Defining and Adopting the Agile Framework for your Business
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By definition, the word Agile means the “ability to move with quick, easy grace.”
While this is how most of us would define Agile, the term has grown over the years to have a much more diverse, broad meaning — especially in the business world, where more and more teams are adopting some interpretation of the methodology originally described in the Agile Manifesto as an approach to software.
What does the word ‘Agile’ really mean?
As with most words in the English language, it all depends on context.
In the traditional sense, as defined above, Agile is about moving around in a fast, fluid way — for example, you might call a ballet dancer, hockey player, or an animal moving through nature “Agile.”
But Agile has also shaped into a business approach, most commonly known as Agile Project Management. Originating from the world of extreme programming, the Agile Framework is built upon 12 principles designed to make project management and product development as seamless and fluid as possible.
The goal of the Agile method is to reduce, or remove, unnecessary steps that take place during a team’s workflow, and keep only the essential parts to get a project done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“Agile project management is an iterative development methodology that values human communication and feedback, adapting to changes, and producing working results.” (source)
So, while it can be — and often is — can be used in different ways, the framework still holds the same core meaning no matter where it is applied.
What is involved in the Agile business method?
There are a number of different processes and approaches to Agile that a team can use to become more efficient. Some of the more common include Kanban, Lean Development, Scrum, and SAFe. But the concept is all basically the same — get work done quickly with as little waste as possible.
The steps can be applied to almost any Agile methodology to retain organization during the work process. Scrum is one of the most popular forms of Agile among teams and is a great starting point for teams looking to break into the methodology.
Sprint Planning
In the sprint planning meeting, your team will decide what will occur during the Sprint (a set time period in which the team does the bulk of the work on a project). Planning is encouraged to make sure everyone knows their role within the Sprint and what tasks need to be accomplished.
The Sprint
The Sprint is the designated time where the development team works on the tasks that move the project forward. This can last a week, a month, or however long your team needs to get their work completed.
Daily Standup Meeting
This is a meeting held each day (or as often as needed) during a Sprint to catch up with your team and go over what is currently happening within the work process.
Sprint Review
This occurs near the end of the Sprint process when the work has been completed or is almost complete. The review is the time to show off or demonstrate the product or work that has been accomplished over the duration of the Sprint.
Backlog Refinement
The product backlog is a constantly evolving list of all the feature requests and improvements your project needs. The Scrum team refines the backlog as needed as they review, prioritize, and estimate the effort required to complete each working item.
Sprint Retrospective
The Retrospective is a time for the team to look back on the Sprint that just took place and review what worked for them and what didn’t.
Ready to go deeper with Agile methodologies?
Read more in our blog post “3 Forms of Agile Methodology You Need to Know”
Don’t worry if the process above isn’t exactly what you and your team had in mind. Agile is meant to be flexible and adapt to fit unique needs.
Try using different ways of organizing your Agile team by implementing different Kanban boards or Lean Development principles until you find something that works for you.
Make it stand out
Stormboard has great template options for a wide variety of meetings, approaches, and workflows.
Regardless of the form of Agile used, the overall goal is to keep working on improving as a team until you are working as efficiently as possible.
Why become Agile?
The most important question when considering a new framework is ‘why’?
Agile can be used by almost any kind of team, organization, or company aiming for a streamlined and efficient way of doing their work.
Use the Scaled Agile Program Board Template to streamline and coordinate and track all of the work that needs to be done for your Agile Program.
1) Organization
Agility is the perfect method to take on if your team needs some major organization to get the necessary work done. Having a method in place that allows you to show your team exactly what to plan for and how long their work cycle will be and tell them how it went is valuable for getting people on track and focused.
2) Good Stats
Even though it may seem new to many, Agile has been around for a while, and it’s gaining traction in different departments in companies all over the world —the research proves it.
“Using agile techniques, Enterprise Advanced Marketing has significantly compressed innovation project cycle times—in some cases by more than 75%.” (source)
3) Overall Efficiency & Quality
Getting quality work done is a priority and is easier to accomplish as you scale, but in most cases, it also needs to be done within a short time frame. With Agile, work is not only set up to be done with high standards, but also in an efficient manner.
And when tasks are getting done quicker, more work will be completed in the long run — without compromising the quality.
4) Collaboration & Communication
Improved communication and collaboration skills come with the territory. Within Scrum, for example, everyone has roles to play in the Sprint iteration, and they need to effectively communicate with one another for the process to be properly executed. Daily Standup meetings are yet one more thing used in Agile that will increase and improve overall communication.
Having engaging collaboration tools (like Stormboard) will also help teams to enjoy their work, and want to make their product the best it can be.
5) Be Ahead of the Game
Agile teams are generally going to be more advanced than teams who aren’t. They are more streamlined, have cut out anything that isn’t useful to them, have clear goals in mind, and are able to fully recognize what is working for them and what isn’t — along with the ability to quickly remedy anything that causes a roadblock in their process.
Being part of an Agile team is an effective way of ensuring your business is taking the right approach and remaining on task. Many times, teams find themselves lost as to what the next steps are or who is doing what. That isn’t the case with organized Agile teams, which dedicate themselves to organization and planning.
Does Agile sound like the right fit for your team?
Try our Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Board Template to streamline and coordinate and track all of the work that needs to be done for your Agile Program.
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Originally posted May.23,2022
Updated on Jun. 4, 2024
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