The software development sector is rapidly expanding due to an inherent need for new technologies, programs, sequencers, and tools; however, today’s development teams tend to experience a myriad of challenges during the production process:
- Over 70% of today’s development teams feature remote telecommuters.
- About one in every four software executives say that prioritisation is the number-one challenge when developing new technologies.
- Instead of augmenting in-house protocols and systems, over 56% of software start-ups have begun outsourcing development to external partners.
- Almost 30% of existing software organisations don’t utilise any kind of metrics or analyses to measure in-house performance and productivity.
- For every $1 billion invested in development projects, more than $122 million is wasted due to a lack of focus, performance, and proper implementation.
Thus, if you’ve been struggling to create viable solutions and effectively organise your efforts on a day-to-day basis, it’s in your best interests to reimagine and redefine your approach with Agile development training, especially if you’d like to break through and begin creating top-notch software with real-world applications.
What Is Agile Development?
In its simplest sense, Agile software development revolves around a particular set of values under which solutions and desirable outcomes evolve through cooperative engagement between cross-functional teams as opposed to structured plans and predetermined goals. As such, Agile concepts focus on encouraging teams to stay organised and to maintain a constant state of adaptability:
- Modified planning subject to periodic, need-based alterations
- Expansionary development with a focus on naturally-occurring objectives
- Fast and adaptable responses to change
- Early delivery and constant refinement
- Cooperative interactions with an emphasis on synergy and constructive inter-team communication
As you might imagine, the Agile methodology highlights productive collaboration over predefined processes; ever-changing software over comprehensive plans; customer relationships instead of prearranged negotiations; and, most importantly, reacting to changes as opposed to following a blueprint.
The Modern Iteration of Agile Development
If you’d like to employ Agile development within your business and finally achieve the goal of streamlined, highly-focused progress, it’s important to understand the ins and outs of the Scrum framework (a modernised variant of Agile development). Shown below is the general progression of a contemporary Scrum development approach:
- After establishing a viable product backlog, the teams will employ sprint planning, which allows self-organising collaborators to implement and execute targeted plans.
- After identifying an appropriate sprint timeline, each team will be granted a specific amount of time to complete their
- However, every collaborator will meet on a daily basis to assess progress, adapt to changes, and alter the scope of the sprint as required. These meetings are commonly referred to as daily Scrums.
- If executed properly, the sprint will end with a review and retrospective, after which the work should be ready to ship or present to a stakeholder.
If you effectively utilise the Scrum framework, you’ll be able to drive team efficiency, increase project-specific productivity, stress fluid communication, and deliver high-quality, workable solutions.
However, due to the fact that every software organisation features a unique scope of operations, distinctive logistical hierarchy, and varied initiatives, you’ll be best served by partnering with a reputable Scrum expert to help establish a feasible plan for your development team, ideally one that can tout PSM III certifications and extensive experience with implementing Scrum frameworks.
With a knowledgeable consultant by your side, you’ll be able to start hitting your goals and truly maximise the inherent potential within your team.