Agile was born two decades ago as one more alternative to create software tools, although over the years it has been applied to many other areas due to its enormous effectiveness. A method that, as its name suggests, is synonymous with agility and that prioritizes people and interactions even ahead of processes and tools.
The methodology Agile prioritizes smaller, more scalable goals over time they launch great products. In addition, his team periodically evaluates both tasks and processes to improve both products and their performance.
Currently, we find different methodologies such as Scrum, Lean, Extreme Programming (XP)… unified under the umbrella of Agile. However, it is important to keep in mind certain practices that help create effective and more competitive Agile software development.
A client involved in each stage
In traditional software development, the customer is involved in almost only two parts of the process: at the beginning, when gathering information and brainstorming, and at the end, when the product is tested.
This changes with Agile, where the client is involved in each and every one of the stages which guarantees that the final product really meets the needs of the end user. It also helps that developers can make adjustments during the process itself instead of waiting until the end.
daily meetings
Daily meetings are, for example, common in the Scrum methodology, although other Agile methodologies use some other variation. Daily check-ins consist of a brief meeting of no more than 15 minutes so that each team member can update everyone else on what they are working on that day.
An option to encourage collaboration and transparency in the team, reduce duplication of work and avoid communication problems. It also helps to stick to the work schedule.
Greater team communication
One of the goals of Agile is encourage more constant and productive communication. Best communication practices that have been advancing at the same time as hybrid and remote work. Its developers continue to work on it despite the fact that the team is located in various time zones.
Task prioritization
Deciding which tasks to complete and in what order is an essential aspect of Agile development. There are many different methods to set these priorities such as MoSCoW (Must-haves, Should-haves, Could-haves, Won’t-haves) and first-in/first-out. The ideal is to choose -or discard- several according to the needs of each project.
Sprint Configuration
sprints are limited periods of time during which a team attempts to complete a defined set of tasks. These are assigned in order from most important to least important, and each team member has a set of responsibilities aligned with each task.
First, it is important to identify those tasks that cannot be performed until another previous task is completed to avoid bottlenecks. Once the sprint is complete, the team should have a retrospective meeting to identify what worked and what didn’t.
In short, the Agile methodology helps with better collaboration, efficient meetings, more productive communication, the prioritization of strategic tasks and the structuring of sprints.
