Agile software development requires an adaptable and flexible team willing to respond rapidly to changes, even when a client makes urgent demands while offering continuous value-driven delivery. This is what the Agile approach is all about.
Agile Software Development
In Agile, requests and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of cross-functional and self-organizing teams and their clients. Agile methodology divides the product into smaller pieces and integrates them for final testing. It does so by adhering to the following values (from the Manifesto for Agile Software Development):
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
The Agile approach heeds a set of principles (for example, frequent delivery of working software, adaptation of changing requirements throughout the development process, prioritizing simplicity, etc.) that streamline software creation. It is applied to complex software projects because of its adaptiveness. Agile emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, continuous improvement, and high-quality results.
The Advantages Agile Dev Teams Offer
The benefits of Agile software development are numerous. These are four of the top reasons why industry-leading companies choose to work with this methodology:
1. Increased Team Efficiency
Since Agile teams are self-organized, they have more freedom than traditional software development approaches. Manager responsibilities are taken on by the whole team, increasing motivation and promoting project ownership. In turn, this empowers each team member to make appropriate decisions related to their role, enhancing their commitment to delivering the best possible software product.
The latter does not mean team members work on their own, though. Instead, it’s the opposite: Agile promotes active collaboration. This includes transparent communication within the team (design, development, QA) and the project’s wider circle (product owners and stakeholders).
This interaction translates into insights that improve efficiency, such as delivery trends causing bottlenecks or workflows that need to be modified to increase productivity. In this sense, by interacting with each other and applying Agile best practices individually, the whole team improves and moves forward in unison, boosting overall efficiency while providing quick responses and solutions.
2. Visibility and Transparency
The way Agile teams work provides visibility and transparency at every stage of product development. Because the methodology creates software through small increments, all aspects are scrutinized during each sprint and for each version. Everything, from product ideation to coding and testing, is addressed openly as part of the process. This means everyone knows what is going on at every moment.
In addition, implementing frameworks such as Scrum, facilitates the close contact and collaboration mentioned above, allowing team members and stakeholders to communicate effectively. This allows for efficient shifts in strategies as required because the team makes adjustments based on concrete information.
3. Greater Flexibility and Continuous Improvement
Thanks to the visibility mentioned previously, any errors in the software are detected as soon as they happen. The same can be said about user testing: if a product’s feature does not perform as expected, it can be modified quickly based on users’ needs. Likewise, the team can deal with any changes requested by the client in a similar way. Therefore, overall, Agile allows teams to pivot quickly and effectively at any stage in the product’s development with remarkable flexibility. It also allows changes to be implemented at a low cost due to the frequency of new iterations.
This adaptive capacity means the software improves continuously as it is created. Each version the team works on, thanks to rapid iterations and the practice of constant testing, is better than the last. As a result, Agile teams deliver value every step of the way. Since the process is always transparent, stakeholders are aware of this value while also being privy to the product’s cumulative progress. It also improves their engagement and participation in what the team is working on, feeding the continuous improvement cycle.
4. Improved Risk Management
Because the software is scrutinized constantly and improved continuously throughout the Agile development process, the risk of a project’s failure can be greatly reduced. Additionally, as we covered before, sprint development allows for greater flexibility, which means that if a product is not going in the right direction, it can be modified accordingly; this, in turn, minimizes risks as well.
Overall, Agile teams have a greater capacity to identify risks than traditional software development approaches. As a result, they can create more effective risk management strategies thanks to the constant reviewing of software iterations.
Encora’s Agile Delivery
Encora assembles high-performance, tailored-made software development teams framed in Agile Methodology that directly address your organization’s needs. Based on real-time, constant team interaction, communication, and feedback, our metrics-based governance drives the continuous improvement of your development across the entire software lifecycle.
About Encora
Fast-growing tech companies partner with Encora to outsource product development and drive growth. Contact us to learn more about our software engineering capabilities.
