Whether we’re discussing physical ability or company culture, agile means essentially the same thing: the ability to adapt to sudden change quickly, efficiently and effectively.

In today’s fast-paced societal culture, where change occurs at breakneck speeds and often with little to no warning, having an agile company culture can be the single factor that makes or breaks your company’s success.

As it relates to company culture, agile is more than just the word – it refers to a relatively new methodology and cultural business atmosphere. The agile method of management and project management entails a practice of software development principles that enables your company to complete projects faster, better and more cost-effectively than ever before.

Traditional software development happens sequentially

The success of the agile method of software development lies in its incremental nature.

The traditional software development process takes place by way of a sequential, waterfall method. But the waterfall method determines that one step cannot be approached or completed until the previous step has been successfully completed.

On one hand, this method encourages extensive planning and a prior commitment to a chosen course of action. Once you’ve completed a step in the waterfall methodology, you can’t go back to it unless you’re wanting to scrap the whole thing and start over from scratch.

But on the other hand, even with all of the contingency plans in the world, the waterfall method fails to account for the unforeseen – which is to say, the stuff of real life. No matter how much planning your teams do, there will always be the possibility that something unexpected comes up and throws the whole system for a loop.

All that to say, the waterfall method robs your software development team of the ability to adapt and overcome new and unforeseen challenges, to change pace and course of action as needed in real time, and to reconsider and regroup in such a way that the project can continue to move forward regardless of what challenges arise rather than in the hopes that they don’t.

Agile methodology presents a powerful alternative solution

By stark contrast, the agile methodology enables software development teams to do exactly that. By taking an incremental approach to the project at hand, your software development process is broken down into steps and milestones, goals and metrics and regular reports according to the schedule and timeline that works best for the situation.

So rather than taking on one step in the waterfall sequence, in the agile methodology the software development team will undertake the next major goal or milestone for a two- to four-week period, work toward that goal and then reevaluate the priorities at the end of that timeframe. This enables your team to establish what’s working well and what’s not, to reconsider goals and methods, and to implement different approaches and iterations according to market fluctuations.

It’s really the best way to guarantee the success of a project and also change and adapt in flux with what’s needed instead of against it.

Agile prioritizes the customer experience – from software development process to every other aspect of the organization

The basis of the agile methodology is the principle that the customer or end-user experience is always the number one priority.

The agile method encourages a focus on delivering high-quality, practical and continually functional software to the people who rely on software development professionals to provide it.

But while the agile method works exceedingly well for software development, its principles also translate just as well to every other venture within an organization. From sales teams to HR personnel to executive leadership and beyond, every arm of a business can benefit from the principles of agile management.

At Density Labs we can help you to grow with an agile team, don't doubt in contacting us, we will strive to make you a happy customer!

Business vector created by rosalerosa