Agile Methodology for Web Development
The modern approach of Agile Project Management breaks down a single project into multiple small parts. These parts are known as iterations or sprints, which are easy to complete and deliver. Breaking down tasks in smaller segments allows you to receive feedback along each stage of completion. This helps in keeping the project in line with the expectation. Moreover, a shorter development cycle allows for a more frequent product release and improvement requests.
It’s the fact that agile methodology is most common in the software industry. However, this method is also applicable to education, marketing, and even construction industries.
Key Values
Agile project management works on following five core values, these values remain constant over the time. As we enter the modern age, there is a lot of burden on developers in order to complete projects timely and within budget. Agile project management ensures that developers remain easy at work while boosting their productivity. Each of these values help the developers as well as the client and that is why agile is among the best methodologies in the software industr
1: Individual Interactions
Instead of giving preference to process and tools, agile project management gives priority to human interaction. As mentioned above this allows for better collaboration between teams and allows them to gain valuable feedback from each other. Agile project management operates on the ethos of agility and to keep that agility in place people need to stay focused.
2: Working Software
Instead of relying on heavy documentation for each stage, agile project management keeps it to a bare minimum. Before this there were separate documents for technical requirements, interface design, test plans, etc.
3: Customer Collaboration
To ensure the project is going exactly according to the client’s requirements the traditional method required intense negotiations. The waterfall approach took a lot of time and effort from both sides in order to understand the requirements. However, with agile, as projects are broken down into smaller segments, it allows the clients to issue feedback according to each stage of development.
4: Responding to Changes
In traditional methodologies, change requests were hard to accommodate as each change could drastically impact the project as a whole. On the other hand, agile project management is based in smaller segments that can be changed as they go through each sprint. The clients can make or suggest certain improvements without having to go through the process all over again.
Process
Agile project management methodology has six main stages through which each project has to pass in order to reach completion successfully. Each stage makes sure that the work continues without any hurdle while boosting efficiency and productivity.
a: Planning
This is the initial stage of the cycle where planning occurs regarding the project. Here the scope of the project comes into the discussion in order to make sure the goal is possible to achieve. The planning is kept flexible in order to accommodate any changes made by the client. The planning process can occur again down the line if some major changes are requested by the client later on.
b: Product Roadmap
The whole project breaks down here in order to fit the Agile methodology. To break down the project into smaller sprints, we take the complete features set into consideration. This way both developers and the client know what to archive in order to complete each iteration of the project. This road-map not only helps the team understand what the clients need. But also allows the client to set his expectation according to the schedule given to him during the planning process.
c: Planning Releases
Instead of showing a finished product to the clients, agile methodology supports releases in phases. This way the client remains in touch with the development cycle and he can make any request at any time. Due to a schedule already in motion, planning each release makes it possible to give a product completion date. Beta release is a common example of how this process works. Many companies get the feedback from the users by releasing the private beta and the public beta versions before releasing the final product.
d: Sprint/Iteration Planning
Sprint planning occurs on the basis of resource allocation, which enables the teams to work independently. This eliminates the need to spend all resources at once and the team only takes what it needs. This is the main highlight of the Agile project management methodology and has allowed businesses to flourish. In most cases different individuals can work on different sprints in order to speed up the development process.
e: Daily Meetings
Daily meeting is an important part of the Agile methodology as it allows the team to share its progress. Moreover, as the tasks remain in small chunks teams are not burdened with too much information. The meetings are in line with discussions about work done previously and what more to do. Keeping the clients up to date with a proper project management tool is very important. This allows clients to know what to expect in the upcoming days and helps decision making. This day to day collaboration is what makes agile as one of the best project management methodologies in the software industry.
f: Review
After completing each sprint, a review meeting begins which updates all stakeholders about the progress. This allows them to discuss any issues or problems that they might have faced during the development. Each stakeholder then presents some possible solutions within this retrospection or in the meeting the next day.
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