Agile methodologies: what are they?

Nowadays, companies have decided to commit to an organisational culture based on digital transformation, which is why they have begun to implement agile project methodologies in order to optimise costs and time.

For this reason, agile methodologies allow to change the priorities of the phases of a project, according to the objectives and needs of customers, seeking tangible results from the beginning.

What are agile methodologies?

When we talk about agile methodologies, we should not limit ourselves to thinking of it as just a tool, but rather as an integral strategy that drives organisations to manage projects quickly and flexibly.

The market increasingly demands flexibility in the face of an uncertain and changing landscape, so this methodology helps in the development of projects that require speed and flexibility, focused on results.

Unlike traditional project management, it does not need to define the full scope at the outset, so it is innovative in the way it works. This means that the project is not planned or designed in advance, but is defined as it develops.

Scrum

This is the chaos methodology, based on an incremental development structure, so that any product or service development cycle is broken down into small projects and divided into various stages, ranging from analysis, development and testing.

In the development stage we find the interactions, which are regular and partial deliveries of the final product.  This methodology makes it possible to tackle projects that are considered complex and require flexibility and speed in executing the results.

The strategy is aimed at standardising and managing the errors that can occur in long developments, by means of meetings that ensure that the objectives are met. Each meeting is the cornerstone of the Scrum methodology, where each one has a purpose, be it planning, review, retrospective and improvement of the project’s progress.

The key aspects of scrum are innovation, competitiveness, flexibility and productivity.

Kanban

The Kanban methodology or strategy is known as a visual card and is useful for project managers. It consists in the elaboration of a chart or a diagram in which three columns of tasks are reflected, which are pending, in process or finished.

This table should be accessible to all members of the team, thus avoiding duplication of tasks or forgetting gaps. Helping to improve the productivity and efficiency of the work group.

The advantages proposed by Kanban are:

• Improved teamwork performance
• Task planning
• Visual metrics
• Continuous delivery schedules
• Extreme Programming

The key point of this strategy is to understand that it was created to respond to changing environments, where constant feedback is necessary. Its aim is to emphasise the adaptability of a project rather than its predictability to ensure that the outcome will be achieved.

People who participate in this agile methodology understand and accept that changes are inevitable, and in fact these are of greater benefit than static growth.

Lean Method

The Lean method is innovative, it seeks to optimise management processes and be productive for the company that decides to implement it. In this way, fewer resources are used, making any project more efficient. The aim is to reduce investment, time and, above all, effort.

It is a philosophy of business management that was born around the 80s in Japan. By a Toyota engineer who sought to make the manufacture of vehicles more efficient. And the idea ended up being a success, because productivity was improved through 2 clear objectives, which are:

Eliminate everything that is considered waste, both in terms of materials and time.
Identify the overloads that slow down the production process.

Each of these agile methodologies are currently widely used. It all depends on what the company wants and the projects that are being carried out, but regardless of which one it is, all are of great benefit and generate excellent results.