It starts with the manifesto
Principles to help guide your team to reach success
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01
Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
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02
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
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03
Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
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04
Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
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05
Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
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06
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
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07
Working software is the primary measure of progress.
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08
Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
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09
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
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10
Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
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11
The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
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12
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Practice From Principles
There’s a lot of information on the internet about agile. Best practices, frameworks, tools, tricks and tips. It’s overwhelming, hard to parse, and in a lot of cases totally conflicting.
Agile is simple, but it isn’t easy. It takes persistence and a focus on the principles to help you align what’s important to you, your staff, and your business with an agile way of working.
Show, Don’t Tell
Instead of coming in and doing process redesign, you’ll get a partner and confident to help you ask the right questions, inspire your team to self organize, and find the obstacles in your organizational behaviours. All you have to do is ask.
It Isn’t Always Right
Sometimes an agile way of working isn’t right for a business. Working under regulatory constraints, working in an industry where craft is more important than reactivity, or putting people’s lives on the line, all are great reasons to not obsess over agility. However, if your competitors are racing you to a finish line, agility may be the best thing for your business.