4 ways to stay Agile without getting caught upAgility is the power to move quickly, to think and react rapidly. In the ICT sector, today's imperative is to quickly produce the highest quality software and to achieve this, development teams are needing to adapt, decide and code at speed. Matthew Barnard, executive head of banking at BBD This can oftentimes be a problem in large corporates where the nature of the beast is to abide by the many processes set in place. Originally outlined by the Agile Manifesto in 2001, the approach aimed to change the way the industry thought and create self-organising, self-motivated development teams who are focused on working software instead of overly comprehensive documentation. Not only does this mindset-shift make for a productive and happy workforce, it results in numerous business benefits to boot.“We have seen a tendency in the industry to focus on the methodologies and enforce Agile processes, rather than understanding and valuing the Agile mindset” states Matthew Barnard, executive head of banking at BBD, a software development firm. BBD has adopted the Agile mindset. “Although this means that our processes are Agile, we do not enforce specific methodologies such as SCRUM, Kanban and SAFe onto our own project teams. As long as our teams value an Agile mindset and principles over Agile methodologies, we allow them to either align with the client’s practices or in a way that is most beneficial to the client.” Barnard explains that BBD has however noticed that many of their clients are enforcing specific Agile methodologies and practices, which can sometimes be to the detriment of the project as the teams then focus on the methodology rather than the result. “Following Agile practices without an Agile mindset is not being Agile.” Here are the top four ways to stay Agile without committing to specific methodologies.
“It really is Agile for anyone. Our advice is to try it out and encourage teams to get the core of your business flowing correctly and then build new processes around that if you must.” He concludes by reminding organisations that small changes often can be much more powerful than huge changes that happen slowly. |