You’ve probably worked on a project at some point that lacked a clear framework for dealing with uncertainty. And when that happens, it’s likely that there will be quite a few changes as the project progresses. In these cases, adopting an agile approach to the project may be the solution…
This brings us to a set of management methodologies referred to as “agile” because of their flexible nature. The fact is that, unlike conventional ones, they are not based on the They do not plan a project in stages, but rather through different iterations.
Therefore, planning is constantly adjusted based on the requirements that arise in connection with the work being performed in each phase.
7 Factors for Implementing Agile Methodologies
As the agile approach gains ground as a new paradigm for business success, we’ll show you how to implement the methodologies that underpin it:
1. Information Displays
It is panels on display throughout an office. In an agile project, information must flow openly, so it must be available to anyone interested in viewing the data, whether in a physical or virtual environment.
2. Agile Work Teams
Professionals who are part of an agile team can go through the four stages of what is known as Tuckman model:
- Education: All members get to know each other personally and professionally, identify each other's strengths and weaknesses, and define the project's objectives.
- Brainstorming: Each employee considers how to work more effectively, how to make decisions as a group, and how to propose improvements.
- Standardization: The group finds a way to make decisions together and resolve conflicts.
- Performance: This is the most productive phase for an agile team, as it proceeds to redesign and optimize processes and decision-making.
3. Distributed work teams
Sometimes it's inevitable that a the team is not located in the same geographic area. In these cases, it’s important to try to ensure that all members meet in person, spend a little more time on planning, and hold brief daily conference calls.
In addition, we should also make use of digitally supported tools: from virtual task boards and digital cameras to wikis, videoconferences, and conference calls.
4. Roles
- Product Owner: is the person responsible for managing the backlog (user stories). He or she decides what gets done and what doesn't.
- Development team: builds the product.
- Scrum Master: This professional is responsible for managing and facilitating the implementation of Scrum rules.
- Interested parties: are the other people involved in a project, who can observe and offer advice.
5. Events
Once roles and team coordination have been defined, it is important to highlight a series of potential actions that are part of an agile project.
- Sprint Planning: The product owner explains the priorities to the team that will estimate the effort required for the priority requirements in order to determine the objectives.
- Sprint: It consists of the basic development cycle within the standard Scrum framework. It should never be less than one month or more than six weeks.
- Daily Scrum: It's a meeting that lasts less than 15 minutes, during which we discuss teams rather than individuals, to provide an update on what each team has done, what they plan to do, whether there will be any delays, and whether anything will get in the way of the rest of the team.
- Sprint Review: This session is dedicated to presenting the progress made, offering suggestions, and announcing the next sprint.
- Retrospective: It is a self-assessment of work methods to identify strengths and weaknesses in order to develop an improvement plan.
6. Hand Tools
Using these tools in the agile world involves a psychological connection to their content. For this reason, it is recommended to use them until you gain experience, at which point they can be supplemented or replaced by digital tools.
7. Digital Tools
When carrying out any agile project, it is necessary to obtain a management toolkit to store information:
- Redmine: It is a tool that does not require a license and allows for the comprehensive project management: backlog management, release plan visualization, daily cost tracking, built-in Kanban, issue tracking, etc.
- Trello: In that case, it is a tool designed to Work in panel mode and switch between Kanban tasks. This way, all project members can make changes from their cell phones at any time.
- Jira: is a more complex tool in which You can create workflows and generate comprehensive reports to track a project
