In our last post, we covered the definitions and history of agile, the creation of the agile manifesto, the four core values of agile project management, and finally the most significant advantages of implementing agile project management. we will explain the agile principles in this post.
we will start with the first half of agile principles
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through the early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
We should focus our primary concern on Customer satisfaction. Delivering a system or service with poor quality or that doesn’t satisfy the customer is pointless. One of the ways to increase customer satisfaction is through early and continuous delivery and getting feedback frequently.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
Project managers dislike change in waterfall projects, but we embrace it in agile projects since it frequently creates new opportunities for the customer in the marketplace.
For instance, we created a piece of software, and before publishing it, a rival company did the same product. as a result and to gain market share, the customer decides to update or add some functionalities to his software to overcome this problem.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference for a shorter timescale.
Delivering a working delivery regularly is the most important item for the customer. The sprints or iterations in agile projects range in
length from two weeks to two months, with the shorter being the most common.
Imagine the benefits that would accrue to the customer if he received a monthly update on his software with new features with each update.
Moreover, the frequent feedback is giving the customer an advantage to help him overcome any problems that arise regarding the new
deliverable.
4. Business-people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
One of the key factors of success in any agile project is the continued communication and collaboration between business-people and
developers.
Any issues with one team are rapidly communicated to the other due to their ongoing teamwork, which aids in resolving them.
For instance, the developers are always aligned with business trends and challenges as they arise and may even suggest solutions for these
situations.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give this team the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done.
People are the most valuable component of any project. Working with a motivated team can help you overcome numerous challenges that you wouldn’t be able to with an unmotivated team.
Your team will operate more efficiently and effectively if you give them the confidence and inspiration they need to complete the task.
As a team leader, you must believe that one of your most essential responsibilities is to develop your team and build a good relationship with them.
lastly, team leaders must understand that they are dealing with expert teams that will make every effort to carry out their decisions when given the freedom to do so.
6. Face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team.
One of the fundamental elements of a successful agile project is the daily face-to-face communication between team members and even the team and other external teams. Face-to-face communication is the quickest way to transfer information compared to other forms of communication.
The most effective communication way is Face-to-face which is always more effective than any other method (including emails, phone calls, etc.) because face-to-face communication relies on voice tone, body language, and gestures rather than just the words that are used in email or phone conversations.
Face-to-face communication may not always be effective when dealing with large teams or virtual teams. As a result, finding reliable alternatives to this method of communication becomes necessary.
After we finished the first half of agile principles, let’s start explaining the remaining agile principles
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
In an agile project, a functioning system is the primary measure of progress. The agile team always prioritizes the results over the documentation.
Based on the newly developed product or service they are developing; the team assesses its progress. The team concentrates mostly on the usability of the deliverable and any delivered features that can be quantified because the customer won’t recognize the intermediate product and partially operated systems.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to keep a constant pace indefinitely.
In this agile principle, agile methods strive for long-term values based on sustainable paces that help agile team members balance their work and family lives.
A sustainable pace is advantageous for the team and the company as well; the teams who work in such an environment are happier and more productive.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
The two main factors for the success of any project are good design and technical excellence. Any agile team should focus on delivering high-quality deliverables with continuous attention to the design.
The biggest piece of advice for any agile team is to keep everyone on the team actively looking for ways to improve the process, the design, and the quality.
10. Simplicity is essential.
Complex projects are more likely to fail, or at the very least go over budget and/or schedule. Agile methodologies, therefore, emphasize simplicity.
”Keep this as simple as possible” is a key phrase that the agile team always takes into consideration. The customer always adds too many pointless features, to add them to the projects.
Agile focused on simplicity, which meant searching for features that fit the project and implementing them only after arranging with the customer.
Did you know that between 45% to 68% of features implemented in software projects are rarely or never used?!
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
As we mentioned in our previous post, agile teams are self-organized teams. Any self-organized team must be made up of experts in the project’s disciplines. No recent graduate or member with little experience is expected to join a self-organized team.
Accordingly, this team will generate superior work because they are all subject-matter experts. The members of the agile team have a greater commitment to the requirements and designs they produce than the external designs.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective and then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
We widely use the phrase “lessons learned” in the conventional waterfall technique and is as important in the agile methodology.
In the waterfall methodology, we gather the lessons learned at the end of the project, which is too late,
In the agile methodology, we gathered the lesson learned at the end of each sprint or iteration, which has a significant impact on the team’s and the project’s continuous improvement.
We regularly hold a retrospective meeting where we collect data on the deliverable as well as the lessons learned.
As we conclude, in this post we have discussed the agile principles and provided a simple explanation of each principle.
Sources : PMI