With an increasing demand for business agility due to an increasingly digitalized world, traditional project management approaches are no longer as effective. As a result, it is necessary to seek alternatives that better adapt to this scenario, thus making agile methods emerge as an alternative to the traditional models of product development, business transformation, and project management.
Based on adaptability and flexibility, these approaches originally sought continuous and incremental delivery of software, with reduced development cycles. However, its application was not restricted to software development. Today, the success that agile methodologies have achieved can be attributed to the many benefits they can generate for those who apply them in the work environment. In this sense, it far surpasses the results of traditional management approaches.
Some of the advantages are,
- Performance gain
- More customer satisfaction
- Error reduction
- Continuous integration
- Better results
Continue reading to learn about the 12 agile principles that help ensure project delivery.
Principle 1: Value
The main objective of agile teams is not to deliver a final product, according to certain requirements, but to deliver value to the customer. In other words, deliver a solution that brings the best results. Put another way, the highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of value.
In practice, this implies prioritizing customer happiness and satisfaction. This new way represented a paradigm shift for the project management sector, as it became more important to develop an organic approach to business growth and project delivery. In other words, project development should be incremental, based on observed day-to-day needs, not just the initial briefing. This principle is reminiscent of the marketing maxim: understand in order to serve.
Principle 2: Flexibility
Agile processes adapt to changes so that the customer can take a competitive advantage, accepting changes in requirements even at the end of a project’s development.
Notice how the principles are intertwined. When the first principle makes room for customer satisfaction, it already encompasses the second, which is to have a flexible and changeable project.
In an increasingly competitive and complex market, it is necessary to develop projects in a flexible way, so that they can undergo changes according to the context in which the company is inserted and its needs, which may change during development.
That is, to fully satisfy the customer, it is necessary for the project manager to keep in mind that, if necessary, he will have to make changes, additions, deletions, etc. But this flexibility is only applicable if the project has a delivery frequency, as we will see next.
Principle 3: Frequency
“Deliver working software frequently, whether on a scale of weeks or months, giving preference to shorter periods.”
Again, there is the intersection, so that the project is flexible and has customer satisfaction as a priority — in practice, it will have to be delivered in parts. Each step will be subject to validation and, consequently, the final product will have greater value for the customer.
With each sprint completed, the project manager and his team must deliver functionality to the client, with full capacity to be used from the first moment. This helps from value perception to testing and integration with other project components.
Principle 4: Union
“Both business people and developers must work together daily throughout the course of the project.”
The involvement of the company’s management is essential for the projects to be developed according to the client’s expectations. This collaboration is what allows you to customize the solution and validate it with each completed sprint.
It is no wonder that one of the most important roles of an agile team is that of the Product Owner, a professional responsible for being a customer representative throughout the development process.
Principle 5: Motivation
“To build projects around motivated individuals, you have to give them the environment and support they need, trusting them to do their job.”
It is essential that the project team is motivated to play its role and has a suitable environment to develop its activities, with support both in guiding activities and in adopting agile methodologies to project delivery.
It is important that project managers keep in mind that the actions for this principle to be put into practice are on two fronts, equally important: keeping the team motivated and subsidizing the team with the necessary support.
Principle 6: Communication
“The most efficient method of conveying both external and internal information to a development team is through face-to-face conversation.”
If you go back to the demands that started the emergence of the Agile manifesto, you will realize that bureaucratization was one of those points. However, it must be borne in mind that the manifesto did not want to exclude all forms of communication, but to optimize them. That is, it was identified that it was necessary to cut the documentation exaggeration that hindered and delayed the process.
Anyway, sprint planning meetings are fundamental, and are part of the principles of the manifesto. After all, the activity record is not as effective as a project team meeting to align objectives, exchange knowledge, and plan the next actions.
Principle 7: Functionality
“Functional software is the primary measure of progress”
The evolution of a project developed using agile methods is estimated by the delivery of functional milestones and not by the completion of activities.
Now, reviewing the first principles presented in this resource, do you see how functionality is the result of the union of the first three: Value, Flexibility, and Frequency? Thus, in the act of doing — in this case, project management and delivery — the principles intertwine. And this is because the manifesto is the result of observing the act of doing and choosing its best ways.
Principle 8: Sustainability
“Agile processes promote a sustainable environment, with sponsors, developers, and users being able to keep pace.”
The ideal environment for the development of projects must be built with planning, by iterations and involving all those affected by the work. This process must be continuous and everyone must be available to accompany and support it.
The most important thing in this topic is to pay attention to building something with current resources, without depleting them and multiplying them for future uses.
Principle 9: Review
“Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design increases agility.”
The constant review of technical requirements as well as the design allows the delivery of a solution that is truly aligned with the client’s business objectives, eliminating major changes at the time of final delivery.
Principle 10: Simplicity
“Simplicity is the art of maximizing the amount of work that doesn’t have to be done.”
Less is more! As agile methods dispense with much records and other documents that commit team time, the work becomes simpler to perform. Therefore, it can be completed in less time. This ensures the customer’s time to market.
Principle 11: Organization
“The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.”
Agile teams are composed of professionals with the ability to organize themselves. That is, to divide tasks and responsibilities between them, without a project manager having to interfere.
Principle 12: Self-assessment
“At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then adjusts and optimizes their behavior accordingly.”
In practice, this principle consists of reviewing the work carried out, which, at the end of each cycle, allows the team itself to evaluate its performance and discover more interesting ways of working and streamlining the entire process.
When you take the CareerCentra Project Management Foundation course, you will learn the rudiments and the agile methods of business and project delivery that will give you an edge in the marketplace. Learn more here…
