of each task at any time.
• Scrum?is a set of principles on which the development process is based, allowing in rigidly fixed and small — time iterations (sprints) to provide the end user with a working product (for example, software) with new features for which the highest priority is determined.
• Extreme Programming (XP)?is a simplified methodology for organizing software development for small and medium — sized development teams engaged in creating a software product in conditions of unclear or rapidly changing requirements.
• P3express?is a new, lightweight project management framework based on PRINCE2 and PMBOK Guide. P3 stands for People (people), Projects (projects) and Products (products). P3express is a flow of 37 steps from the appearance of a project idea to the receipt of benefits.

literature

Conclusion

Today we have considered a flexible approach to project management — AGILE. We figured out what it is good for and where it can be used. In the following articles, we will look at the Agile methodology frameworks (Kanban, Scrum, etc.).

Thank you for your attention ??