Agile has become one of the most popular ways of conducting projects today due to its flexibility. What’s more, in Agile project management, testing is an integral part of the project execution phase, which means that the overall quality of the final product is higher. Also, customers are involved in the development process and can make changes based on market requirements.
Taking all that into consideration, how does Agile help deliver better software? Read on to discover insights straight from the experts.
This article is part of a more comprehensive guide: Demystifying Agile in Software Development. Make sure you get yours! |
#1 Enhanced feedback process
With Agile, clients and users are always involved in the decision-making process. By helping them understand the workflow and by making changes based on their feedback, you can provide value to customers and ensure that the final product truly meets their requirements.
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“Our main reason for using Agile is that it hugely helps with our feedback process, making failing cheaper than ever and in the end delivering better software. Having constant feedback helps the team not to get emotionally attached to their work and makes it easier to implement changes.” Mircea Alexandru, Software Development Manager, Mark Information |
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“When you use Agile, the team becomes closer to stakeholders through the product owner. For example, the product owner is present in daily meetings and it works well, because the team can get answers right away and work more efficiently.” Vasi Axinte, Senior Software Developer, Wirtek |
#2 Increased predictability
With increased visibility, it becomes easier to predict risks and propose effective mitigation plans. There are several ways to identify, anticipate risks, and plan to ensure the project runs smoothly within the Agile framework. For example, the Scrum methodology uses sprint backlogs and burndown charts to increase project visibility and predictability.
The level of predictability offered by an Agile approach can help the business owner estimate more accurately the number of deliverables (such as features) according to business growth objectives.
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"Another benefit of Agile is predictability. I know that my team and I are able to deliver on time based on our previous workflow. And this also benefits the client. In time, this translates into more autonomy for the team.” Mircea Alexandru, Software Development Manager, Mark Information |
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"From a business perspective, flexibility is required, but it also helps to have predictability. Based on late estimates, we can now estimate better, adjust expectancies, and help the business deliver.” Vasi Axinte, Senior Software Developer, Wirtek |
#3 Efficiency in achieving milestones
Agile is suitable for small sprints that focus on continuous delivery. A DeltaMatrix study performed on over 8000 projects estimated that the productivity of Agile teams is 25% higher and they deliver 50% faster than non-Agile teams.
In short, Agile is very effective for productivity because it helps everyone focus on one task at a time. This is exactly what the team needs to do to complete a large project. If they try to do too many things at once, they will eventually fail due to feeling overwhelmed and confused.
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“Entering short-term backlogs according to Agile best practices is highly efficient. We have made the mistake of creating backlogs for long-term tasks and so far didn't manage to get to them. We have learned that Agile helps us work more efficiently when we apply the methodology as it was designed to.”Mircea Alexandru, Software Development Manager, Mark Information |
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“Agile brings clarity regarding deliverables, and it also enhances the quality of deliverables, bringing faster team responses. We look at the overall performance of the app to see how far we’ve come or if there is a problem.”Alexandra Filip, Scrum Master, Wirtek |
#4 Increased flexibility
When Agile is properly applied in a software development team, it allows for unprecedented flexibility. Teams work in shorter bursts, with the product owner providing frequent feedback and interaction. Changes are typically time-consuming and costly in other project management approaches.
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“For us, flexibility is the best benefit Agile offers. We used Scrum for a while and concluded that some of its features do not fit our needs. Then we used Kanban, ending up using a Kanban classic. All these changes and experiments allowed us to be sufficiently adaptable to the requests of the client." Vasi Axinte, Senior Software Developer, Wirtek |
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"We have team members who like to work with a clean structure and they adapt better in the Scrum team. Other team members are good at fixing bugs fast and they adhere to the processes of a Kanban team. " Alexandra Filip, Scrum Master, Wirtek |
Agile breaks the project into small and flexible sprints that allow the team to make adjustments on the fly. This unmatched flexibility is one of the top reasons dynamic organizations prefer to use Agile in their projects.
Special thanks to our contributors for sharing their insights and ideas with us:
Mircea Alexandru, Software Development Manager, Mark Information
Vasi Axinte, Senior Software Developer, Wirtek
Alexandra Filip, Scrum Master, Wirtek
