12 Agile Principles: A Basic Guide

Introduction

The tremendous time lag between the delivery of technical solutions and business requirements answered the requisites satellite to the elimination of many projects. In 2001, with the introduction of the Agile Manifesto, a new approach was introduced to streamline the project development processes. There are 4 Agile values and principles that lay the foundation of a prominent project management environment. These principles are inspired and supported by the Agile Manifesto, and it acts as the binding practices to support the project development teams. In this article, we will go through a brief synopsis of Agile values and principles.

What Are the Agile Principles?

 The Agile Manifesto, which surfaced in 2001, had an addition of 4 values and 12 Agile principles. These Agile principles in the software development industry help to formulate the tenets of the Agile approach. The project managers utilize these principles of extraordinary product value to ensure quality as well as credibility. The 12 Agile manifesto principles also help businesses to remain within the project constraints. Unlike other project management approaches, Agile methodology provides complete freedom to the project development team. As long as the developer is aligned with the Agile values and principles, project developers are good to go.

12 Agile Principles

1. Agile Principle 1
2. Agile Principle 2
3. Agile Principle 3
4. Agile Principle 4
5. Agile Principle 5
6. Agile Principle 6
7. Agile Principle 7
8. Agile Principle 8
9. Agile Principle 9
10. Agile Principle 10
11. Agile Principle 11
12. Agile Principle 12

1) Agile Principle 1 – “Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through continuous and early delivery of valuable software.”

The best way to ensure customer satisfaction while offering valuable software is to frequently iterate, ship early, and follow the market continually. The project development team utilizes a minimum viable product along with rapid experimentation to analyze the hypothesis.

2) Agile Principle 2- “Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.”

This Agile principle can be only used for software development, and it supports software development changes instead of moving forward without them. This Agile principle supports observing the ever-changing markets, customer requirements, potential threats, and changing course wherever required.

3) Agile Principle 3- “Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.”

The Agile methodology supports breaking the project development process into smaller chunks and shipping those components actively. Using the Agile principle helps the project development teams to develop mini releases more frequently for the project.

4) Agile Principle 4- “Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.”

Communication is a crucial component to ensure the success of any project and team. This Agile principle is mandatory to ensure the credibility of daily events. Active communication between app developers and business people can improve project alignment with business expectations.

5) Agile Principle 5- “Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.”

A key aspect of any Agile methodology is to empower the individuals and project development team through autonomy and trust. The Agile development team is also required to carefully develop the right approach and skill sets to get the task done.

6) Agile Principle 6- “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.”

With enormous lean Agile principles and a project development team, this Agile principle gets little critique. However, at the root of this principle, effective communication between the developers and business processes refers to the emails supporting the business interaction and conversations out of slack. 

7) Agile Principle 7- “Working software is the primary measure of progress.”

The proponents of the Agile principle are faster for reminding the organization’s approach towards building the software. This approach pushes to obtain or launch the products in the market faster than its documentation. The ultimate measure for ensuring the success of this product is that it is highly appreciated by the users.

8) Agile Principle 8- “Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.”

Keeping up with an ever-demanding solution, rapid release projects schedule can be taxing on the development team. This Agile principle encourages the developers to remain mindful and has clear expectations about the project development phases.

9) Agile Principle 9- “Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.”

This principle encourages frequent releases and shorter cycles of the product, and it also considers the cruciality of keeping things clear to prevent future problems. On a regular basis, the project is required to locate the resources and refactoring efforts to ensure its success.

10) Agile Principle 10- “Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential.”

This principle encourages delivering the intended business results, along with doing things in the most influential manner. Especially in a project management context, this principle has a laser-sharp focus on the business objectives along with facilitating cutthroat decisions. The limited sprints characterized by Agile methodology represent various opportunities for the businesses in terms of rapid testing and product experimentation.

11) Agile Principle 11- “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.”

In conventional software development methodologies, there are various project management decisions for the developers as well as project contributors. This principle offers the utility of self-organizing teams to work with a flat management architecture and style.

12) Agile Principle 12- “At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.”

The Agile manifesto has values and principles, but it is not restricted to following an individually defined development process. For every release and sprint, it has a unique approach, but it undertakes continuous improvement. The credibility of continuous improvement of the projects has its reach towards the processes and team members.

The Bottom Line

Mentioned above are the 12 Agile principles that can be used for software development. The intention of these principles is to align with the project development requirements, along with fulfilling business requirements. Agile projects are also customer-focused, and they encourage customer participation and guidance. As an outcome, Agile principles have grown to be an overarching representation of software development processes throughout the industry.

Conclusion

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