Why Introduce The Agile Methodology In Your Company

If there is a feature that defines the current markets, it is changing. Customer demands, technologies, ways of communicating, everything is constantly changing. This means that companies must have the capacity to adapt, which implies that their work methodologies must promote speed and resilience. Agile methodologies are the answer to this need since they allow us to adapt to the needs of each project quickly, flexibly, and adapt to the circumstances.

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Origin of the agile methodology

We found the origin of the Agile methodology in the 90s and linked it to the technological field. It emerges as a formula to respond to the need to work under less static processes to achieve better results.

For a decade, various technology companies developed innovative work methodologies that allowed them to respond quickly to new customer needs, technological failures, and improvements… This led to seventeen software development specialists meeting in Snowbird (Utah, USA ) in 2001 ) and started an interesting debate in which they shared the best practices of each company in project management. His analyses and reflections laid the foundations for the agile methodology.

We are talking about a historical fact regarding business management methodology that completely revolutionized traditional methods and how, to date, companies worked. We went from a thought where the employees’ working hours were taken into account to assess their productivity —and, consequently, their remuneration— to prioritizing agility and flexibility in the development of projects, always adapting to the needs of the client and focusing on results.

Today, the Agile methodology is a standard model in multiple international companies due to its great benefits. Despite emerging links to the peculiarity of technology-based companies, it has managed to conquer all types of companies today. It applies within any department regardless of the type of activity it develops or its dimensions.

The system is based on 4 fundamental pillars:

Valuing team members and social relationships over processes and tools.
Giving priority to the product.
Collaborating with the client and maintaining a close relationship ( face to face and collaborative).
Being flexible to never stick to the set plan.

Advantages of the Agile methodology

The Agile methodology has established itself as an innovative and high-performance formula, ideal for today’s professional models. Here are its main advantages:

Versatility

The Agile methodology allows 100% adjustment to the needs that arise at all times. The changes can come from the client’s demands, from the evolution of the project, from the external situation (a pandemic, the need to adapt a product or service…), but in any case, they find a quick response.

Efficiency

This methodology has cooperation as one of its strengths, allowing collaborative work (meetings are held daily to find out where each team member is and readjust the established plan when necessary). It is always applied following a horizontal model that favours team cohesion.

Productivity

Streamlining processes is the objective of this methodology in which all parts of the project work collaboratively simultaneously.

Values of the Agile methodology

The values on which this methodology is based stem from the Agile manifesto, signed by the group as mentioned earlier of software development, which establishes 12 principles :

1. Customer satisfaction. Deliver products and content of value to meet the customer’s needs.

2. Listen to the new requirements. Attend all the suggestions that arise along the way to improve.

3. Weekly deliveries. If we split deliveries, we minimize the risk of error by having feedback.

4. Measure progress. Some indicators allow us to evaluate our work objectively.

5. Sustainable development. We will guarantee continuity in the project.

6. Close work. Work from anywhere with the best attitude.

7. Conversation. Meeting regularly, ideally in person, will help ensure our message is communicated as effectively as possible.

8. Motivation and confidence. The work environment in which the project is carried out is paramount.

9. Technical excellence and good design. Submit, without exception, quality work.

10.We will “chop” the tasks until their level of complexity is adequate.

11. Team self-management. We will rule out hierarchies, considering them harmful to the common good.

12. Adaptation to changing circumstances. Avoiding rigidity during the process of a project is vital since the context can change when unexpected changes arise.

We firmly believe that management must always be better than yesterday but worse than tomorrow, and, for this reason, we incorporated the bases a long time ago. Of this type of methodology.

We use the Lean Management methodology-more specifically Kaizen- because by implementing it, we eliminate waste from production systems.

We, first of all, weekly plan the work – with the help of panels – taking into account the current situation. In this way, we can all see what tasks our colleagues have and, thus, visualize the loads.

Then, we establish actions, analyze the results obtained and contrast them with our starting point until we finally standardize what has worked in the processes.

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