Companies that opt for a complete Digital Transformation end up including, implementing and developing agile methodologies within their teams to deliver products and services with higher quality and with much lower time and cost.
But what are the most used agile methodologies in today’s companies? There are different options, but the most used are extreme programming (XP), Scrum and Kanban. All of them are guided through a pattern established by the Agile Manifesto.
1. Extreme Programming XP
This tool is very useful, especially for startups or companies that are in the process of consolidation since its main objective is to help in relations between employees and customers. The key to the success of Extreme Programming XP is to enhance personal relationships, through teamwork, encouraging communication and eliminating downtime.
Its main features are:
- Project planning with the client
- Project design
- Coding, where programmers work in pairs to obtain more efficient and quality results
2. SCRUM
SCRUM is Characterized by the “chaos methodology” based on an incremental development structure. Any product or service development is broken down into “small projects” and divided into different stages. Analysis, development, and testing. In the development stage, we find process interactions or Sprint, that is, regular and partial deliveries of the final product.
This methodology allows tackling complex projects that require flexibility and essential speed when executing the results. The strategy will be oriented to manage and normalize errors that may occur in developments that are too long, through frequent meetings to ensure compliance with the established objectives.
The meetings are the fundamental pillar of the methodology, where we differentiate between planning, review and retrospective meetings. The key aspects on which the Scrum moves are: innovation, flexibility, competitiveness, and productivity.
3. Kanban
The Kanban strategy is known as ‘Visual Card’ very useful for project managers. Three columns of tasks reflect here; pending, in process or finished. This table should be available to all team members, thus avoiding the repetition of tasks or the possibility of forgetting any of them. Therefore, it helps to improve the productivity and efficiency of the work team.
The advantages of this methodology are:
- Task Planning
- Improvement in teamwork performance
- Visual metrics
- Delivery times are continuous
4. Agile Inception
It is oriented to the definition of the general objectives of the companies. Its goal is to clarify issues such as the type of target customer, value-added proposals, forms of sale. It usually revolves around the ” elevator pitch ” method, which consists of small meetings between the partners and the work team in which the interventions cannot exceed 5 minutes.
5. Design Sprint, the Google methodology
In any organization, business strategy is the most important. Agile methods have been implemented for a decade to improve the processes that lead to an improved quality product or service in which customers become increasingly important. As an example of innovation in business strategies, we find Design Sprint, a Google methodology that is favouring the professional profiles of the agile world.
This methodology comes from the hand of Google Ventures, a service of the technological giant for the innovation and promotion of technological startups. It is a process that lasts five days in which the business has to resolve all issues related to design, prototyping, customer testing.
The works are done in stages of sprints in which months of work can be reduced into a few weeks. Instead of waiting to launch a product to understand if the idea is good. The prototype provides information to avoid possible mistakes.
Additional Resources:
What is Agile Project Management Methodology
Business Intelligence vs Data Science: Learning the Differences
Why Document Management System Is Essential for an Enterprise
Traditionalization of Agile Processes- Transforming Culture, Architecture
