ARTICLE SUMMARY
How often do you feel that your Dev team is grounded? Are they able to create things fast enough and provide real value? Or are they getting behind? Increasing your team’s efficiency is crucial to turn your company into a relevant player in the market. Today is all about being Lean through the actions we take.
How often do you feel that your Dev team is grounded? Are they able to create things fast enough and provide real value? Or are they getting behind? Increasing your team’s efficiency is crucial to turn your company into a relevant player in the market. Today is all about being lean through the actions we take.
When it comes to software development, your team can be driven by a high challenge project or a simple feature, and your project can take hours or months. Either way, your team has to invest time to deliver the best product or service.
How much of this time are they using to become more customer-centric? Are they having a hard time building something that shows real value to clients? How adaptable is your team? Just as you must put gas in your tank to keep your car running, you need to be Agile to enhance a high-performance team.
What is agile?
Agile is the ability people have to deal with and adapt to everyday situations. The definition comes from the Agile Manifesto, which quickly spread into the software development world.
One of the few certainties we have about the world and culture around us is that things change. You may not always want to be the same person you are today. Following a path to improvement is a goal some of us have been committed to since birth.
Triumph is not the means to achievement, but closure. Our reactions to different perspectives and cope with challenges define success and failure.
Agile is just that! It is not simply success vs. failure, but how you deal with the successes and failures you experience. How good are you at operating within different environments and accomplishing what is expected from you?
Agile values
The Agile Manifesto consists of four values that drive people’s actions through daily work.
Instead of using digital tools to talk to people, prioritize face-to-face conversation. How many times have you had to repeat an explanation because someone misread, or simply did not understand, what you wrote? When you make it simple by communicating directly, you can see a person’s reaction and simultaneously answer questions and solve issues.
Imagine a co-worker who is having a hard time accomplishing a task at work that you know quite well. The quickest solution is sit right beside that co-worker and help them figure it out.
When push comes to shove, it’s more important to get tasks done and build processes and products that generate value than creating guides to make people understand what you are doing. Prioritizing working software over comprehensive documentation can be important.
A customer-centric point of view is more important than a contract. Can you deliver something meaningful to your client? Customer collaboration during the whole process – from start to finish – will make a product generate higher value. Listening to clients’ feed back and adapting accordingly is far more preferable to completing the project and falling short of client expectations.
Adapting is crucial, but it is also important to start with a plan. Consider the specific actions you can take to meet a client’s needs and what you can do to make them more satisfied with your services over those of others. The plan will be based on moving toward relevant changes.
Agile Principles
As a reflection of the Agile Manifesto Values, 12 principles were built to represent them. Also, created by the Agile Manifesto, the principles come as a way to show how the team must work, which priorities to focus on and how actions will make them apply Agile within their Software Development team.
Why you should apply agile in your software development team
More than just a simple framework of project management, agile software development is a work philosophy. Instilling this spirit into your team is a way to embrace the continuously changing world.
Adapt consciously
Accept the current stage is not an option. Get better, improve faster.
Collaboration within co-workers
Establish better bonding within the company so growing together is a reality, not an exception.
Customer-centric
Always think about your client. Always stay a step ahead and listen to what really matters.
Avoid wasteful practices
Improve faster. Make a mistake is not a problem, the issue is not learning how to adapt quickly.
Boost your tracking
Keep an eye on what your team is doing, don’t lose sight of what is going on.
Better results
A better customer experience yields better results. Boost your revenue by focusing on what really matters.
Important agile metrics
Cycle time
Get more done, much faster. Focusing on the right things will warrant a better cycle time.
NPS
Being customer-centric will make your product and service more likable.
Revenue
Improve your results by focusing on what really matters: customers, adaptation and keeping your eye on the prize.
