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What does agile mean in business?
Now that we understand the definition of Agile, let’s take a look at what it means in business.
In business, agility refers to the ability to quickly adapt to changes in the market or environment. This can be done by reacting quickly to customer feedback to impact prioritisation or making changes to the product or service.
Agile also refers to the ability to be flexible and respond quickly to changes in priorities or requirements.
The benefits of agile in business
There are several benefits of using agile in business. These include:
- Improved communication and collaboration between team members
- Quicker response to customer feedback and changes in the market
- Faster time to market for products and services
- Improved quality of products and services
- Improved morale and motivation of team members
Agile can be adopted in any part of a business operating model including customer service delivery, human resources, marketing and finance.
In Agile, contrary to popular belief, planning increases to ensure that we are adjusting to the changing market environment. Agile demands frequently revisiting our plans to ensure we are prioritising to match market demands. We assess our progress against our plan frequently and adjust rather than planning a full year’s work only to discover too late that the market and our customer have moved on.
So, as you can see, there are many benefits to using agile in business.
Find out more about our Agile Consulting services and how we can help benefit your business.
What are the principles of an agile way of working?
Agile philosophy is focused on empowerment in human interactions early and consistently providing value to the organisation.
Agile project management is a process that aims to deliver maximum value against strategic priorities with resources funded consistently to optimum capacity.
Read more about the Agile Manifesto and the 12 principles here.
The Agile Manifesto created in 2001 includes a set of principles and outlines what is valued in development, initially focused on software development. It states what is valued in development is:
- Individuals and Interactions Over Processes and Tools
- Working Output Over Comprehensive Documentation
- Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation
- Responding to Change Over Following a Plan
Twenty one years later, what is valued and the principles still hold true. However, they have also evolved and gained more clarity to allow many organisations to successfully apply them to their environments within software and also in all parts of business, product and service development.
It’s important to know that these approaches on the bottom row are not necessarily bad—they are, in fact, quite necessary at times. What this visual shows us is that as much as possible we should strive for the approaches on the top row, as they will allow teams to deliver more value, faster.
Let us think about what each of these initial comparisons, pulled from The Agile Manifesto, is really telling us to emphasise.
Agile organisations value and prioritise the following:
12 principles of agile working
These principles form the basis of the Agile Manifesto written in 2001. As the Agile Manifesto was written by software developers, the initial principles relate mostly to software development. The Agile Manifesto states “We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others to do it”.
Where software is mentioned in these principles, organisations now understand that any product, service or user experience can be developed or improved by adopting these guiding principles.
The principles are:
- Customer satisfaction is the highest priority
- Change is welcome
- Working software is delivered frequently
- Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers
- Projects are built around motivated individuals
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
- Regular adaptation to changing circumstances
- Simplicity–the art of maximising the amount of work not done–is essential
- Self-organising teams deliver the best results
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly
- The team continuously improves its development process
- Agile processes promote sustainable development
Agile Methodology
Agile Methodologies are methods of dividing a strategic initiative being delivered or project into three parts.
This ensures continuous cooperation and continuously improved processes throughout the project or program of work lifecycle.
After the project has begun, teamwork cycles through planning, execution and evaluation.
3 key elements of Agile methodology
The three key factors that make a successful Agile development plan are:
- Collaboration
- Constant focus on business value
- Adequate quality
Regardless of the methodology we adopt, to allow for both alignment and autonomy, we need to change what we do to adapt to changing market environments and increasing consumer demands.
To ‘go agile’ means letting go of some dearly held illusions we have established over many years of traditional ways of working.
Illusion of progress
We need to recognize that starting work does not mean we are making progress. A focus on completing work is more likely to create progress
Illusion of Power
Broad groups of people forming committees tend to diffuse effort. Having the right people in a team with a clearly defined decision-maker, at the right level of the organisation speeds up progress
Illusion of Predictability
Incrementally delivering work provides predictability early on in a project . Having a plan but no output means that you are guessing how reliable your projections are
Illusion of Efficiency
Having people moving between teams, switching their work context often means time spent learning how to collaborate with new people again and again. This is not efficient compared to having stable teams which learn how to work productively on whatever is given to them.
Illusion of Understanding
Letting go of the belief that a document is the same as understanding is achieved by valuing conversation more than a bulky document alone
Frameworks and models
Frameworks and models are important in agile methodology as they provide a structure for the project. This helps to ensure that the project is completed in a timely and efficient manner.
There are a number of different frameworks and models that can be used, each of which has its own benefits.
Some of the most popular Agile frameworks and models include Scrum and Kanban.
Each framework has its own set of principles and guidelines that help to ensure the project is completed in a timely and efficient manner.
Why is Agile Development important?
Agile development is an important methodology because it helps teams to be more flexible and responsive to change. It is based on the principle of continuous collaboration between team members, with regular feedback and updates to ensure that the project is moving in the right direction.
Agile Project Management
Project management is the process of planning, organising, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.
A project manager must be able to handle changes in order to ensure that the final product meets the customer’s expectations.
Agile project management is a newer approach to project management that allows for greater flexibility and faster adaptation to change. It relies on regular feedback from team members and customers in order to make changes as needed.
Agile Software Development
Agile software development is a way to manage software projects. It’s based on the idea that you should work closely with the people who will be using the software including those who can provide direct customer insights or those who are primary stakeholders for your product (e.g. the user experience designers, the data analysts who assess its performance, the teams who market or sell the software and those who determine its pricing), and that you should constantly be adapting to changing circumstances. This means that the project is always moving forward and that it’s easier to make changes as needed.
Agile Transformation
An Agile Transformation changes the way a company is run.
It’s steeped in changing the way people think it should be run and how they operate within their business.
While every Agile Transformation is different, based on a needs analysis – broadly speaking it’s about adopting a new approach.
Our Agile services allow you to transform the way you and your team work. Find out more about Agile Transformation and what it could mean for your business.
How Agile is your team?
Agile project management is the best method for your team to achieve good results by adapting to change.
It is always evolving and changing. So If you ask a few different leaders how they define agile, they will all give you a different response.
How can you implement Agile at the individual team level?
We cover all your bases with our Agile at Scale services. There is a range of tools and resources we have to benefit your team, so get in touch to discuss your needs.
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