Depending on your business sector and climate, agile development may have varying levels of acceptance. Perhaps your coworkers and managers view agile development as an interesting “novelty” that will one day pass (once people realize “traditional” development is the way to go). Then again, maybe your business already lives, breathes and thinks agile. Wherever you and your coworkers are – and wherever you would like to be, here are some tips.
Be Honest About Agile Development
Where are you right now with agile development – and where would you like to be? A recent study found that while 80% of businesses claim to have adopted agile development, only about 20% of them have actually thoroughly incorporated agile development processes.
What is Agile Development?
Chances are you can sum up agile development in a few words: in place of static, waterfall-based software development, agile development is responsive, recursively learning from real-time input, developing the software people realize they need only as they start to see what it’s really going to look like. Something like that, right?
That said, what does true agile development look like in practice?
Here’s Some Possible Agile Development Gaps
Whether you are trying to achieve buy-in or remove some of the misconceptions, here’s a few key areas to look at – and present – in terms of a truly agile workplace.
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How is your communication? Specifically, do members of your team meet regularly with each other and with end-users (or their representatives) to discuss their current needs? Agile development starts not with expensive software or some mystical process, but with communication. That should make the boss happier, maybe.
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How is your response time? Here is a good way to test out your processes and if your underlying design is truly agile and lean. Once you have communicated and find out that something has changed, how quickly are you able to respond? What stands in your way?
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How comprehensive is your response? To be truly agile, development should not focused on one or two facets of the project. If you find yourself repeatedly reworking one tiny part of the software that’s probably a bad sign and could indicate everyone needs to pause, take a deep breath, and step back.
For more about agile development strategies and to let us put our expertise to work in response to your needs, contact us today.