Courses Here’s everything you need to know about Agile Manifesto, its principles, and values. Read to get a detailed understanding of its 12 key principles, 4 key values, and history.
One of the key documents of the modern project management and software development area is the agile manifesto that was developed by 17 software engineers in 2001. It arose from the search for improved patterns that enable improving the process of software development while engaging in the process and assisting others in the process. Agile methodologies are working methods of which the main values and principles are described in the so-called agile manifesto.
History of the Agile Manifesto
Before the Agile Manifesto teams were mainly following what is known as the Waterfall as their primary guideline, and this is highly structured and sequential. Projects were carried out in more planned phases, and some changes once the project started were impossible to implement. This resulted in discontentment from both the developers and their customers because of the delayed deliveries and poor expectations.
In February 2001, a meeting of many software practitioners was held at The Lodge at Snowbird, Utah to deliberate on lighter forms of development. From this meeting, the Agile Manifesto was created, which emphasized a distinct yet more accommodating method of system construction, adjusting to the needs and requirements of the customer through flexible and adaptable planning, along with the more precise concept of evolutional development.
4 Values of the Agile Manifesto
1. Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools – The main focus of Agile is people and their communications in the working process rather than the adherence to particular tools and regulations. Integrational communication among the members of the teams is regarded as crucial for achieving the goals set within the context of the development of the agile system.
2. Working Product over Comprehensive Documentation – Documents are required, but the agile values working on delivering a functional product as the metric of progress. This helps to make sure that the development team has its agenda set towards the delivery of a functional product that can be progressively improved.
3. Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation – Many methodologies in development are flexible and do not focus so much on contractual relations with customers and consumers. This constant interaction makes it possible to deliver the end product that meets the customer’s needs and be flexible to the changes that may be required.
4. Responding to Change over Following a Plan – It focuses on flexibility as one of the fundamental principles of the agile development framework. In this context, it doesn’t stifle a rigid plan that a traditional project would follow but rather will encourage the teams to be able to adapt to the changes in requirements and scope of the project which would result in more relevant and timely solutions.
12 Principles of the Agile Manifesto
1. Customer Satisfaction: Supply useful software first and then frequently so that the customers are satisfied as well as their demand is fulfilled.
2. Welcome Change: Accept changes in requirements as they come even if they come late in the project to give a competitive edge, and accommodate the needs of the customer.
3. Frequent Delivery: Always deliver working software often within a week, two weeks, or month to further refine changes.
4. Collaborative Work: Promote communication between business stakeholders and developers as often as possible so that the two parties are aware of the expectations.
5. Motivated Teams: Focus on worker motivation, and construct ventures that will outfit individuals with the setting utilized to perform.
6. Face-to-Face Communication: Direct verbal communication is adopted as it’s the best approach to the communication process within the group since it is effective in the exchange of information and is also fast.
7. Working Software: Track the success based on the ongoing creation of functional software and increase the product’s vitality.
8. Sustainable Pace: Encourage the long-term sustainable rate of work that the given team will be able to sustain in the future, thus, excluding scenarios of burnout.
9. Technical Excellence: Improvement of technical merit and good design will help to increase overall flexibility and check the solidity of the achieved result.
10. Simplicity: Minimize the amount of work left undone by striving for The Simplest Thing That Could Possibly Work, that is, by concentrating on the development of features that are needed.
11. Self-Organizing Teams: Let the development teams self-organize since they understand better the best structures, demands, and layouts.
12. Reflect and Adjust: Role performance is measured regularly to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the team and then alter the processes to fit the best performance in the future.
Comparing Agile vs. Waterfall Methodology
Agile:
- Iterative, flexible, and adaptive.
- Emphasizes customer collaboration and responsiveness to change.
- Common frameworks: Scrum Framework, Kanban Framework, SAFe Framework.
Waterfall:
- Linear, sequential, and structured.
- Focuses on thorough planning and documentation.
- Changes are difficult to implement once the project has started.
Benefits of Agile Certifications
For example, one can find such qualifications as CSM, Certified ScrumMaster, and SAFe Agilist, which are formal to show that the holder is acquainted with agility. Possible advantages of such certifications also include enhancing employment chances, the effectiveness of the implementation of projects, and showing the holder’s concern in refreshing his/her knowledge and skills about agile practices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What is the Agile Manifesto?
A: The Agile Manifesto is a principle that was set out in 2001 to provide the backbone to the agile framework emphasizing things like flexibility, collaboration and customer focus.
Q2: What are the core values of the Agile Manifesto?
A: The core values are:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
- Responding to change over following a plan.
Q3: What is the difference between Agile and Waterfall methodologies?
A: The agile approach is dynamic, and involves customer involvement and change readiness whereas the Waterfall approach is rigid and follows sequentially with utmost planning and documentation.
Q4: What are the benefits of agile certifications?
A: Being agile certifications like CSM or SAFe Agilist improves the understanding of such methodologies, proves more professional value, and guarantees better project performance, in addition to learning more.
Q5: What is the significance of customer collaboration in Agile?
A: An important concept in Agile is customer collaboration since it serves to check that development is responsive to and continues satisfying customer requirements and because changes are easily integrated, this increases satisfaction.
Conclusion
The Agile Manifesto being the base of the agile methodologies contains the values and principles to be followed. The major reason why Agile is often preferred in dynamic working environments is because it is far more flexible and focused on the needs of the clients as opposed to the Waterfall method which is very structured. Additional certification in agile practices is also helpful in one’s profession and the use of Artificial Intelligence in agile environments is expected to bring in more efficiency and creativity.
Bhavna is an Agile Coach and Consultant with over a decade of experience in advisory, corporate finance, IT assurance, and operations at Big 4 and within the industry in the UK and India. She has recently been the CEO of a start-up where she implemented agile practices within HR, Marketing, and Product teams.
She is also a SAFe® Practice Consultant (SPC) and authorized instructor for ICAgile Agility in HR (ICP-AHR), Agility in Marketing (ICP-MKG), and Business Agility Foundations (ICP – BAF) training courses. She provides training for agile transformation to corporate, public, and private batches, as well as consulting for enterprise agile transformation.
