The problem of how a company works when working in a group is still complex and has led to various answers over the years. The secret to successful project management now is to apply agile methodology. Objectives: to improve work processes and, ultimately, productivity.
Agile methodology: Overview
Definition Of Agile Project Management
The agile methodology is a set of activities and practices that make managing a process more flexible. Overall its main feature is that it allows the project manager and team members to follow the priority and progress of the different phases and adapt. So in the case of blocking elements, it makes it possible to adjust preferences or activities.
The agile philosophy began appearing in the 90s in software development and development projects in general. But it was in 2001 in Utah when, during a meeting between software developers, the agile methodology was found to respond to the rigidity of traditional approaches.
- scrum
- Extreme programming
- DSDM extension
- Lean software development
- Crystal
Principles And Manifesto Of Agile Methodology
- Individuals and interactions are more than processes and tools.
- Working software rather than comprehensive documentation.
- Collaboration with the customer rather than contract negotiation.
- Respond to change rather than following a plan.
Advantages & Disadvantages Of The Agile Method
We have already talked about the greater flexibility, but all this leads to further advantages such as:
- It enables you to work better with your customers
- All parties work together constantly
- Enables sustainable development
- It reduces errors and increases the quality of the development team’s work
- Less chance of finishing tasks late
- Better visibility into project progress
Among the possible disadvantages of the agile approach, we find, instead:
- Needs to have an extreme clarity of objectives and development processes (and sometimes it isn’t easy with customers)
- It requires a way of working that clashes with more traditional mentalities
- The first two points are found difficult to satisfy the needs of the customer when it comes to someone rather traditionalist
More Agility For Your Business
Testing And Adaptation
The agile method is based on an empirical approach: carry out continuous tests to re-adapt the project. With the scrum method, we speak of sprints: they are cycles of incremental iterations. The product owner corresponds to the customer whose needs must be satisfied. The scrum master is the person on the team in charge of applying the agile approach.
Shorter Delivery Times
The agile method can allow for faster delivery of a final product and quicker testing of a product to market. Reduces time to market. Furthermore, upstream market research is now more imperative than it once was. It’s better to jump halfway and see the immediate, tangible consumer response rather than plan on the comet at the risk of losing ground.
The Right Way To Innovate
Maintaining this flexibility throughout the work process is even more crucial for market innovation. Market research is nearly impossible when launching a new proposition, representing a break from what is being done elsewhere. How can we bias consumer reactions to a product that doesn’t exist? Fifty years ago, no one missed smartphones, but they still need to become indispensable.
The Lean Approach
Start-ups are also using lean as a new concept. They launch their offering in an early, sometimes beta, version and learn from the public’s response. Early adopters bring in a wave of users to perfect the next performance.
Collaboration Tools
In concrete terms, how can you bring more flexibility into a company? Answer: thanks to collaborative tools. By promoting communication within work teams, exchanges are intensified. Collaborative platforms like Office365 and G Suite also have a real impact. Synchronized with contact, email, and calendar functions, they break down barriers between collaborators to work together more efficiently.
Start With The 5 W + H Method
The 5W+H method is a simple and effective method to analyze a situation. It can be seen as a method of organization at its most basic level, of project management in some cases, or as a business tool: analysis of a situation to better understand the life cycle and the factors leading to customer satisfaction to respond to its needs significantly.
It is certainly not the most powerful or scalable method to the scale of a company, but it has the merit of putting its foot in agility. Project management software for the agile method Project management software is made specifically to help you find the proper tools to manage the agile methodology.
Asanas
Asana is a project management software that allows you to structure your most important projects into tasks and sub-tasks to manage activities more collaboratively. One of its advantages is the friendly and easy-to-use interface (with some lovely surprise features).
Rational Plan
RationalPlan is a solution that allows you to manage projects in a highly collaborative way. It also allows you to work with some of the most used tools in project management: Gantt charts and Kanban methodology.
The functionalities:
- Cost control during the project
- Work calendar
- Report creation
Hitbox
Hibox is software that combines the need for a project management tool with chat and video call functionality to reinforce the tool’s collaboration.
Some features:
- AI assistant
- It can be integrated with the leading software
- Upload documents
Conclusion
Agile methods have revolutionized the way companies work. Focused on the result rather than the project, they are closer to the market – in BtoC (Business to Consumer) – or to the customer – in BtoB (Business to Business).
Read Also: Gantt Chart: Definition Of The Tool Of Project Management
