What are agile methodologies?
Digital transformation is bigger and more complex process than people think. The ultimate goal of these changes is to improve the performance of the company. For this it is necessary to adapt to the times of today. Agile methodologies not only facilitate the internal work of the company, but also reduce costs, economic and temporary and improve productivity.
Introduction to agile methodologies
When we refer to agile methodologies we are referring to those strategies that allow adapting the ways of executing a work to the conditions of a specific project. In this way, greater flexibility will be achieved within the project and the responses between the parties involved will be faster. There are many companies that have opted for this initiative, managing to increase the productivity of the processes and reduce costs. Next, we explain the reason why your company should join the cart of these strategies.
Advantages of agile methodologies
A good application of agile methodologies will cause a series of interesting benefits, not only for the company, but for its entire environment.
- Customer satisfaction: one of the most interesting points of this strategy is that the client is aware at all times of the stage in which his project is located. Communication with the client is essential, and you should be informed of all the changes that are in your project. In this way you can also contribute your experience and knowledge. A satisfied customer is the best news for a company.
- Motivation of the staff: there are many people who were tired of the classic distribution of work. That is, doing only one task always from the office and having to wait for someone to respond if the task that unlocks has already been done. With this type of methodologies all team members are allowed to know the status of the project at all times. In this way you can advance evenly without wasting time.
- Saving time: this point is related to the previous point. Having a better communication and a broader knowledge of all the tasks and times of the team, there is no loss of time.
- Reduction of costs: this type of strategies allows to respect in a higher way the budget specified at the beginning of the project. No extra expenses for overtime or for performing a task 2 times.
- Optimization of the product or service: the fundamental part of the agile methodologies consists of the partial deliveries of the project. In this way you can eliminate unnecessary features that slow down the process, improving the speed and efficiency of this. In addition to this way it will be possible to detect errors before delivery to the customer.
Which are the most used agile methodologies?
When we talk about these methodologies, there are 2 that sound the most, Kanban and Scrum. Next, we will detail in depth these 2 methodologies.
Agile methodology Kanban
The word Kanban comes from the Japanese, and means “visual cards”, and that is exactly what is the agile methodology Kanban. The great advantage of the Kanban methodology is its ease of implementation, updating and learning. It is a very visual technique, which allows you to see the status of projects at once. The Kanban methodology is based on several principles that differentiate it from the rest of the methodologies:
Guaranteed quality: there is no margin for error. With Kanban you do not reward speed, but the final quality of the tasks performed. It is based on the theory that it costs much more to correct an error than to do it right the first time.
Minimal waste: do what is necessary and just, but good. That is, everything that is not really interesting for the project is left aside. There is no time for the superficial and the secondary.
Continuous improvement: it is not only a management method, but also involves a constant improvement in the development of projects.
Flexibility: once the relevant tasks have been carried out for the project, secondary tasks will be prioritized according to the needs of the moment.
In the following image you can see an example of implementation of this methodology. Where a separation is made between the pending tasks, carried out and those that are being executed. A great way to observe at all times how the project goes. A tool of great use in this field is Trello.
Agile Methodology Scrum
The Scrum methodology is more complex than the one mentioned above. This technique allows complex projects to be addressed in dynamic environments. It is based on regular delivery of the final product. It is an ideal management for complex projects that demand speed, always offering agility and value in the process. The most important of the Scrum methodology Agile is the work team. It has to be formed by specific profiles, with 4 levels:
Product owner: in this case it is the client. He is in charge of defining the objectives of the project and ensuring that the team works in an appropriate manner.
Scrum master: the person in charge of ensuring that the team does not have difficulties in their tasks. Guide the team to guarantee the fulfillment of objectives.
Scrum team: is the team responsible for developing and delivering the product, fundamental. We are talking about a self-organized structure capable of self-management.
Stakeholder: this group includes all the people and stakeholders in the product. They are the parts that are not part of the Scrum team, but that must be taken into account at all times.
The process begins with the development of the Backlog product. Where all the tasks, requirements and functionality of the project are collected. The next step is the definition of the Sprint Backlog. The tasks are specified and who will perform them, assigning the hours and the cost to each of them. During the Sprint period all the agreed actions are carried out and partial deliveries are carried out. In the image shown below you can see everything about this strategy.
Why use agile methodologies?
As you have seen with this article, this type of methodologies add value to the project, improving the satisfaction of customers and employees and reducing the time and costs of each project. If you want to take a step in your business, the implementation of agile methodologies is a mandatory process. In this article we have only talked about the two most important, but there are many more.
See you in the next article!
