Processes

Agile software development and project management incorporates adaptive methods and practices based around a widely accepted conceptual framework for software engineering, which seek to minimize project risk through short iterations, typically 1-4 weeks. Each iteration includes planning, requirements analysis, design, development, testing and documentation.

Agile methods seek to increase the level of communication between key stakeholders, users, and developers, emphasizing face-to-face communication over written documents. Most agile teams are located in a single open office. Agile methods also emphasize working software as the primary measure of progress. Combined with the preference for face-to-face communication, agile methods produce very little documentation relative to other methods. This has resulted in invalid criticism of agile methods as being undisciplined.

Some of the principles behind the Agile Manifesto are:

  • Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software
  • Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)
  • Working software is the principal measure of progress
  • Even late changes in requirements are welcome
  • Close, daily, cooperation between business people and developers
  • Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication
  • Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted
  • Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
  • Simplicity
  • Self-organizing teams
  • Regular adaption to changing circumstances

Adaptive methods focus on adapting quickly to changing realities. When the requirements of a project change, an adaptive team changes as well.

From a product perspective, agile methods are most suitable when requirements are emergent and rapidly changing. From an organizational perspective, the suitability of agile methods can be assessed by examining three key dimensions of an organization: culture, people, and communication.

Some key success factors:

  • The culture of the organization must be supportive of negotiation
  • People must be trusted
  • Fewer but more competent people
  • Organizations must live with the decisions developers make
  • Organizations need to have an environment that facilitates rapid communication between team members

A project or organization must right-size the process to their needs, as no one size fits all. This is a requirement for any software engineering methodology used. The methodology should adapt to an organizations business process. Adapting a process also encourages the continuous improvement of a process in an organization.