Increase project adaptability and collaboration! Explore Nearshore agile software development, combining geographic proximity with the flexibility and speed of Agile.
For companies of all sizes – from startups to large enterprises – agile development is the dominant approach. The vast majority of organizations involved in software development or technology production of any kind rely on this philosophy, recognizing that it conceptualizes the software development lifecycle in a revolutionary way.
In fact, when Agile was originally launched, it was created in response to problems with the status quo at the time. Before Agile, Waterfall was the dominant approach, and many developers and industry professionals believed it was fraught with problems, including quality issues. Now you would be hard-pressed to find a team in the technology industry that doesn't believe Agile is the gold standard.
There are several strategies employed to maximize the effectiveness of Agile practices in software development environments. Here, we explore some of the universally recognized best practices that have been critical to successful software delivery across diverse organizations and teams.
Adherence to the Agile Manifesto: The Agile Manifesto, with its outlined values and principles, is a fundamental document that guides the iterative, customer-focused approach to Agile development. The main priority defined by the manifesto is the continuous delivery of valuable software to satisfy customer needs.
Cultivating a growth mindset: A flexible, growth-oriented mindset is crucial. Teams committed to constant learning, innovation and improvement are more adept at navigating the rapid changes synonymous with Agile projects.
Embracing and Adapting to Change: Agile teams thrive on change, seeing it as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. This perspective prioritizes delivering value to the customer rather than adhering to fixed plans or established commitments.
Implementing Regular Sprints: Typically, Agile teams work in sprints that last about two weeks, at the end of which they deliver usable software features. This approach allows for regular customer feedback and adaptive planning.
Promoting daily collaboration: Daily stand-ups encourage team members to share progress, identify blockers, and offer mutual support. This ongoing communication is vital to team effectiveness and cohesion.
Incremental feature addition: Agile development emphasizes continually expanding product functionality, with new features enhancing previously delivered work. This incremental progress allows for continuous checking and adjustment.
Customizing Scrum Ceremonies: Each team, based on its unique needs, adapts the frequency and nature of Scrum ceremonies while maintaining adherence to core agile principles.
Conducting effective meetings and reviews: Brief daily meetings keep everyone up to date, while regular sprint reviews, where working software is demonstrated, allow for tangible assessments and feedback collection.
Regular Retrospectives: Teams analyze their performance and outline improvement strategies in frequent retrospective meetings, ensuring that each team member's voice is heard and valued.
Continuous backlog refinement: A vital part of agile practice is maintaining a well-organized backlog through regular grooming sessions, ensuring priority features are clear and ready for development.
Thorough sprint planning: Effective sprint initiation involves meticulous planning, adjusting goals based on the project's progress status.
Relative Estimation: Teams often use methods such as Planning Poker, using a relative estimation technique, often with the Fibonacci sequence, to allocate story points to tasks based on comparison rather than time allocation.
In Agile environments, the role of the Scrum Master is fundamental. They act as servant leaders, providing the team with the necessary tools and support, ensuring continuous improvement and promoting an environment where everyone's contributions are recognized and valued. This approach not only increases productivity but also promotes a positive and collaborative team culture.
What is Agile in Nearshore Software Development?
Agile is not referred to as a methodology – instead, it is considered a mindset and a philosophy. This is a way of approaching software development based on the central principle of continuous improvement.
It is based on 12 principles, as described in the Agile Manifesto :
1. Customer satisfaction is the highest priority, which can be achieved through continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Changes to requirements are always welcome, even in the final stages of development.
3. Delivery of functional software must be frequent, with preference for a fortnightly period.
4. Software engineers need to work with executives and stakeholders throughout development.
5. Developers need all the support and motivation to get the job done.
6. Team conversations and discussions should be primarily face-to-face.
7. Working software is the main measure of progress.
8. Development must be sustainable (i.e. have a constant pace)
9. Agility is enhanced through technical excellence and sound design.
10. Simplicity is essential.
11. Self-organizing teams provide the best architectures, requirements and designs.
12. The team should reflect on their work at regular intervals to find improvements in the way they do things.
Agile teams are tasked with keeping these principles in mind throughout the software development lifecycle while focusing on agile values.
What is an agile methodology?
If Agile is not a methodology, what exactly is an Agile Development Methodology ? There are, in fact, many different methodologies that follow Agile principles during the development cycle. Although the approaches vary, they all embrace the overarching philosophy.
Scrum is a well-known agile methodology. It is by far the most popular approach of its kind – so much so that it is sometimes mistakenly used as a synonym for Agile itself.
Other agile methodologies include:
- Adaptive Design Framework (APF)
- Extreme Programming (XP)
- Learn
- Kanban
Benefits of Nearshore Agile Teams for Software Projects
Outsourcing itself offers many benefits to organizations, including reduced costs, faster time to market, increased efficiency and the ability to focus on their core business. But why is nearshore agile software development the best approach?
There are numerous benefits associated with employing Agile. And as a customer, you will reap the rewards. For example, you will always be informed about the progress of your project and have the opportunity to provide frequent feedback. You will never doubt that the development team is working to align their work with your goals. And you'll see results faster – high-quality results.
Teams and other stakeholders also see many benefits, such as:
- Stronger collaboration and communication
- More flexibility and adaptability
- Less possibility of scope creep
- Reduced risk
- Greater transparency
Of course, customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal, and the Agile process leads to that outcome – in fact, it is central to the entire philosophy.
The 6 steps in an agile software development lifecycle
#1 Concept/Ideation
The first step in the Agile development cycle is creating your product concept. This is essentially the brainstorming phase, when you will fully elaborate and visualize your idea. It is also the phase where you will prioritize different ideas and determine their feasibility, as well as the scope of the project.
#2 Requirements Gathering/Project Mapping
Also called the start, at this point you will determine your product requirements and map out the project. You will create an outline, identify the resources and materials needed, and assemble a team to achieve your goals.
#3 Development/Construction
This is, in many ways, the essence of the agile development process. Here, you will build the actual product. Developers will work with other team members, including QA testers and UX designers, to build quality software. Stakeholders will be able to provide feedback after brief development cycles.
#4 Test/Production/Release
Before the final release of the product, the quality control team performs final testing and analysis. The development team will need to resolve any issues found before the software goes into production.
#5 Maintenance
The software requires ongoing maintenance. It needs to be updated and issues need to be resolved to keep the product working well. The Agile team is responsible for maintaining the system, resolving bugs or providing updates.
#6 Retirement
The software becomes out of date with some regularity. When a system becomes obsolete, it will be decommissioned. It is often replaced with a new version or updated software, but this is not always the case. At this stage, the Agile team phases out the product and stops maintaining it.
