Many companies today are considering or using iterative methodologies like Agile and Scrum to deliver their software projects. This stemmed from challenges these businesses have faced with a waterfall delivery approach, where code is constantly in a state of flux, and development deadlines were missed routinely despite the best efforts of smart developers. Iterative methods tend to outperform traditional, or ad-hoc, methods, as you can see in the research below. Let’s take a look into why this is the case.
Changing requirements: In today’s world, the volume of data generated is constantly rising and the quest to satisfy the consumer is accelerating. Arguably, the biggest challenge a business must contend with is the rapidly changing landscape of user requirements. While traditional methods assume that requirements are mostly static, iterative methods (such as Agile) tend to assume that everything constantly changes and the business needs to build only as much as is known at the time. This approach llows for rapid adjustment to changing user needs, facilitating more customized outcomes.
The limits of the human mind: Throughout the ages, humans have built systems, tools, and methods that allow them to accelerate their ability to create, innovate, and deliver. However, even with all the tools we create, it seems the larger problems have a higher likelihood for human error, especially when we are short on time. This problem often plays out in traditional methods where a large set of requirements and modules are built in parallel, and are expected to work well together. This challenge typically tends to be too complex to handle for even the most able developer—after all, we as humans can only comprehend so much at any one time.
Enter the iterative approach. Iterative implementation limits the amount of change in a single iteration. This reduces risk and improving outcomes, making them considerably more achievable. This reduced risk gives iterative approaches a huge advantage over ad-hoc methods.
The tendency for the human mind to over-estimate its own capability: No matter how smart we are or how good we are at what we do, we often tend to overestimate our own abilities. This is why as the time horizon draws out, we humans tend to predict faster deliveries than are actually possible. Iterative methods acknowledge this fact and adapt to this challenge by basing predictions on a run rate (known as “velocity” in Agile). This run rate is based on historical data and hence tends to be more realistic.
So now that we know why iterative methods are typically more effective, what is Agile and what is Scrum?
Agile is a system of methods to deliver iteratively. Agile Scrum adds a few rules to the structure to make processes more collaborative and team driven. Below is a high-level overview of Agile structural elements:
1. A sprint (iteration) that typically runs between one and three weeks, delivering a releasable bit of the product that may consist of bug fixes, new features, UI improvements, or some combination of these and other projects.
2. A release which includes a definitive set of features/stories that will be released over time. A release is usually a predetermined number of sprints. Typically, a team doesn't perform a release planning activity until it has demonstrated a sustained velocity that allows for effective planning.
3. Roles
While the description above is not comprehensive (you can learn more here), there is also a change in mindset when embarking on the Agile journey. From my own experience, here are some aspects to consider that are usually quite useful in attaining better velocity and predictable delivery from your sprints. I recommend reading the article “A brief introduction to Scrum” linked above if you can; it is the basis for these thoughts.
All this sounds great, right? But now you’re probably wondering…
If I’ve convinced you so far that Agile can help you and your organization, then the next question becomes where do I get started, and how long does it take to get good at this?
Based on my experience, the steps to full adoption of an Agile structure across the organization are described below. There are other models (Dr. Dobbs’ model, for example) that discuss these stages, but their essence is the same. Bear in mind that much like the iterative approach to Agile, these phases tend to overlap and are not quite as separate as listed below.
At this point, you should have achieved a delivery methodology that allows daily delivery of useful features (if necessary), automated key metrics, and a team that gets the daily dynamics well. Congratulations! You have come farther than most teams ever will.
You can accelerate the above phases by taking Simplilearn’s Agile and Scrum courses. The course work has live projects that help you assimilate and execute these concepts much faster and may enable you to compress the above steps.
Ok...That’s great, too...but…
Having been an Agile practitioner for more than 10 years now, and having implemented this methodology across more than 20 teams in development, content, marketing, and many other diverse delivery teams, my learnings have been distilled down to these takeaways:
The most important part of this journey is that you are now building an adaptable organization and a team that can swivel quickly. This is a competitive advantage in an increasingly tough marketplace.
Further reading:
Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process, Kenneth S. Rubin Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban, Andrew Stellman & Jennifer Greene
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A Product leader with deep experience in building products across various industries and product types, Anand leads the product vision, roadmap and delivery at Simplilearn. Prior to this role, Anand headed the complete portfolio for the cloud division at Rackspace in San Antonio, Texas. He has also led product at Dell and National Instruments prior to this in products ranging from test and measurement software solutions to enterprise software solutions. Anand strongly believes in a customer driven, data augmented, lean approach to delivering products.
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