The mystery of Agile revealed | Bunch Consulting
Agile is geared towards iterative improvement and constant development and so are we at Bunch Consulting! That’s why we’d like to introduce this topic to you in a comprehensive way.
In this article, you’ll find helpful tips and advice to help you get rolling with Agile in your organization and team.
Why Agile?
Constantly improving the quality of the software with each release doesn’t sound like a dream anymore – it’s the reality everywhere. Everyone does or tries to do it, and today we serve you an appetizer to our series of posts. One of the methods to continuously improve the quality of software in an organized way is implementing Agile.
How would you describe Agile in a few words?
It’s an iterative approach not only to software development but also to project management. It would help you deliver projects in smaller pieces and not bet it all on one release day. Thanks to Agile your team can quickly react to changes.
Why?
The time-to-market needs to be as short as possible, not slowed down by procedures or documentation. Agile software development and testing aim to figure out customer needs and provide them with exactly what they expect in a timely manner. Short iterations and a unique level of collaboration amongst the team are what contributes to the success of the method.?
How does it work?
The Agile software development methodology revolves around short, time-boxed iterations known as sprints. A sprint is a short period, usually two weeks, when the team works on features called “user stories”. Each sprint results in a release of a working product. It’s worth mentioning that an Agile team is smaller than a traditional project team – ideally no more than 12 people. It consists of developers, analysts, QA testers, the product owner, and the project manager, also called a Scrum Master.
Agile Frameworks
Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, XP – you probably heard from some of these. But what are they exactly, and how to describe them? Specific interpretations of Agile, called Frameworks. Deciding which one would work best for your team isn’t a piece of cake and that’s why we’re comparing them in this post.
There are a couple of things all frameworks have in common – constantly iterating on the work process and delivering value to the customers frequently. What differentiates them are the circumstances of when it’s best to use them.
Scrum
If you need a fast project kick-off for a small organization – go for Scrum. It’s one of the most popular agile frameworks and thanks to this, you’ll find plenty of resources to help you get started. Scrum is also used by marketing and design teams.
Kanban
If the requirements of your product are changing fast or your team needs to quickly react to the incoming requests – Kanban is what you need. The main feature of this framework is flexibility – you can reorganize or add items at any moment.
Scrumban
As the name suggests – it’s a mix of Scrum and Kanban. We suggest adopting this framework if your team already has experience with both of them and feels their limitations. Here, you’re the king of your own castle, since it’s up to you, how much you take of each framework.
Extreme Programming (XP)
It resembles Scrum in terms of including the customers in the development process and 1-2 weeks long cycles of work. However, XP is specifically designed for programmers and encompasses practices like e.g. pair programming, where two people code on the same computer. It significantly reduces the number of mistakes and improves the quality of code.
The challenges of introducing Agile approach
Awareness of what can go wrong is priceless because it lets you anticipate the solutions. These wise words resonate with Mondays in general but also with implementing Agile in your organization. Let’s see how to adopt Agile in a hassle-free way.
Inflexible architectures
The software architecture designs have to be amendable, scalable, and able to evolve over time. The code cannot be piled on top of previous code without managing the updates. To successfully implement Agile, you need to have an adaptable formal architectural model in place.
Outdated development tools
Agile development reaches far beyond choosing the right tools but the decisions you take vastly influence the possibilities of Agile implementation. Unfortunately, many organizations still depend on tools that were created to support older practices, such as previous versions of Jira, etc. The tool you’ll choose should provide all the features and support for your Agile framework.
Inconsistent strategies across distributed teams
Agile has lately gained appreciation within large companies, managing multi-team projects in multiple locations. Adopting it in such environments has proven the importance of communication and collaboration in the distributed teams, and project management tools that provide visibility of the project’s status.
Overlooking cultural change
Organizations have to take into consideration the impact of Agile on culture and change management. The team leads need to get rid of any silo mindset signs. An Agile culture gap pertains to any cultural differences that might impede teamwork and to the way team members interact. That’s why recognizing cultural differences in dispersed teams is one of the important milestones of introducing Agile in your organization. Consider using resources such as the culture map, Culture Design Canvas, and Team Canvas to overcome these difficulties.
A lack of effective communication
Effective communication and team cooperation is the core of effective Agile. Agile culture relies on open and honest feedback in an organization. Learning from mistakes and growing as a team demands having very open discussions about what went wrong and what are the mutual expectations. To ensure a successful transformation into Agile, introduce a culture of information sharing that keeps team members in the loop and continuously presents opportunities to learn.
Statistics
According to the 15th State of Agile Report 2021 by Digital.ai, where 1,380 respondents from all over the world took part, there’s a strong increase in adopting Agile both among IT and non-IT teams.?
The two reasons mentioned most often are flexibility needed to manage changing priorities and acceleration of software delivery (64%). Other motivations to introduce Agile within a team or organization, ex aequo with 47%, are increasing team productivity and improving business and IT alignment. Closing the 5 most often chosen answers is enhancing software quality. It indicates that the respondents see a connection between adopting Agile and an increase in the quality of software.?
How to introduce Agile in your team/organization?
How to get started with introducing Agile to your organization or team? Like with everything – step by step. It’s like getting food in a new country – you’re not necessarily beginning with ordering street food that you’ve never heard of. Let’s see how to take it easy with Agile.
Get the right help in place
If you’re not experienced with implementing Agile, you might consider hiring a coach to guide your team/organization through the process.?
Pick the right framework
There’s a reason we wrote a post exclusively related to this topic. As you know, there are many Agile approaches. What can help you are retrospective meetings that use learnings from the past to improve the future.
Commit and define new success metrics
It’s important to be able to measure your success. The values and processes of your company will be challenged upon introducing Agile. That’s why you need the boss to be on your side – to understand that Agile demands new metrics and that the old ones don’t fit the new way of doing things.
Start small and let Agile spread
Starting change with a group of enthusiastic people sounds wise, doesn’t it? Pick a team that seems to be open for ‘the new’ – they’re going to be your advocates of Agile. When other not-yet-Agile teams notice the benefits, they’ll most likely join the transformation.
Reflect, iterate, repeat
Ask yourself some questions – did it work, how did it work? If you start with a 2-week Sprint, you’ll have the answers to those questions after this period. After reflecting on the process, alter what needs fine-tuning and keep doing what worked well.
Need a hand in Agile?
Are you looking for an experienced team that already went through the implementation of Agile and uses the Scrum framework on a daily basis? Well, that’s our Bunch – an email at [email protected] will definitely find us.