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Agile planning methodology. Agile development methodology

The Toyota plant system has already become a classic and successful management model. Each employee of the enterprise had the opportunity to stop the conveyor at any time in order to eliminate a defect, malfunction or make his own rationalization proposal. It is on this approach that the Agile philosophy is based. Initially Agile methodology about 10-15 years ago was a method of developing software in small teams. AT this moment Agile methodology is a new culture of managing large enterprises. Today, any progressive manager knows what Agile is.

Products and services are created, as a rule, according to a single classical scheme. This is especially true for the IT industry. Such a scheme is called a waterfall, or iterative development methodology, and in English language- waterfall development ("waterfall"). Why is the scheme so named? The point is that if you have already approved a software product plan, you cannot suspend it or make adjustments before implementation. It has a completely different principle. Agile methodology. Waterfall is a concept that does not apply to it. This is a qualitatively new approach to product development. The methodology is based on a simple idea - each participant has the opportunity to make useful suggestions for optimizing the process, stop the conveyor in order to rethink the tasks and the common cause.

Agile methodology has a framework endowed with a number of characteristics. Among them:

Quick response to changes.
Independent organization of the production process.
Predictability.
The presence of continuous and permanent feedback.
Separation of risks.

In many enterprises, when developing products, specialists who solve important tasks for production are distributed among different departments, often in conflict with each other. This is especially true for employees of the operational department, developers and testers. If the products are not sold properly and receive income from this, the conflicting parties blame each other. At the same time, everyone is usually to blame in such situations.

Agile methodology is an approach that involves the presence of everyone who develops a software product. At the same time, each specialist does his job. Agile methodology makes it possible to see that all participants in the process are united by one goal - the creation of quality products for their customers.

When Agile methodology is applied, the whole business culture of the company changes. MBA programs contain a full-fledged course on the organizational structure of an enterprise, in the study of which one can come across the term "equilibrium", when all employees and participants in start-ups and start-ups solve common problems. Practice shows that it is at such enterprises that the teams are more united, work with high efficiency and efficiency. When it comes to bringing new ideas to the market and increasing efficiency, Agile methodology is the best tool.

Of course, some companies do not need Agile methodology. We are talking, for example, about government departments, since the basis of their activities is legislative norms. Interaction with the state is impossible if the rules of the game change regularly.

That is, the organizational infrastructure can be presented in two versions, radically different from each other. The first is a strict bureaucratic company that observes a number of formalities. This option has the right to exist and works fine in certain conditions. The second type is start-ups that bring together people with the same point of view and a common goal, who create something fundamentally new. Agile methodology, of course, is closer to the emotional team working on the production of a quality product. If problems arise at any of the stages, they are solved within the framework of the Agile methodology by all specialists of the enterprise or startup participants.

Basic principles of Agile methodology

There is an Agile manifesto that talks about the basic principles of the methodology:

Expert opinion

Perspectives of Agile methodology in Russia

Andrey Kocheshkov,

Chief Analyst of OAO Publishing House Prosveshchenie

Agile methodology has a number of advantages, the main of which is flexibility and the ability to adapt, adjust to any environment and organizational process. Agile methodology - best option for projects whose end is "open". This may be the creation of a computer game, an operating system or an Internet service. At the same time, due to flexibility, you can eventually lose focus and reduce predictability.

It is extremely important to distinguish the errors in the use of an agile approach from the shortcomings of the Agile methodology. It will take some time before the benefits of the methodology are realized. It is necessary to adapt the approach to the current situation in a particular business, and during this period it is possible to make many mistakes. But the fact remains: Agile methodology is becoming one of the most popular paradigms both in Russia and around the world.

Agile methodologies: Agile, Lean, Scrum and others

The Agile Manifesto defines specific principles. Based on them, an agile development methodology Agile has been formed.

Agile Scrum methodology is one of the popular technologies

Almost the most common Agile methodology is Scrum (“Scrum”). The name comes from rugby. This is currently the name of the most structured Agile development methodology. "Scrum" in the sports field is an intense team action aimed at achieving the goal - getting the ball for the subsequent attack of the opponent.

Scrum period is short. The best athletes with excellent training take part in this phase of rugby, as it is quite traumatic. If there are no trained and strong players, Scrum is simply not carried out. The Scrum methodology in Russia is becoming more and more common. Let's dwell on it in more detail.

Scrum is based on sprints. This is the name given to short-term fixed actions to create and provide the consumer with a working product with new characteristics. Its capabilities at the same time exceed those that were previously. The term of the "sprint" is fixed, and the predictability and flexibility of the creation process depends on it. If the time frame is short, the flexibility and predictability readings become higher, but the relative cost of each iteration, as well as the time spent on organizing and meeting with the customer and team members, also increase.

An important element of the methodology is the product backlog. This is a list of requirements for the final result. The requirements here are clearly structured according to the level of importance. It is from the list that tasks are taken for subsequent sprints. The list can be amended and supplemented in the course of clarifying the characteristics and sales of products.

There is a planning stage at which new functional qualities of the created product are determined for the next sprint. After solving the problem, a sprint backlog is compiled (Sprint Backlog). It remains unchanged throughout its duration.

The methodology also defines structured roles in the project:

Scrum Master is an intermediary between the team and the client.
The Product Owner represents the customer, forms, prioritizes the Product Backlog and accepts the intermediate results of the work.
Team - a project team where there are no separate roles. It is a self-organizing system that includes cross-functional motivated professionals.

The methodology provides financiers with a number of advantages, namely:

provides an opportunity to save money by not working through project documents for a long time;
allows you to fully control the budget of the project;
makes it possible to make adjustments without significant financial losses for the enterprise;
allows you to launch products early and get the first income from it.

The main problem in this case is the issue of legal registration of this type of activity and interaction with an external development team.

Why you need an Agile management methodology

The system allows you to feel good in a crisis period and in uncertain situations, earn income, protect your business, and competently use available resources and opportunities.
Agile methodologies are favored as large enterprises implementing agile managerial methods as well as small companies. For the latest Agile methodology is the best option. We are talking about catering establishments, dental clinics and offices, car dealerships; in addition, Agile methodology allows you to "tuning" business processes in such areas as the organization of foreign economic activity, building sales systems and crisis management.
Agile methodology is applied in management, marketing, financial industry, personnel management. Thanks to it, you can achieve ultra-fast project implementation and excellent results.
Agile methodology is first of all flexible thinking and only then tools. To use it successfully, you must certain changes into the mentality, culture of working with projects at the enterprise.
Agile has many methods. The most popular today are Scrum and Kanban.
Agile methodology helps to bring your business to a new level, taking into account existing capabilities, resources and practical skills of employees.
Agile methodology is suitable for any enterprise focused on generating more income and increasing influence in the market environment.
Agile methodology provides the search and introduction of new technologies associated with a breakthrough, the development of internal entrepreneurial activity, creativity approach and thinking in large organizations.

All of the above is just the beginning. Many business experts and leaders of large enterprises are sure that Agile methodology is the future of the modern economic industry.

Expert opinion

Implementation of Agile methodology to improve staff efficiency

Maria Onuchina,

Director of the Asset Management Department at Becar Asset Management Group, Moscow

We have modified our office space to move towards Agile management:

Stage 1.Organization of workplaces.

Over the course of a month, we studied the workplaces of personnel, identified departments where complete silence is required to conduct effective activities (for example, accounting), drew attention to departments that employ specialists who are constantly away and spend no more than 3 hours in the office. hours a day. We received a schedule showing the number of employees and the specifics of their job duties. Based on the information received, we started the reconstruction of the office.

For employees whose activities involve a permanent presence at work, permanent places have been equipped. Mobile staff were provided with temporary space in the open-space area. You can come there, take your favorite place and turn on remote access. We also paid attention to informal areas: rooms for recreation, negotiations, and a working cafe.

We tried to organize the space in the office so that employees have the opportunity to change the location at any time:

if necessary, be alone;
get together in mini-groups;
hold a meeting between departments in any composition.

The number of such zones within the project was influenced by what proportion of the business the process belongs to.

Stage 2.Adaptation of workers.

Further, we provided assistance to specialists in adaptation. Many are afraid of the changes that the Agile methodology implies, even if they are for the better. After a few weeks had passed, it became clear that the workers liked everything, and they left the offices. At this stage, it is worth letting the staff understand that in the absence of changes in business processes, the enterprise risks leaving the market space.

Stage 3.Introduction of unusual solutions.

We introduced a number of features: we organized a cinema in the common area, where presentations are shown during work, and films are shown in the evenings, as well as a wall with a picture of a tree on which the values of the company are written.

The new office is unusual, but comfortable. We equipped it with multi-level furniture: bar stools, bean bags, leather and fabric sofas, glass tables. Agile management is characterized by such details as:

modern engineering solutions;
IT infrastructure;
comfortable furniture;
surfaces for recording ideas during negotiations, etc.

Design and repair work were carried out for two months. During this period, the company's specialists performed labor duties on the territory of the old office. The amount of repair costs was about the same as the cost of a typical reconstruction. The price was affected only by furniture and the latest technology.

Result. A few months of staying in the improved office showed that the work has become a team, and communication between specialists from different departments has improved. Managed to save on rent. On average, there are 12-40 m 2 per person in the office of a large-scale organization. Previously, we had 10 m 2 , and this figure was reduced to 6 m 2 , effectively distributing jobs. The payback period of the project was 1.5 years.

We have equipped all meeting rooms with Wi-Fi and conference calls. So we got rid of the need to rent conference rooms in order to hold external meetings in them. Comfortable conditions attract employees, thanks to which they spend more time at work and perform duties more efficiently.

What problems can arise when an Agile methodology is used

Problem 1.Role habit.

Specialists in the project team at first, with little willingness, move on to perform work that is unusual for them, even realizing that it will be better this way. For example, analysts often do not like testing a system, although who, if not they, knows everything about the features of its functioning? These kinds of problems are easy to spot in a team and are usually easy to fix.

Problem 2Documentation habit.

First, the developers are waiting for the requirements from the customer - project documentation with an explanation of all issues. This method of passing information is not the most efficient, and therefore it is better for developers to get used to direct communication with the client. Over time, after communicating with the customer, it will become easier for developers to delve into the intricacies of the business and solve obvious issues. Even if they make a mistake, the client will quickly notice it at the end of the iteration, and the defect can be corrected in time.

Problem 3.New team.

The project manager runs the risk of facing the difficulties of working with a new team. Participants still cannot communicate properly with each other, there is no contact between them, they are embarrassed to ask for help and are afraid to criticize someone for a wrong decision. The project manager is responsible. He is obliged to help team members in establishing informal relationships, the existence of which is implied by the Agile methodology. It may be useful to organize a joint trip to a restaurant, a team building event or a sports competition.

Problem 4.Communication problems.

The task of the project manager at the initial stage is to hold rallies with team members to achieve productive and efficient activities.

Problem 5.Timing pressure.

Often, customers put pressure on developers, rush them. Customers want to receive the desired product in the shortest possible time. The team needs to accurately implement the requirements without sacrificing quality. Otherwise, in the long run, the speed of creation will decrease, as the cost of changes due to poor quality will increase. In addition, the lack of quality has a negative impact on the motivation of developers. The project manager should regularly remind mentees of the need to maintain high quality.

Problem 6.Creativity.

Tasks in the project are both interesting and not very. Developers often enjoy making decisions that hurt the project but are technically interesting. Here it is worth remembering the principles of KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and YAGNI (you ain't gonna need it). Let the main characteristic of design decisions be simplicity. You should not do what is not particularly necessary at the moment.

What should be done to make the team make simple decisions? Sometimes it is useful to let specialists make a one-time mistake, so that later they can carefully analyze it and let the developers understand what should and should not be done. Almost any project is supplemented in one way or another by research tasks (new technologies and engineering fields knowledge). This is where you need to try and experiment.

Problem 7.Time estimate.

Determining the time to solve the problem, experts take into account only writing code. And at the same time, the task includes at least the creation of design and testing. At the very start of the project, the developers think that they will finish the project earlier than possible. At the end of the process, experts note mistakes and draw conclusions for the future. Time passes, and the team learns to correctly assess the situation. Usually, after 3-4 iterations, the level of accuracy and performance improves.

Problem 8.Management problem.

The expectations of management are the availability of certain functionality by the specified time. But Agile methodology does not guarantee the implementation of plans by 100%. It is only logical to wait for the priority tasks to be solved. It is useful to coordinate plans at the release level with management. The high level of the release plan allows the manager to vary the scope of development of even individual characteristics of the system within a fairly large time frame. For example, the task of creating a search subsystem may include accounting for morphology. Savings are possible at this stage.

Problem 9.Problems of non-team behavior.

In the process of implementing Agile methodology, the following situation is not ruled out. There is a rally, and suddenly one of the participants gets up and starts talking about his ideas. He does not accept objections, but after some time he speaks about the decision made, offering to begin consideration of the second issue. Of course, the team did not make a decision. In fact it did this member taking that right away from her.

There are several options here. It is possible that the person was simply in an overly enthusiastic state, which should soon pass. But often there are those who simply cannot be part of the team due to their nature.

Agile methodology without mistakes

Mistake 1.Top managers do not understand what Agile methodology is and for what purpose it should be implemented.

It requires an accurate understanding of what result we are interested in, what deadlines and budget we have. Fuzzy goals and beautiful wording, such as “Become number one in your field” or “Become more efficient” are not suitable. Let the tasks be expressed in numbers. For example: "Achieve a turnover of $ 3 billion in 2018", "Reduce the time to create a product to 3 months", etc.

Error 2.Wrong diagnosis.

Often, when introducing an Agile methodology, a company wants to solve a number of specific problems, such as overpriced costs or poor quality of goods. But you need to figure out in detail where there are gaps. Otherwise, the manager will wait for the Agile methodology to change everything. However, here he risks only worsening the situation.

Mistake 3.The introduction of Agile only in a separate area of business processes.

This is a logical continuation of the second error described above. The reason for her admission is the same: a lack of understanding of the problem and where it hides. All branches of the enterprise must change: production and marketing parts, accounting and sales. Otherwise, nothing will work. If you introduce changes only in marketing and do not wait for the desired effect, you will have a strong opinion that the Agile methodology is ineffective.

Mistake 4.Downplaying the importance of involving all employees in the company.

You must be allies with your colleagues. If this is not the case, it is better to save resources, time, and do nothing. Agile methodology implies initiative, mobilization and responsibility of all those who take part in the process, at least the managers of the enterprise. If these people are strong and authoritative leaders, able to achieve good discipline in solving problems and introducing new rules at work, then everything will work out. According to statistics, 85% of enterprises do not have strong managers with sufficient professional training.

Mistake 5.The illusion that everything is possible only thanks to human efforts.

Of course, the competence, motivation and professional level of the staff are important in achieving the goals. But attention should also be paid to the proper technical equipment of the company, software, with the help of which the management and planning of activities becomes more efficient. In this regard, whether you like it or not, you will have to invest in the purchase of machines, equipment and software.

Mistake 6.Reluctance to change frames.

Almost 90% of success depends on the team of the enterprise. Continued attention should be paid to development, training and right motivation employees. Many specialists are not ready to work according to Agile methodology, they are not interested in new knowledge and opportunities, mastering business processes. About 25-30% of the company's staff do not want to do their best and strive for high earnings. It is better for such employees to say: "Goodbye." Weak links can be quite difficult to identify, and therefore HR managers often do not do this.

Mistake 7.Loss of interest and participation of top managers.

It usually takes 8-16 months to implement a project. In 70% of situations, after three months, the interest of the participants decreases. As a result, team members simply do not want to be part of the project. If this is the case, you, of course, will not be able to solve the problem.

Agile methodology: examples of unsuccessful application

Agile methodology attracts many professionals, and to date, a number of world-famous companies have tried to implement it. But almost no one managed to achieve the desired result.

Example: in 2015 on stock exchange in New York, auctions were held, which had to be stopped for as much as 4 hours. At first it was explained by a cyberattack. But, as it turned out later, the problem was a bug in the process of the next update. Of course, 4 hours of downtime of the world trade center brought billions of dollars in losses.

And this example is not the only one. It is easier for brokers: they lost, and then they earned twice as much. The situation is more complicated for airlines. Approximately the same situation occurred with the Delta air carrier after a simple software update. The dispatching system stopped receiving data, which led to the forced cancellation of flights. The company not only suffered losses, but also paid with its reputation.

The most high-profile failure of the Agile methodology is associated with the launch of the Obama Care health insurance system in the United States. The meaning of the program was as follows: certain categories of American citizens were provided with free insurance policies. To obtain such a right, a person had to fill out a questionnaire on the site and wait for the decision of certain services. Of course, millions of people rushed to fill out the questionnaires. But the problem was that they were able to fill out the questionnaire, but not send it, there was some kind of server failure. The Obama Care system ended approximately 6 months after launch. To get the job done, the stakeholders brought in a specialist from outside who assessed the situation. The consultant has come a long way, starting from the end - "production", putting the parts together and managed to achieve the correct functioning of the system.

Expert opinion

Example of successful implementation Agil-control

Sergey Buchik,

General Director of NPM Group, Novosibirsk

The company, including all departments, has been moving to Agile methodology for 1.5 years. Previously, the HR department consisted of: a HR specialist, a training manager and a recruiter. The management of departments, choosing new personnel or conducting training, filled out applications in huge numbers. Now each department of the enterprise has its own HR. In development teams that work on the Scrum methodology, this place is reserved for the Scrum Master. The products here are personnel service, and team members are internal consumers.

The new style of management according to Agile methodology has taken root well in the field of recruitment. The customer can plan his activities, taking into account the candidate's exit at exactly the specified time. During 9 sprints lasting 2 weeks, we managed to reduce the number of overdue vacancies by 2 times. A simple vacancy (for example, a caster) is now closed in 20 days, an average one (service engineer) - 32 days, a rare specialist (technologist for plastic molding) - 51 days. After completing the first sprint, it became clear to recruiters that the most important thing for department managers is not the speed of the search, but the transparent deadlines for closing vacancies and the period of time that they can spend on selecting an employee with subsequent training. At the moment, the manager tells the customer about the timing and stage of the search for the applicant. It is also the responsibility of recruiters to “pump” the technical competencies needed to effectively recruit manufacturing jobs, such as learning to read blueprints.

Let's give an example: the management of the department does not realize what kind of employee it needs, or this issue is decided by specialists from several departments at once. Let's say a company needs a storekeeper who will work in a tool warehouse. In this case, the production department and the logistics service order a vacancy. It is the responsibility of the recruiter to take into account the requirements of these departments for the applicant. Manufacturers need a technical specialist who knows perfectly modern metal-cutting tools. Logisticians want to see any professional with experience and who knows perfectly what warehouse logistics is. Customers have not yet decided and have not deduced a common denominator, but the recruiter is already looking for a candidate, considering applicants. After choosing the best, in his opinion, applicant, he conducts a dialogue with all customers. If it is not possible to reach an agreement after the interview, the recruiter makes changes to the text of the vacancy.

At the moment, the departments are coming to the conclusion that the target group should include technical masters with excellent knowledge of the tool. The recruiter again searches, selects suitable applicants and meets with them. This continues until the vacancy closes.

Agile Project Management Methodology: 6 Rules for Effectiveness

Rule 1 Work on the project plan and answer the following questions: what tasks are the priority, what resources are required for this, what is the time frame for achieving the result?

Long-term plans have a rather low accuracy, so plan in three planes:

a plan in the long term, indicating all the tasks required to be completed and major planning of the timing of the implementation of key milestones;
monthly goal plans, based on the general plan (their implementation should not be less than 90%);
define within a month the most detailed goals, clearly describing the results of their achievement.

Rule 2 Involve the team in the implementation of the project, inform the employees about it. All specialists must understand and share the goals of the organization, know what needs to be done to solve the tasks, even if these employees do not fulfill them within the framework of the project.

Rule 3 Meet with the implementation team from time to time. The frequency of meetings is 1-2 times a month. This is required to determine the solution of tasks and problems, timely adjustment of the plan in case of difficulties with implementation. At the same time, acute conflict situations should not be regulated during the meeting, which, according to the plan, is scheduled in a week. The authorization must be clear and prompt.

Rule 4 Do not stop the project if you see that it does not give positive effect. Problems, as a rule, arise due to the dissatisfaction of the team, whose members have to leave the comfort zone and tune in to a creative way. Remember that the first results are usually measured after completing 80% of the entire path.

Rule 5 Say “Goodbye” to underperforming employees if you see that Agile methodology is not close to them.

Rule 6 Don't set yourself up for perfect problem solving the first time. About 95% of effective tools and ideas were achieved after many iterations and adjustments after several iterations.

1. Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Green "Understanding Agile".

The book talks about the four main options in which the Agile methodology is presented. Their description is quite interesting and detailed. Thanks to the manual, mastering the art of applying techniques becomes easy and entertaining.

The book reveals the essence of the most popular Agile methodologies: Scrum, XP (extreme programming), Lean (lean programming) and Kanban (Kanban); tells how to use them to create quality programs and achieve your goals. The manual explains how the Agile methodology helps to change the thinking of project participants, unite them and strive for improvements together. The purpose of the publication is to talk about Agile methods, values and principles, thanks to which teams can completely change the strategy of working on projects and approach it differently. The manual will be of interest to both project managers and managers, and just those who are fond of the flexible Agile development methodology.

2. Boris Volfson "Flexible project and product management".

The book combines theory and practice. It describes various aspects of the concept of Agile methodology, product development, management, and analytics. The theoretical part on project and product management contains information about the current state of Scrum and Kanban. In the practical, it talks about requirements management, teams, risks, business modeling, requirements analytics, time estimates, engineering practices for product development (mainly extreme programming), quality control and assurance, implementing and scaling Scrum.

3. Jeff Sutherland Scrum. revolutionary method project management".

Jeff Sutherland has his own methodology, which he developed in an attempt to overcome the shortcomings of classical project management. It is often difficult for specialists in different companies to achieve efficient, fast and well-coordinated work. They fail to complete most of their plans due to lack of time and resources, and departments and teams often solve opposite tasks or repeat them.

Scrum has been around for 20 years, and during this time, not only software developers, but also auto manufacturers, pharmacists, the FBI and ordinary people who plan their time and opportunities have successfully used the technique.

By reading this book, you will look at project management differently and understand how to solve tasks that seemed unattainable before. It doesn’t matter what your plans are: opening a startup, changing the educational system, introducing new technologies, or more effective team management. Thanks to Scrum, you will increase your productivity at times. The manual is perfect for project managers, managers and IT-specialists.

4. Roman Pikhler Product Management in Scrum.

The manual will be of interest to everyone who studies Agile methodology, especially those who own the technology. The book tells what role the product owner takes, how best to manage it, what are the main ways to do this. We are talking about visualizing the product, creating and improving the backlog, planning and tracking releases, and effectively using Scrum.

5. Kenneth S. Rubin "Fundamentals of Scrum".

From the book, you will learn all about Scrum, the terms of this methodology and understand how to benefit from its application. If you are interested in Agile methodology, the guide will tell you what it takes to achieve great results. The book is written by a leading Scrum training specialist. The author details the key principles, values and norms of practice, touching on flexible approaches, the effectiveness of which has been confirmed by time.

Information about experts

Andrey Kocheshkov, Chief Analyst of OAO Publishing House Prosveshchenie. "Enlightenment" - Soviet, and later Russian specialized publishing house of educational and pedagogical literature.

Maria Onuchina, director of the facility management department at Becar Asset Management Group, Moscow. Becar-Exploitation LLC (Becar Asset Management Group). Field of activity: a systematic solution to the problems of managing objects (property management), projects (project management) and investments (brokerage, evaluation). Number of personnel: 5000. Territory: front offices - in Moscow and St. Petersburg; three offices and 55 separate subdivisions- in different cities of Russia.

Sergey Buchik, CEO of NPM Group, Novosibirsk. NPM LLC (NPM Group). Field of activity: production of equipment for the beverage industry; development of IT solutions for integration with equipment, mobile applications. Number of employees: over 300. Market share: 95% of beer and carbonated beverage bottling equipment in Russia. Number of patents for own products: over 80.

Everyone knows the example of a factory device included in classic management textbooks, where each employee had the right to stop the conveyor in order to eliminate a defect or make a rationalization proposal. It is this approach that formed the basis of the Agile philosophy.

Agile, which appeared as a method of software development in small teams 10-15 years ago, is now becoming the new culture of managing large companies. Thanks to a recent speech by German Gref, the term Agile is included in the lexicon of all modern Russian managers.

What is Agile and why is this method called almost the only correct one?

There is a classic approach to creating products and services, which is primarily characteristic of the IT industry. This approach is called a waterfall or iterative development methodology. In English terminology, this approach is called waterfall development (from English - waterfall). Why is it called a waterfall? Because with such a development scheme, once you have approved a software product plan, you will not be able to stop or change this plan before it is created.

Agile is an innovative approach to rethinking the creation of a new product or service. It is based on very simple idea: each participant in the process, each employee of this "conveyor assembly" should be involved in the process of rethinking their tasks and the common cause. Everyone can stop the conveyor and make their own rational proposals.

In most organizations, when creating software products, the people responsible for certain stages of the project are in various, often conflicting, departments. It's no secret that operations staff, testers, and developers are usually in conflict with each other. And if the product does not work and does not bring profit to the business, then everyone strives to blame the other. Although in fact, in such cases, as a rule, everyone is to blame.

The Agile method involves the involvement of all participants in the software product development process, leaving the participants with familiar competencies. This approach makes it clear that they all work for the same end goal - a quality product for their customers.

So there is a change in the business culture of the enterprise itself. As part of the MBA programs, there is a whole course that deals with the organizational structure of the company. There is a concept of equilibrium in it, when everyone does everything inside start-up companies and start-ups, which is often why a friendly team is born there that effectively acts on the market. And in terms of efficiency and bringing new ideas to market, this is the ideal organizational structure.

Of course, there are organizations that do not need Agile at all. For example, government departments. Their activities are based on legislation. We will not be able to interact with the state if the rules of the game change every day.

Thus, we have two radical opposites of organizational infrastructure. On the one hand, there is the strictest bureaucratic formalized organization, which is used in certain cases and works well in certain situations. And the complete diametrical opposite of it is young startups, teams of like-minded people who really create something new, and Agile is much closer to the state of an emotional team that works for the ultimate goal, a workable high-quality (software) product. And therefore, the problems that arise at any stage are the problems of all people, and everyone who is able to solve them is involved in this process.

The transition of a large classical business (Enterprise) to Agile

This is an extremely important question, and it is very interesting. The whole world is talking about this, German Gref said the same. He said: “Guys, we are a bank, our competitors are not banks, our competitors are young companies bringing digital to society.”

An advanced business is based on three pillars: experience and knowledge in the industry (in which the business operates), development of products and services using the Agile methodology, and most importantly, an innovative culture.

Leading IT companies, having easily copied banking products and services, begin to complete (or transform) them to a level that the bank cannot bring them to, since a traditional financial institution does not have a sufficiently developed innovation culture.

A very simple example is microfinance organizations. These are firms that literally create a service with a snap of their fingers. Today the company appeared, issued a loan at an incredibly high interest rate - tomorrow it will have a profitability many times greater than that of a bank. Such organizations can instantly rebuild their services and products, quickly enter new markets, displacing classical banks.

Similar things are happening not only in the banking industry, it happens in all industries and business areas. Mobile operators are starting to deal with payment systems. Uber has changed the way they travel around the world in a few years, and Airbnb has done the same with the hospitality travel industry.

Flexible planning

With waterfall development, you have to plan a year ahead. But if something changes - for example, more servers or other components are required, then such a scenario is possible when the project is stopped - after all, it will be necessary to conduct a new tender, buy new infrastructure, etc.

That is, Agile becomes not just a methodology for creating new software, but a system of flexible planning for the development of the entire company. Such an infrastructure should be built that also flexibly responds to requests from customers and requirements that change during the development of a software product and its operation (this, by the way, implies a total transition to cloud technologies).

Agile planning requires understanding and analysis of each business process. And this is the next stage in the development of the company - its digitalization.

Read the material

One day a top manager arrived in Russia at the car assembly plant of the famous Toyota corporation.

His trip was educational. He was supposed to teach the management team the basics of lean manufacturing, creating effective team and, of course, the correct assembly of modern, cool cars.

Agile methodology was at the heart of everything. But what he saw at the meeting shocked him ...

It happened in the following way. The general director listened to the report of the heads of departments, made notes to himself.

When it came to discussing plans for future development and fixing problems, the director invited the heads of departments to express their ideas.

There was a buzz, discussions, bickering. The marketing manager started arguing with the sales manager.

So 15 minutes passed. And then the director shouted “Democracy is over, now dictatorship again!” began to give orders, which subordinates began to diligently write down in their diaries.

The guest from Japan was able to utter only one phrase from what he saw: “But this is not agile project management.

After all, at our plant, any worker can stop the conveyor during operation and make adjustments to its work.

I’m not talking about ideas at planning meetings…”. To which the general replied: “Yes, these are not agile principles! Such flexible methods do not work in Russia!”.

Well they don't work...

Most likely, the question is also spinning in your head now: “What kind of mysterious phrase is this?”.

So, in this article, let's figure out how the principles of agile management are applicable to Russia, to small businesses and how they will help you increase sales.

The programmers are to blame

Do you know how any software product was developed before? Whole. Of course, even now they create it, but not advanced companies.

That is, earlier there was a certain structure, after passing through which the final software product was born. She looked like this:

However, there were significant gaps in these 6 steps. All difficulties arose due to the rigid sequence of this structure and the impossibility of introducing new ideas at any of the stages.

As a result, when designing or programming, new ideas simply had to be ignored.

Otherwise, it would be necessary to redo the entire technical task anew, which significantly lengthened the terms of work, or significantly increased the cost of the process.

And then the programmers began to change the approach to work: they began to conduct mini-tests to get feedback at each stage in order to make changes right away, even in an unfinished product.

They also began to request feedback from the customer even before the delivery of the final product to him.

The experiments showed excellent results and were recognized as extremely successful (the quality of the products became much better, the customers were satisfied, and the programmers began to meet ahead of schedule).

This approach to work began to be called “flexible” for the fact that at any stage of work it was possible to make changes to the creation of the product to obtain the ideal solution.

To bring all project management approaches (and by that time there were already more than a dozen of them) to a common denominator, the entire founding team (17 people) who developed and implemented various “agile methods” got together.

They found that although they see the process of product development in different ways, the idea that it should be flexible was visible to everyone.

It was this meeting in the mountain village of Snowbird in February 2001 that is considered the birth of agile methodology (some even call it philosophy).

Since most of these people were programmers, the result of the meeting was the release of the Agile Manifesto and Agile principles.

As programmers began to get very good results using this philosophy and principles, many organizations began to switch to using these approaches.

Short and to the point

Like any philosophy, agile methodology has its own values. Not everyone, in reality, will agree with them, but if you created a dream company, then it would definitely adhere to this philosophy:

People and interaction are more important than processes and tools;
A working product is more important than comprehensive documentation;
Cooperation with the customer is more important than agreeing on the terms of the contract;
Being ready for change is more important than sticking to the original plan.

Principles mentioned in the Agile Manifesto. Just read it, understand a little further.

Customer satisfaction through early and uninterrupted delivery of valuable software;
Frequent delivery of working software (every month or week, or even more often);
And many more like it.

“What the hell did I just read? I didn't understand a word!" I think that's what you're thinking right now.

To be honest, what is Agile as a methodology (as well as what is written in the manifesto) I myself did not immediately understand, books and articles gave a superficial description until I saw all this in practice.

Therefore, I will save you a huge amount of time and tell you briefly and to the point.

Agile is the name of the methodology in which major project It is divided into several small parts, each of which is assigned its own completion date.

This approach reminds me a lot, except for one thing. The decomposition does not take into account the involvement of the entire team.

The example is clear

To make it easier for you to understand everything, using the example of a bakery, I will show the difference.

To do this, I will first talk about a plant that does not have a methodology, and then about a plant that has implemented this management method. Let's move on to an example.

Ordinary bakery in Russia

The CEO instructs the technologist to develop a new type of bread. At best, the technologist will go to them to conduct research.

But, as a rule, such ideas arise not from the desire of consumers based on marketing research, but from the desire of the director himself.

After the research, the technologist will develop the bread to his taste and bring it to the director.

He tries a new product and decides to reward the technologist with the words “Well done. Hold the bagel” or say “No. Remodel."

After approval, the bakers are given flow charts to launch the product into production. Next, sellers for sale - baked bread.

This is the usual approach in Russia, employees simply receive instructions, and one (sometimes several) people make the assessment.

Agile bakery in Russia

The CEO comes up with the idea to develop a new kind of bread. And this is where miracles begin.

Not only a technologist and marketing will be involved in the creation of a product, but also sellers, logisticians, chefs / confectioners and ... even real buyers.

In this team, there will be no hierarchy at all (except for the CEO) and the result of the work will not be the rewarding of a specific employee, but the receipt of a new type of bread, which will be bought up by buyers.

Moreover, during the entire process, all employees evaluate the result and give feedback to improve it.

IMPLEMENT OR SEND

In short, the main plus is that this approach helps the company to quickly rebuild and create a competitive product that customers need and like.

As a result, it will have a good effect on sales, save a lot of time and take away mistakes.

However, after reading the first half of the article, one can conclude that the agile methodology is only suitable for IT companies.

But this is fundamentally not true. In Russia, this methodology is actively used by:

Bank "Alfa-bank";
Network of pizzerias "Dodo Pizza";
Accounting service "Button".

And if everything is clear with Alfa-Bank, a big company, they have the resources and people to introduce innovations into their system.

Then with “Dodo Pizza” and “Button” everything is much more interesting, because the companies are small. And in my opinion, this approach has become one of the factors of their success.

As a result of the implementation of agile, you can get a lot of pluses (more on the minuses later) that will help you become a market leader. Here are some of those perks:

Thanks to the use of “flexible” approaches, the quality of the results obtained increases;
Results are obtained much faster and more efficiently, thereby saving time and costs;
The company is better adapted to change (even unforeseen) and competition;
The creation of projects is more planned and controlled;
A company can create products that consumers will wait and buy.

Inner work

The only question I have been looking for an answer to for a long time is how does work work in an agile company.

It is clear that each employee works for the result, making their own proposals. But what does it all look like from the inside? You can't understand this from books.

Let's go back to our favorite bakery. And to their old task - to release a new kind of bread. To accomplish the task, they had the following sequence:

Input data. The director tells what kind of bread he ideally sees, and also tells the calculation for it, which is economically beneficial for the enterprise.
Idea discussion. A team consisting of a technologist, cooks, logisticians, marketers and salesmen starts discussing this project.
Chefs, technologists and logisticians offer profitable products, marketers talk about competitors, and sellers tell what buyers usually express their wishes.
Testing. All ideas and knowledge are summed up in a test recipe. This recipe is baked in a small trial batch to receive feedback on it at a closed tasting among ordinary buyers (!!!).
Collecting feedback. Customers eat bread and express their wishes. Based on this, changes and improvements are made to the test recipe. The final.

These stages can be continued again and again until a perfect kind of bread is obtained, which everyone will be satisfied with: marketers, chefs, logisticians, technologists, sellers, buyers and, of course, the plant director himself.

Yes, everything is fine now

I want myself

Perhaps after reading the article you have a desire (especially if you are engaged in production) to introduce flexible project management methodologies into your business.

And you think that agile is what you need. After all, this way you can create something new, a truly innovative product.

Then I will immediately warn you and answer a few questions that you have.

These are the top 5 questions that all owners ask themselves when they see this methodology.

Suitable for small business? If you are not constantly releasing new products or are not constantly implementing new projects, but are working on the “old”, then most likely NO.

Is it easy to implement? I will answer the question with a question: Is it easy to learn foreign language? Philosophy cannot be quickly introduced into a company. It needs to be implemented step by step and over a fairly long period of time.

Business processes in the company will change? Yes, completely and drastically. Departments and people in them will change, planning meetings will change their usual character, job responsibilities will become completely different.

How will people work? Completely different. If they previously worked on only one task, now they will have to work and take part in the whole process, up to several projects.

And this means exclusively teamwork and a broader outlook.

Who should be the boss? As strange as it sounds, agile companies don't have bosses.

First of all, these are assistant curators who organize people into joint teams for more efficient work.

Didn't answer your question? In this case, there are comments below, write it there and I will give you a recommendation for free. It is important to us that you are 100% satisfied.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON

Underwater rocks

As with any business improvement tool, there are pitfalls. And at first glance, they are not so noticeable.

They are realized by companies only after implementation. Therefore, in advance, "Please" for saving you from wasting money and time.

Agile is not a tool

Agile is not even a methodology, although I often called it that in the text. This is the philosophy by which the company agrees to live.

And for the implementation of philosophy in life, rules, patterns and tools are needed. They are called frameworks.

This includes or Scrum (management tools). Of course, we will write articles about each tool in the future, but you must understand that agile is, first of all, the philosophy adopted in the company.

Team

For most people in our country (I'm talking about the usual Russian business), teamwork will be unusual.

They are accustomed to receiving individual instructions and being accountable for their implementation. Accordingly, the KPI of each specific specialist with the introduction of agile will need to be canceled.

And it is the team that will evaluate the contribution of each specific specialist to the project. And this is very difficult if you do not have top specialists in your field.

someone else's nose

There is no more personal space in the company. From the series - I do not climb to you and you do not climb to me. This is no more.

If there is team work, then bread sellers may ask questions why he added this or that additive to the variety, because buyers do not like it.

This is both bad (unusual) and good, because often your eyes are blurred.

Payment

The most interesting. In agile, it is not customary to pay people a fixed salary, since the success of the company depends on the degree of participation of each individual employee.

The salary, if any, is more from the series so that a person does not die of hunger. Everything else is the result.

Turnover

It will be significant. In our society, it is not customary to work in a team and get paid for specific results (although this has been changing lately).

Therefore, you will have to try to find specialists who share the philosophy implemented in your company.

Briefly about the main

Who is agile project management for? For big companies or small ones? In fact, for those and for others.

Large companies “get younger” from them, become more mobile and less bureaucratic, while they give small companies a powerful breakthrough.

After all, you stop working the old fashioned way, and your employees stop thinking (and working) like most of your competitors.

Agile also requires staff to be involved. And even under the condition that everyone will be involved in the work, with large projects at the end you will still get time savings and an increase in product quality.

But I repeat, provided that you are constantly implementing new products or projects.

It would seem that the relevance on the face. I suggest you go the other way. Don't shoot from the shoulder.

Start implementing agile principles as we do, gradually. Start involving different specialists in the implementation of different projects. And we can say from our own experience that our efficiency has grown noticeably.

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Agile project management method (Agile)

For projects that include a significant software component, the traditional project management method may not be as effective as the requirements may be vague and changeable. Alternatively, you can use the Agile Project Management (APM) method, which has gained popularity in the market not so long ago. This method is a fairly iterative and periodic process, during which developers and project participants actively work together to understand the scope, as well as identify needs to be implemented and prioritize functionality.

Flexible methods are used when the following conditions are present:

the meaning of the project is clearly indicated,
the client is actively involved throughout the project,
client, designer and developers are nearby
possible step by step development, based on functions
visual documentation is acceptable (postcards on the wall as opposed to formal documentation). See Fig. 3

Agile development consists of many rapid iterative planning and development cycles, allowing the development team to constantly evaluate the evolving product and get instant feedback from users and project stakeholders. The team studies and improves the product as well as the way it works in every successful cycle. After well-established planning, needs identification, and solution sketching, the stage ends, while the project goes through iterations with more detailed processes of planning, needs analysis and implementation, taking the form of waves. This approach allows you to make instant changes to the product when new requirements arrive. An agile method requires a team of people working at full capacity, whereby the client or user must also participate, and the developers must work in the same place, next to the client.

Agile Project Management Application Environment

Agile development is done in collaboration with a small team located in the same building. The core team usually consists of two developers who write code in pairs (full quality management) of the client/user, IT architect(s), business analyst - and project manager. Work is done over a series of sessions where the team writes the code, then tests the working modules of the system, and then the process is repeated. At the same time, the level of documentation is kept to a minimum, since the team mainly relies only on informal communication within the team.

Again, this is different from the traditional approach, where a significant amount of time is devoted to planning and extensive documentation of needs and requirements is maintained. The agile team identifies and prioritizes the features being developed based on their value to the business, and once the critical system components are in place, work on those that have the highest priority. This approach is suitable if the proposed product can be delivered to the client step by step. In case this is not possible, functions and features can still be developed and then integrated into the original version of the system.

Flex Method Components

There are several key elements, which are the basis of the flexible management method. These techniques can also be used in the traditional method to improve performance:

Suggested Benefits of Agile Project Management

The traditional approach to project management is linear, where everything is done in one cycle. You plan everything in detail, and as soon as everything is ready and developed, you hand over the whole project. This way of thinking has spread from software development to other projects as well - and this is the difference between the traditional approach and the agile one.

In the case of agile project management, you plan only as much as you need. While each part of the system is being developed, the team collects all the experience gained, as well as customer feedback. Since the client sees and/or experiences a working prototype, it will be easier for the client to define or redefine the requirements and describe to the development team what the organization really needs. This method involves changes that bring value and reduce costs through iterative development. Changes to a small module are cheaper than changes to a huge system developed.

Is it possible to use the method of flexible project management?

At its core, project management, whether traditional or agile, has a primary focus on customer satisfaction. The point is to manage the team, to deliver measurable results. Many practical skills can be implemented in most command-type organizational structures. However, some professionals in the project management environment may ignore these principles of agile project management in case they cannot apply all the skills and components - but this will not be a mistake. For example, what happens if they can't get the user to be in the workroom with the development team all the time? This does not mean that they cannot use other agile principles such as visual inspection and provisioned development. In addition, even if the user may not be fully involved, many users are willing to participate in the team, especially during the testing and item prioritization process. The rest of the time, the business analyst can represent the interests of the user, while the team is fully given joint work.

Implementing agile management techniques in projects provides a focus on the benefits of each element. In the traditional approach, teams have to complete the project on time and on budget, while losing track of the benefit to the organization that the project is intended to achieve. It is important to remember that the strategy is to improve the project according to the increase in the total cost of the product and its further use, and not just the cost of the project - in this case, the benefits of the project will be clearly expressed, regardless of whether the team creates a product or develops a new one.

Anyone who has ever dealt with project management knows how difficult it is to organize a well-coordinated work of a team, and in the face of constantly changing requirements for the result of a project, all the efforts made can become in vain. Agile project management method is ideal for working with such projects.

Agile project management method is a series of work stages defined by hard deadlines - sprints, allowing the team to constantly evaluate the results of the work done and receive feedback from the customer and other project participants. This approach allows you to make instant changes to the product when new requirements arrive.

History of Agile

Evolutionary project management and adaptive software development emerged in the early 1970s. In 1970, Dr. Winston Royce presented a paper entitled "Managing the Development of Large Software Systems" that was critical of sequential development. He argued that software should not be developed like a car on an assembly line in which each part is added in successive phases. In such successive phases, each phase of the project must be completed before the next phase can begin. Dr. Royce recommended using a phased approach, in which developers first collect all the requirements of the project, and then complete their entire architecture and design, then write all the code, and so on.

In the 1990s, a number of agile software development methods were developed in response to the prevailing heavyweight methods. These include: since 1991 - RAD (rapid application development); since 1994 - Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM); since 1995 - Scrum; Since 1996, Crystal Clear and Extreme Programming (XP); And since 1997 - Feature driven development (FDD). Although they originated before the publication of the Agile Software Development Manifesto, they are collectively referred to as Agile Software Development.

In February 2001, seventeen software developers met at the Snowbird Resort in Utah to discuss lightweight development techniques. Together they published the Agile Manifesto.

Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto consists of 4 core ideas and 12 principles. Each Agile methodology applies these ideas differently, but they all rely on them to manage projects as efficiently as possible.

4 Agile Ideas

People and interaction are more important than processes and tools.
Working software is more important than documentation.
Collaboration with clients is more important than negotiating the terms of the contract.
Willingness to make changes in priority rather than sticking to the original plan.

12 principles of Agile

Customer satisfaction through early and continuous software delivery. Customers are happier when they receive working software at regular intervals.
Make changes to product requirements throughout the development process.
Frequent delivery of working software (every month, fortnightly, weekly, etc.).
Cooperation between stakeholders (customer and developers) throughout the project.
Support, trust and motivation of the people involved. Motivated teams are more likely to deliver on their best job than employees dissatisfied with working conditions.
Face to face interaction. Communication is more successful when development teams are able to communicate directly.
Working software is the main measure of progress. Delivering functional software to the client is the ultimate factor that measures progress.
Maintaining a constant pace of work. Teams establish a repeatable and sustained rate of operation at which they can deliver functioning software.
Attention to technical details and design. The right skills and good design allow the team to maintain momentum, continually improve the product, and work on change.
Simplicity.
Self-organizing teams encourage excellent architecture, requirements, and designs. Qualified and motivated team members who have the authority to make decisions regularly communicate with other team members and exchange ideas that will ensure the creation of a quality product.
Constant adaptation to changing conditions, which will help make the product more competitive in the market.

The basis of the Agile method

The basis of the agile project management method is a number of key elements:

Visual control. Project participants use cards of various colors and types during the work on the project, which signal which element of the final product has already been developed, planned, completed, etc. Thus, the team has a visual representation of the current state of affairs. Visual control ensures the same vision of the project by each of the participants.
All project participants work side by side, including the client. This approach not only speeds up many of the processes associated with informing the members of the working group, but also creates a favorable atmosphere for cooperation and effective work.
Adaptable management. The project manager is not a person who gives instructions, but a leader who determines the basic rules of work and cooperation.
Collaboration. The team, project manager and client work together, which eliminates the possibility of information loss and misunderstanding of goals. Also, the transparency of all processes allows you to instantly eliminate emerging problems and find successful solutions and improvements.
Work based on the division of the total scope of the project into its component parts. This system of work significantly reduces the complexity of the project and allows teams to focus on each part separately.
Work on bugs. During the work of one cycle, the team learns new skills and analyzes the errors that have occurred, which eliminates their occurrence in the next cycle.
Sprints and daily meetings. Sprints - periods of time during which teams complete a series of tasks - allow you to clearly see the results of work. Dividing the time of work on the project into sprints, we get, for example, 10 sprints, each for two weeks. And daily meetings for no more than 15 minutes will help each team member answer three questions for themselves: what did I do yesterday, what will I do today, what prevents me from doing work?

Thus, the introduction of an agile method is possible under the following conditions:

the meaning of the project is clearly indicated,
the client is actively involved throughout the project,
possible step-by-step implementation of the total scope of the project,
the result of the work is more important than the documentation,
the working group is no more than 7-9 people.

At the moment, the Agile methodology is widespread in the IT field and is beginning to master the business area, in particular marketing, management, training, etc. The agile project management method is used by many companies and government agencies, for example, the governments of Norway and New Zealand use Agile. In Russia, Sberbank is mastering Agile for the commercial sector.

Project management systems based on Agile

There are many methods based on the idea of Agile, the most popular of them are Scrum and Kanban.

SCRUM

Scrum is a project management methodology that focuses on quality control of the work process. Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka, the first to describe the Scrum approach, explained it as the “rugby approach”, in which scrum is fighting for the ball. The method itself is a development process divided into small iterations - sprints, at the end of which users receive an improved version of the software. Sprint is rigidly fixed in time, and its duration is from 2 to 4 weeks. Work within one sprint consists of several stages:

Planning the scope of work for one sprint.
Daily meetings for 15 minutes to correct the work of the team and summarize intermediate results.
Demonstration of the results of work.
A sprint retrospective reviewing the successes and failures of the last sprint.

Scrum is most often used to manage complex software and product development using iterative and incremental methods.

Scrum greatly increases productivity and reduces time to an advantage over classic "waterfall" processes. Scrum processes allow organizations to seamlessly adapt to rapidly changing requirements and create a product that meets changing business goals. Scrum allows you to:

Improve the quality of results;
Better to deal with change;
Provide more accurate estimates, spending less time creating them;
It is better to control the project scenario and stages of work.

Kanban

Kanban is a process designed to help teams work together more effectively. Translated from Japanese, kanban means “billboard, signboard”, and the method itself is taken and adapted from the Toyota production system. The essence of Kanban is to make the development process as transparent as possible and distribute the load evenly among team members. Kanban promotes continuous collaboration and encourages active, continuous learning and improvement.

Kanban is based on three principles:

Visualization of tasks: the visibility of all information about the project will help to see the shortcomings, errors and overlays.
WIP (work in progress) control and limitation: This helps to balance the threading approach so that teams don't start and do too much work at once.
Control the time to complete the task and optimize the work to save time.

Advantages and disadvantages of Agile

Any methodology has advantages and disadvantages. Consider the pros and cons of Agile.

Advantages

1. More flexibility compared to the Waterfall methodology.

The traditional methodology of the waterfall clearly dictates the stages of work. With the Agile methodology, schedule and cost are the main determinants, and this is an area that changes to meet the requirements of customers and consumers of the product.

2. Fewer defects in the final product.

This is the result of quality checks carried out at each stage of the work. The continuous process of “develop, build and test” also reduces defects as iteration cycles continue.

disadvantages

1. Constantly receiving feedback leads to a constant postponement of the project completion date.

Due to the instant feedback that Agile provides, there is a danger of long work. End users who see that these requirements can be met "easily" (they only see the result, not the effort) will request additional features. If the project manager and developers can't manage expectations, end users will keep asking for more until the whole team is loaded with extra work.

2. Documentation

Due to the flexible nature of Agile, documentation must follow rapidly changing project conditions. A change or feature request could be discussed in detail and agreed upon with end users, developers, and testers, but if the team was not informed, a critical document such as a user manual, architecture document, or functional requirement document would become obsolete.

3. Frequent meetings

While Agile recommends that these meetings be held daily to keep everyone updated on each other's progress, the sustainability of this practice takes a toll on iteration progress. Developers are focused on what they are doing. Pulling them out for a meeting that might distract them from doing the actual work is not something they will happily accept.

Agile Implementation

The choice of methodology. There are various flexible methodologies that are developed under certain conditions. The first step in working with Agile is to determine the goals of the work task, deadlines, number of employees and much more and choose such a flexible project management methodology that will meet all requirements.
Training. Training is necessary so that employees understand the basic principles of Agile and know how to work with them. It is at this stage that the pitfalls that can reduce the effectiveness of Agile are identified. Is the team ready for change? Are the company's projects suitable for agile practices? These and many other questions are usually answered by Agile business coaches. Among other things, a list of trainings and a plan will also be drawn up, according to which the implementation of Agile in the company will be carried out.
Agile demo. A kind of Agile test drive, which is carried out under the supervision of a specialist and shows all the stages of work, explains the functions of roles, interaction within the team and between teams, etc.
Creation of a team. In addition to the selection of employees, the creation of a team also includes the definition of responsibilities, the distribution of tasks, the creation of a meeting schedule, etc. Each of the methods is designed for a certain number of people in the team.
Tool selection necessary for the distribution of tasks, reporting, analytics, and more.
First project with Agile. In the first project, there will be errors, inconsistencies, the rejection of some tools and the choice of others. Any technique requires a kind of adaptation to the characteristics of the company in which it is being implemented.

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