How Should Companies Incorporate Agile Methodology Into Their Initiatives

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Someone questioned the CEO of a multinational firm about how you achieved such massive success in your business.

Did you know what the CEO’s response was? Any guesses?

He replied that their firm never compromises on the agile methodology because project management is incomplete without it. He further said that most businesses don’t give the required attention to agile methodologies; therefore, they fail to touch the peaks of success.

And he concluded his answer with this statement: “Excellence comes when we deliver value to customers, and the adoption of agile methodology is the biggest way to make customers happy.”

So, if you want to expand your business across borders, keep reading the blog post.

How should companies incorporate agile methodology into their initiatives? Why is this methodology necessary in this modern world? What are the benefits and challenges that come with its implementation? We have discussed all these questions in detail.

Let’s start with the basics!

What is agile methodology?

Before we dig out how to incorporate agile methodology into your business, let’s understand what agile technology actually is.

Agile methodology is a set of rules and regulations that guide project management and software development. It is not only associated with the IT industry; you can also use this methodology in other industries.

This technology emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, iterative development, and customer feedback. It doesn’t include only a single method but a collection of different best practices that involve constant collaboration.

Agile methodology is totally different from traditional project management techniques because it embraces change and considers it an opportunity for improvement.

Understanding Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto is a roadmap that outlines the principles and practices of agile methodology. Here are the four core values:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working solutions over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

The creators of the Agile Manifesto had a vision to develop a more transparent, flexible, and collaborative process where plans are not rigid. They tried to demolish the strict boundaries between software developers and customers.

Moreover, the agile manifesto removes administrative obstacles and paves the way for more iterative and adaptive product designs.

Common agile methodologies

Agile methodology is a misleading phrase, as it looks like a one-size-fits-all approach to software development. But this is not true. Agile isn’t a set of regulations but a way of thinking about teamwork, collaboration, and smooth workflows.

Look at the following four highly-famous agile methodologies. Each has its own unique features and principles.

Scrum  

According to our research and experience, we have found Scrum to be the most famous agile framework.

It includes sprints, which are time-boxed iterations. It is where teams work to deliver their work. Scrum offers daily standup meetings that ensure communication and collaboration among team members.

Here are the eight steps to using this agile methodology:

• Select the owner of a product
• Make a team of up to ten people
• Select a scrum master to oversee the progress
• Develop a product catalog
• Schedule sprints
• Daily 15-min mitt-ups scrum
• Sprint review of product increments
• Sprint retrospective 

Kanban  

Kanban is an agile methodology that is low-tech yet high-touch. It is all about visualizing work on a Kanban board.

Following are the five principles of Kanban:

• Manages teams 
• Limits work in progress 
• Optimizes the workflow 
• Improves collaboration 
• Promotes continuous improvement

Lean 

Lean software development methodology eliminates waste, delivers value, and empowers teams to make educated decisions. The first and foremost focus of Lean is to emphasize customer value, teamwork, and continuous product design improvement.

Here are seven principles of lean software development:

• Eliminates waste
• Fast delivery
• Continuous learning
• Making educated decisions
• Team strengthening
• Quality and integrity
• All-inclusive vision

Extreme Programming (XP) 

Kent Back, the developer of a software methodology, created Extreme Programming (XP). 

This methodology emphasizes close customer collaboration, iterative testing, and frequent releases. Moreover, it promotes practices such as test-driven development (TDD) and pair programming.

XP is based on the following four software development processes:

• Coding
• Testing
• Planning
• Listening

Benefits of using agile methodology

You have got a basic understanding of agile methodology. Now, let’s explore some of the extraordinary benefits of incorporating agile methodology:

Faster time to market

One of the top advantages of agile methodology is its ability to speed up Mobile app development and other related software development processes. A Forrester Research report says that companies that used agile methodologies experienced a 17% increase in project delivery speed.

Agile methodology breaks projects into smaller, more manageable chunks and delivers incremental updates. Companies can use this methodology to bring their products to market more quickly.

Improved customer satisfaction

The first and foremost focus of agile methodologies is to provide value to customers and win their trust. 

In the previous framework, the customers had a limited say in the planning process and had no influence on the execution phase. It used to affect the key variables of flexibility and adaptability.

But agile methodology keeps the customers in the loop and makes changes based on their needs and preferences. It makes sure that the finished product is according to the customers’ needs.

According to Harvard Business Review research, agile firms saw a 10–30% boost in customer satisfaction.

Enhanced flexibility

Agile empowers team members with unprecedented flexibility when it is implemented in a team. It divides the larger work into smaller bursts, supplemented by continuous feedback. Moreover, it includes the product owner’s involvement.

But, in other software management methodologies, changes take time and cost a lot.

Agile methodology divides the project into short, flexible, and manageable sprints. It is a reason the team that uses this project management methodology makes changes more quickly and efficiently.

According to McKinsey reports, agile firms have 60% more chances to capture new business opportunities as well as navigate disruptions successfully.

Higher-quality deliverables

Agile teams keep a strong focus on quality through continuous testing and improvement. According to VersionOne’s State of Agile Report, agile initiatives have a 25% lower defect density than non-agile projects.

So, fewer defects in the project mean a more reliable and powerful final product.

Increases return on investment

In every business, customer satisfaction and increased ROI are always given a high priority. To deliver the most useful product on time, Web development and other software development teams always carry a product backlog.

Moreover, you know that every iteration requires proper customer feedback. It is a reason every sprint of the methodology has a strong impact on the project’s success.

So, if you are a product owner, you must reconsider the priorities of your product catalog in order to get a handsome return on investment.

How should companies incorporate agile methodology into their initiatives

Now is the right time to explore the core of this blog post: “how should companies incorporate agile methodology into their initiatives.” So, let’s have a look at the following five key strategies:

Welcomes the agile attitude

First, you need to foster a culture in your organization where an agile attitude and mindset get huge appreciation. Start this cultural transformation from the top to the bottom.

It means that decision-making authorities accept failure as a learning opportunity, encourage flexibility, communication, collaboration, and prioritize customer satisfaction.

Training and education

‘Training and education’ are the second important factor when incorporating agile methodologies into your business initiatives. 

Make sure that your project team has the mandatory knowledge and skills to adopt agile methodology. Organize different training programs, workshops, and certifications to train and educate your team members. 

The Project Management Institute (PMI) states that companies where there are more educated agile practitioners have more project success rates.

Cross-functional teams

Agile delivery services need cross-functional teams. It means you should have team members with diverse skill sets from different departments of your business. For this, restructure your teams to be cross-functional.

Give them complete ownership of projects and empower them to make decisions. It will help everyone focus on the same goals and collaborate in the right way to sort out every prevailing challenge.

Iterative planning and delivery

Iterative planning and delivery are another important step in incorporating agile methodology into business initiatives.

Implement agile project management frameworks to plan and manage your project initiatives. The top examples of project management frameworks are Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming (XP), and Lean.

Always start small. Break down your project into smaller, easier-to-do tasks. And don’t forget to prioritize your small tasks on the basis of customer value.

Feedback loops and continuous improvement

Your company will only be agile if it embraces new ideas and perspectives and takes failure as an opportunity for improvement. 

In order to attain this attitude, make sure that everyone in your company has an agile mindset. It means a mindset that values the feedback of others.

For this, you should establish feedback mechanisms at every stage of your project initiative. Whether it is a customer, end-user, or team member, gather feedback from everyone. It will help your business continuously refine its products and services.

Challenges of implementing the agile methodology

The benefits of agile methodology are now clear, but there are still some challenges that need to be overcome to ensure its healthy implementation.

Resistance to change 

Unfortunately, agile methodology experiences resistance from some businesses. They feel that their traditional project management methods are easy to perform. It is a reason those companies fail at timely project completion and don’t touch the peaks of success.

It will be very challenging to establish agility in businesses if the top management is not on the same page. However, this resistance can be melted through communication and training.

Lack of knowledge 

It is difficult to implement agile if a company has little or no expertise with agile techniques. In some cases, businesses interpret agile in the wrong manner. They feel that it lacks the proper structure.

So, incorporating agile methodologies into the business apparatus will require proper training and education regarding agile principles and techniques.

Managing expectations 

Measuring success rates of agile implementation is difficult. Companies think that this project management methodology will quickly make things easy and increase their ROIs. 

It is a new and innovative way of working and will produce handsome results when team members successfully learn how to harness its potential.

How PureLogics can help you

As a leading custom software development company in New York City, we understand the unique challenges businesses face when incorporating agile methodology into their projects. 

We have a creative and experienced team of agile experts who offer a variety of custom development services, exactly according to your nature of business.

Our services include:

• Comprehensive agile training and coaching for your teams

• Agile project management in multiple agile frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, etc.

• Custom software development solutions according to your business goals and customer needs

So, are you ready to begin your agile journey and multiply ROIs like successful agile companies?

Contact us today, discuss your business with our experts, and see how they can take your business to new heights.

Hurry up — agility is the only way forward in this digital age.