10 Benefits of Agile Methodology
When considering which software team to partner with, the term ‘Agile method’ may come up a lot. But what is Agile? And what are the benefits of Agile methodology, and are there potential drawbacks?
Read on to learn about the top benefits of Agile methodology and how a software team can use excellent processes to achieve expedient results for any type of project.
What is Agile Methodology?
Pictured above is the Agile Development cycle
Agile methodology is a project management approach with core principles that prioritize flexibility and collaboration. The Agile approach emphasizes flexibility and adaptability and encourages customer involvement and continuous feedback.
The goal is continuous delivery of working software to the customer early and as frequently as possible and make adjustments based on customer feedback. Agile also promotes self-organizing and cross-functional teams, and it places a strong emphasis on face-to-face (or screen-to-screen) communication.
Functionally, Agile development methodology provides frequent opportunities for clients to evaluate and steer the direction of a project throughout the software development lifecycle. This is achieved by working in sprints.
What’s a Sprint?
A sprint is a specific duration of time (typically 2-4 weeks for Elevato teams) during which the team focuses on a set number of development tasks. At the beginning of each sprint, clients get to decide which features from the product backlog they want to schedule next, providing them with the freedom to change direction easily in the middle of a project.
Agile development methodology allows dev teams and clients to create a better product.
Top 10 Benefits of Agile Methodology
Without further ado, here’s our list of the 10 key benefits of Agile methodology, and the general Agile principles.
1. Greater Flexibility
Agile software development allows a team to operate with more flexibility in both deliverables and budget. With this method, teams can respond to changes in requirements or unforeseen obstacles at a moment’s notice. This helps to ensure that the final product or service meets the customer’s needs.
2. Increased Collaboration
Agile methodology promotes face-to-face communication and encourages collaboration among team members, stakeholders, and customers. This helps to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and that any problems can be identified and resolved quickly.
3. Expert-Led Results
Software development is a highly technical and complex field. As such, Elevato puts experts in the lead of all dev decisions and throughout the project’s life. Expert input is often required on factors like cost (typically more than a customer may expect), time, and methods.
Agile allows for this approach since it creates significant space for client feedback and communication, ensuring every project has vital client input. Expert-led results leave clients with superb, adaptable software that works well for their needs.
4. Better Visibility
Agile methodology encourages transparency and regular inspection, allowing teams to track their progress and identify problems early on. This helps to ensure that the final product or service meets and exceeds expectations.
5. Lower Client Stress
Imagine throwing large sums of revenue at a project that you have no insight into. The stress and uncertainty would be overwhelming. Agile avoids this situation and helps to increase customer satisfaction throughout the project lifecycle through advanced visibility and communication.
6. Reduced Risk
The continuous review development process that Agile employs helps in catching potential mistakes and miscommunications early. This lowers the risk of project failure and increases confidence in the project’s direction for everyone involved, including the project manager, agile teams, and product owner.
7. Higher Motivation and Satisfaction
The Agile process empowers dev team members, creating a deep sense of ownership and responsibility for project health. This leads to higher motivation and satisfaction of the team members, which sets the project up for success from the jump.
8. Better Predictability
An Agile software development project team process provides a better understanding and predictability of the project, helping to identify the key success factor of the project, and also assists in managing the project scope, cost, and schedule.
9. Higher Quality
Agile methodology strongly emphasizes testing and quality assurance, which helps ensure that the final product or service is of high quality. The built-in practices of continuous integration and testing help to minimize the risk of bugs or defects in the software. This increased product quality is a direct result of the Agile project management.
10. Faster Delivery
The Agile project management methodology emphasizes delivering working software as early and as frequently as possible, which allows customers to provide feedback and make adjustments quickly. This helps to reduce the time it takes to get a product or service to market.
Drawbacks of the Agile Method
It’s worth noting that Agile is not the solution for all projects, it’s a tool, and its effectiveness depends on the specific context it’s used under, so it’s good to evaluate and consider whether it’s the right fit for your project and organization.
However, rarely is the Agile Method (at least in part) not an efficient software project management tool. It’s important to discuss any concerns with the experts on your development team and carefully consider their input.
Elevato: The Top Agile Dev Team
At Elevato Digital, we use Agile to create excellent end results for our clients. Our communication lines are always open through Slack, email, video conferencing, and phone correspondence. The experts on our team are ready to tackle any project you have.
So whether you have an existing production application with many users that requires testing and scheduling or need to get a new product to market quickly – we can scale to fit your needs. Contact us today to get started.