What are the principles of agile working?
Agile is a framework and a working mind-set which helps respond to changing requirements. It focuses on delivering maximum value against business priorities in the time and budget allowed, especially when the drive to deliver is greater than the risk. There are four principles which are typically used to highlight the difference between agile and waterfall (or more traditional) approaches to project management:
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Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
In an agile environment, how a project is delivered is driven by a team working with end users, focus is on a core deliverable and iterating over time. Allowing the user to drive the design of a project can make a significant difference to project outcomes. Agile favours benefits and innovation through collaboration with a particular focus on customer satisfaction, quality, teamwork and effective management.
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Individuals and interaction over process and tools
Agile emphasises a shift from a control to consensus. Focus is on people achieving benefits through engaged, accountable, high performing teams with focus on sharing data, openness, team communication and learning from feedback. This often requires behaviour change; those playing management roles become in and of the team both serving and leading to create commitment and accountability to an end goal.
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Responding to change over following a structured plan
The traditional ‘waterfall’ uses an agreed scope to create a time and resources plan. Agile establishes the resources and time which ultimately drive scope. There will be a number of time and cost delivery windows, sprints, through which the project will evolve.
An agile environment establishes a minimum viable product (MVP); the core project deliverable to trigger the start of a delivery. This is likely to change as the project team realises other opportunities or benefits that become available throughout each sprint.
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Prototyping/working solutions over comprehensive documentation
The team owns the MVP working together to develop the product; what they will deliver and how they will deliver it. The delivery team is ‘cocooned’ to focus on the solution to the problem they are dealing with. The team will make constant adjustments to the scope of the product.
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Difference between agile and waterfall approaches to project management
Agile and waterfall approaches to project management exist on a continuum of techniques that should be adopted as appropriate to the goals of the project and the organisational culture of the delivery environment. Read more about the pros and cons of the two approaches. Read more
Agile project management glossary
Do you know your Scrum from your Sprint? Read our handy glossary of popular agile terminology to find out what they mean
Why do you need agile in project management?
Agile approaches empower those involved; build accountability; encourage diversity of ideas; allowing the early release of benefits; and promotion of continuous improvement... Read more.
Agile methods
Agile project management focuses on delivering maximum value against business priorities in the time and budget allowed, especially when the drive to deliver is greater than the risk. Read more about the methods and principles of agile...
