Transition To Agile
Agile development is so cool, isn’t it? Everyone’s doing it: Microsoft, Google, Symantec and the list goes on. It wasn’t long that big consulting companies started offering a certification for your agility or wanted to send in some agile consultants for excessive money.
Please, stay away from that!
Agile Myths Demystified
Let’s clear up with some myths. Agile development will not solve your productivity problem, because agile teams work different not faster. Agile development will not make your company look cooler, because customers don’t care how you get the job done. Agile teams do plan, but they dismiss upfront-planning altogehter. Agile development is predictable, but the approach to metrics and forecasting is fundamentally different compared to traditional development.
You get the point. So, the real question then is: Will agile development help us be more successful?
Succeeding with Agile
Being agile is beyond deadlines, budgets and dictionary definitions of the word success. It’s about succeeding on a organizational, technical and personal level.
Organizational success ensures support of the top management who are not interested in methodologies but will judge your team at this level. As long as you deliver value (results) they’ll love you.
Technical excellence through agile methods can be achived by adhering to best practices like test-driven development. Another example is continuous integration which allows the team to release software whenever business requires it to and change direction at will.
Personal success is very personal and everyone has a different view on things, but rest assured that being part of an agile team is one joyable experience you won’t forget.
What’s in for me?
Organisations call me when they want to find out if the Agile hype is worth being pursued. More accurately, they would like to understand their options in the Agile game. What’s the best method? How do I start? Did I do everything wrong in the past?
Don’t panic. The transition to Agile development can be real fun as long as you embrace change. But that is a quality one can acquire quite easily.