Agile is one of the hot new buzzwords in software organisations as business managers recognise the futility of adhering to last century’s ‘top down’ management structure.
According to Forbes, whether they use the label ‘agile’ or not, the most successful of the software organisations make use of the principles of agile, by focussing on delivering the best value to their customers, utilising small teams working in short cycles and networking.
Clear benefits of adopting an agile approach
The benefits of agile allow a startup to hit the ground running, delivering a superior service to customers and allowing team members to work to their strengths. Companies that have adopted the processes of agile report that they are able to outperform their competitors whilst creating an organisation in which people learn, thrive and grow.
Agile allows teams to develop products as well as deliver them, whilst being allowed to develop their skills and work autonomously. This working culture is attractive to potential employees, who are able to demonstrate their talents more effectively than in traditionally managed organisations.
Team members are highly motivated in an agile environment. With every member of the team allowed to develop their own talents and add value to a project, they feel a greater sense of pride in their work, allowing them to express their creativity to the full.
Image Credit
Introducing agile to a startup
It’s impossible to just jump into an agile framework without any knowledge or experience. Ideally, you need to provide your teams with as much information as possible about the terminology and working systems, and you should appoint a scrum master to steer the teams in the right direction. When it comes to scrum master training Dublin is the place to head for, with https://www.althris.com/courses/scrum-master/ offering a comprehensive course preparing them for the path ahead.
Once you have your scrum master in place, you can introduce the concept of scrum meetings, daily stand-ups, sprint, backlog items and impediments, encouraging your teams to undertake their first sprint and get to grips with this new way of working. Now they can focus on their new, agile way of working, developing a product vision, planning small sprints, and becoming familiar with the freedom to identify and develop new aspects of the products, whilst keeping the product manager informed of their progress as the project develops.