What is Agile Project Management?
Agile project management has become one of the most popular approaches to project management due to its flexibility and evolution. It started in 2001 under the name “Agile manifesto” and was initially designed for software development. Over time, agile project management became a popular choice for many project managers, regardless of industry.
Methodologies that foster agile project management offer a disciplined approach that encourages best practices to assure rapid delivery of high-quality software. These methods also enhance a business approach, so development is aligned with the customer’s demands. In addition to Extreme Programming (XP), Rational Unified Process (RUP), and Scrum, several methodologies are influenced by iterative and incremental development.
Essentially, Agile allows teams to keep up with the demands of today’s workplace iteratively and incrementally. Different methodologies are used (traditional and modern), but all adhere to flexible, transparent, quality, and continuous improvement concepts. Before development, all requirements are analyzed and documented using the waterfall methodology.
Why do we need Agile Methodology?
Agile approaches to software development are becoming increasingly popular in IT companies. The customers of IT companies increasingly expect IT companies to deliver working code as quickly as possible to meet their needs. We have an agile company that will result in more satisfied customers. As part of being agile, we can promptly respond to our customers’ changing needs.
Besides improving project control and reducing surprises, agile implementation results in lower technical debt and more customer-friendly products. Moreover, agile allows teams to respond quickly to changes in requirements without delaying releases.
The following principles need to be understood to implement Agile as a component of any organization’s Software Development Life Cycle:
1. By delivering products early and continuously, we can ensure customer satisfaction.
2. Any change in requirements is always accepted through this process, even at the end of the development process.
3. There is a possibility of delivering working products frequently, within a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
4. Work in progress can only be measured by working software.
5. It enables anyone to communicate effectively and efficiently within the development team while also carrying out face-to-face meetings.
Benefits of having Agile:
More control over incremental developments is valuable to the project team and the customer. Iterative, rapid cycles can be used to break work down into parts. Team meetings are an integral part of agile, allowing project teams to share progress, resolve problems, and plan for future improvement. The process is also more transparent when they are involved.
Agile methods make projects more manageable by creating short sprints, which enable projects to be completed faster. As a result, products can be deployed quickly, and changes can be made anytime. It dramatically increases the efficiency and effectiveness of finding problems and creating solutions owing to its iterative nature. As a result, the project team can quickly respond to customer feedback and continually improve their product.
Close collaboration establishes a continuous feedback loop between the customer and the project team. The customer can tweak their expectations and desires as needed throughout the process. As a result, the customer is more satisfied.
Using agile methods also enables the product to be ready for market faster, keeping up with the competition and reaping benefits more quickly. By using the agile methodology, you save money and time while enhancing the quality of the application and customer satisfaction.