Agile Methodology is considered a ground-breaking practice in project
management. Tied closely with software development, Agile Methodology is
essentially a practice that helps project management anticipate and counter unpredictability
and vulnerability. The quintessential aim of the Agile Methodology is to help
avoid project delays and overruns by addressing bottlenecks at all stages of
the project development. This goes a long way in cutting the costs and other problems
associated with keeping all these activities towards the end of the project, by
when it could be either too expensive or impractical to carry out these
critical changes.
Deeply related to software project management
As the discipline of software grew, it spawned and spanned several
technologies, as well as business requirements, which had to accommodate the
new changes. This necessitated the development of a flexible system or model of
software development, the culmination of which resulted in the Agile Methodology.
Agile Methodology did not come into effect out of the blue. It
took persistent effort from the IT community to arrive at a model of project
management that addressed their needs in a comprehensive manner.
Agile Methodology is not a standalone
The term 'Agile' is a comprehensive term with which several models
used for agile development –Scrum being the primary one among them –are
identified.
Features of Agile Methodology
1. The overwhelming emphasis that the Agile Methodology focuses on is
that the whole team should be tightly knit. It takes everyone and all aspects,
be it quality assurance, developers, the customer, as well as project
management itself, in the loop.
2. Since coordination and integration of such complex parts is
integral to project management; the Agile Methodology attaches a high degree of
importance to frequent communication. The frequency of these meetings is best
determined by the team based on its convenience, but meeting at least once a
day is considered an acceptable frequency to discuss and take action on the
progress made, so that oversights can be spotted and rectified then and there.
3. Agile Methodology also has what are called sprints. These are
delivery cycles. These sprints are designed keeping in mind the fact that there
could be short-term deliveries, ranging from one to four weeks.
4. The Agile Methodology facilitates very open communication
techniques and tools. Everyone in the team –the customer included –is
encouraged to express views and offer feedback in an open and transparent
manner. When the software is being implemented; these are considered seriously.
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