The agile movement is significantly overtaking project management through the promotion of collaboration between cross-functional teams, clients, and end-users of a product right from the start to the end of the development project. Agile management adapts flexible, adaptive planning, and continual product development. Besides, it utilizes the feedback system to ensure excellent customer satisfaction through the production of a highly successful end product. The agile movement is mostly recognized in software development hence making the project more successful than traditional. Adopting the agile movement in project management has facilitated faster delivery, exceptional quality, and better response to change.
Agile Movement in Software Development and Other Projects
Agile software development is an approach based on the ideology of iterative development, where solutions and requirements tend to evolve through the cooperation of self-organizing cross-functional teams. One of the most used methods includes Kanban and Scrum (Dingsøyr et al., 2012). They promote discipline in project management by encouraging frequent inspections and adaptations, leadership ideology that supports teamwork, self-organization, and accountability.
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Agile movement facilitates the overarching goals of software development more efficiently. It helps the development team to respond to unpredictability through incremental, iterative work that allows organizations to obtain feedback and react quickly (Hohl et al., 2018). Unlike traditional software development that spends months trying to detail exhaustive specifications, in agile software, development takes place after fleshing out of the requirements enough for coders to start the development of the initial core pieces of working software.
Evidence for Agile Project is More Successful than Others
Essentially, there is a significant variation between agile and traditional development methods. Traditional methods are non-iterative, thus emphasizing the process as it flows. Traditional development involves the sequential process that requires requirement analysis, designing, implementation, testing, and maintenance. On the other hand, agile projects usually deliver visibility, adaptability, as well as value at the beginning of the process. They also reduce project risks. One of the evidence that differentiates agile and traditional development methodology is that the former tend to address customers' needs perfectly. Agile methodology provides visibility and transparency, showing the actual project process. Besides, there is user involvement (Moedt et al., 2019).
Another proof is the easy adaptability of the project when faced with changes. Being an interactive-based development, agile promotes continuous planning and feedback. It allows the delivery of project value to the users’ right from the start hence making it easier for the project risks to be lowered. Typically, agile methodology promotes excellent customer satisfaction, lower project risks, promote high product quality, increased control over the project, and faster return on investment (ROI).
Principles of Agile
Agile movement describes the culture that welcomes changes in a project while at the same time emphasizing customer focus. The methodology has 12 principles, which include the satisfaction of customers through timely and constant product delivery to clients. Usually, clients are happy when they obtain working software at consistent interims, as opposed to waiting for an extended time between product releases. The second principle is the accommodation of requirement changes throughout the process. The project should be able to avoid delays when features of the project change. Another principle is the frequent software delivery. The agile movement is required to ensure the regular delivery of working software to customers. The fourth principle is a collaboration between developers and stakeholders of the entity throughout the year. Usually, businesses make better decisions when the technical team and management work together.
The fifth principle is support, team, and inspiring individuals involved. Teams tend to deliver the best work when they are motivated. The sixth principle is enabling face-to-face connections. Communication tends to be more prosperous when the development team work together and co-locate. The seventh principle is that working software is the primary degree of determining progress—another principle is that agile methods provide a reliable development pace. Teams tend to create a repeatable and sustainable speed that they can deliver working software, and they recurrence it each release ( Rodríguez et al., 2019) . The ninth principle is devotion to design, and technical detail promotes agility. Usually, the accurate skill and design ensure that team can uphold the pace, sustain change, and continuously expand the product. The principle of simplicity emphasizes developing just enough to get some for right now. Another principle is self-organizing teams encourage high architectures, designs, and necessities. The last principle is a regular reflection on how to become more productive: self-improvement and process development. Skills advancement and methods assist members of the team in working more proficiently.
Project Managers
Sometimes, stakeholder management in a project can turn out to be complicated. Therefore, managers are required to put effort into managing stakeholders to ensure the success of the project. Among the things that the project manager can do for proper stakeholder management is stakeholder identification at the beginning of the project. This helps in understanding the interest and impact that each stakeholder has on the project. It also helps determine the best way to deal with each stakeholder and ensure satisfaction (Silvius & de Graaf, 2019). The manager should identify and discuss with the stakeholder how to handle changes in case they arise in the course of the project. The agreement helps avoid instances of conflicts that might delay the project. As a manager, it is essential to practice excellent communication. The appropriate communication channel and method between the management and the stakeholders should be identified. This is to promote constant information on the progress of the project.
A project manager should also keep the vision of the project visible to allow every stakeholder to remain focused on what is essential for the success of the project. A clear vision helps the organization in reducing the chances of scope creeping. Constant stakeholder engagement throughout the process is also necessary for the project manager to facilitate stakeholder management. It is usually essential to engage stakeholders in problem-solving, reviewing new requirements, and creating a list of learned lessons throughout the project. Stakeholder engagement helps to identify issues as they arise hence preventing conflicts. Besides, it allows stakeholders to feel important and a part of the project.
Successful and Non-successful Stakeholder Relationships
HP Company is one of the organizations with successful stakeholder relationships. The company always strives to attain the stakeholder perspectives during the business decision-making process (Business and Human Rights Resource). The company focuses on the collective power of people, portfolio, and partnerships for the most significant impacts right from the local society and the management of employees to large scale investment programs. The company provides platforms for everyone, including partners, employees, suppliers, customers, and the public to air their concerns and suggestions.
According to Godelnik (2012), Apple Company has an unsuccessful stakeholder relationship due to a lack of a stakeholder engagement strategy. The company does not believe in engaging stakeholders. For instance, there is an instance that Apple Company refused to share information with Greenpeace. This has caused stakeholders not to have a voice in the company’s decisions.
Conclusion
Agile movement methodology has contributed significantly to the effectiveness of the project, especially in software development projects. The method promotes quality product development, low project risks, and with more control over the project. Agile projects are always operated under the 12 principles that ensure effectiveness and customer satisfaction. As a project manager, one has the responsibility of ensuring proper stakeholder management through inclusion and communication strategies. Excellent stakeholder engagement and relationship helps a business to avoid conflicts that might destruct and eventually cause project delays.
References
Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. (HP) Hewlett-Packard. Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/hp-hewlett-packard-0
Dingsøyr, T., Nerur, S., Balijepally, V., & Moe, N. B. (2012). A decade of agile methodologies: Towards explaining agile software development.
Godelnik, R. (2012). 5 Reasons Why Apple's CSR Strategy Doesn't Work. Triple Pundit. https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2012/5-reasons-why-apples-csr-strategy-doesnt-work/65526
Hohl, P., Klünder, J., van Bennekum, A., Lockard, R., Gifford, J., Münch, J., ... & Schneider, K. (2018). Back to the future: origins and directions of the “Agile Manifesto”–views of the originators. Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development , 6 (1), 15.
Moedt, W., Hall, M., Pawaskar, S., Bernsteiner, R., & Fruhling, A. (2019). The Suitability of Agile Principles in IoT Development.
Rodríguez, P., Mäntylä, M., Oivo, M., Lwakatare, L. E., Seppänen, P., & Kuvaja, P. (2019). Advances in using agile and lean processes for software development. In Advances in Computers (Vol. 113, pp. 135-224). Elsevier.
Silvius, A. G., & de Graaf, M. (2019). Exploring the project manager's intention to address sustainability in the project board. Journal of cleaner production , 208 , 1226-1240.
