Agile is a highly versatile methodology for software development. It fosters an effective working environment that can produce something meaningful. It values people interaction more, instead of strict processes. Here are things you should do to make sure that Agile Methodology could work properly
- Focus on interactions: The greatest process won’t mean anything if there’s no appropriate people who can interact and communicate effectively with one another. Regardless of the maturity and size of your organization, make sure that you have appropriate tools and processes can be made more effective.
- Don’t be restricted by documentation: Development can be slowed by mounds of documentation. Documentation is essential, but it’s needs to be functional, instead of being overly technical. Agile Methodology doesn’t strictly follow documentation and it’s more about completing tasks. Regardless of whether your methodology is agile or not, documentation is needed. There’s nothing wrong with it. But, it’s essential that you are not bounded and fully controlled by documentation that may not be relevant to recent changes. Another solution is to regularly improve documentation based on latest changes and developments.
- Focus on customer collaboration: The development team need to serve clients and they are often restricted by contractual obligations. Customer collaboration is important because the usual ‘Us versus Them’ mentality will be very detrimental. Agile methodology is meant to be effective and it needs to be flexible. The methodology is written and developed to handle change effectively. Obviously, you need a contract when working with a client. Honestly, contracts are often designed to transfer risks from clients to service provider, or in this case, the development team. Although it may appear that the development team is at disadvantage, it’s possible to reduce risks for everyone. So, Agile methodology is a good fit for this purpose. In fact, you can design contracts as a vehicle to implement Agile methodology.
- Respond to changes: Development team often focus on following the plan. Although detailed project plan may seem to push us forward, it’s not always true. Failing to respond to changes may result in stagnation. If the development team wants to be agile, then they need to constantly make necessary changes. Estimation
- Reduce risks: Many software development companies fail due to poor management of risks. When risks are not controlled, problems could easily emerge. It means that it will be harder for the team to meet the demands of the clients. It would be a bad thing if clients have spent millions of dollars and discovered that goals can’t be achieved. Risk management is a key knowledge and it should be high in the priority list. All managers should fully understand about risk management. Managers should know how to deal with inherent dynamics of a project. Risks should be understood, so they can be mitigated and avoided. However, risks are not always negative, they can help the team to stay alert and make improvements. Risks can be controlled through involvements of stakeholders. Verifications need to be performed routinely, so risks can be reduced.