As organizations are brimming with the millennial talent, so have they begun to embrace the distinct approach for project management: the agile process. Agile, which is a product of the 1980s, is changing how businesses undertake their day to day activities. It is a widely appreciated practice in the software industry, especially in project management for the past few decades. However it has been only a few years since other industries like the system development industry, martech (marketing technology) industry, and others have been getting on the bandwagon.
What is Agile?
Agile, by itself, is not a methodology, but an ideology. It is a normative system of principles, beliefs and values that have been almost completely ingested into the IT industry and has been continually gaining popularity in other industries too.
Why was agile born?
The agile process came into existence from the belief that a product, especially software must not be developed in an assembly line. Essentially, agile rejects the waterfall process downright and the traditional method of sequential development.
Certification for Agile practitioners
As the demand for Agile methodology and practice in organizations across the world has drastically augmented, several certification providers have come forward to authenticate Agile certified practice. The most popular agile project management certification course out of the options in the contemporary market is the Project Management Institute’s Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®).
Why are companies rejecting tradition in favour of Agile?
The centerpiece of Agile is found in the application of iterative and incremental work cadences called Sprints. Instead of causing each phase of the entire project work to be dependent on the fulfillment of the previous phase, agile allows individual teams within an organization to adopt a more flexible progression. This enables the project teams to respond to changes more efficiently and effectively. If this method is put to use in a proper manner, then a smooth flow of communication between different teams and various sub-groups can be ensured.
Agile is not merely a trend
In the course of the journey comprising a few decades, Agile has continually matured and evolved and has promoted several refinements and improvements in usage and methodology.
Scott Ambler, PMI’s chief scientist in disciplined Agile, is looking forward to witnessing Agile’s further rapid development in the upcoming decade. He mentioned that unlike other ideologies which stay as a market trend for a certain period, Agile will endure as we learn better to yield its benefits.
Reduction in lead time
Casey Gordon, Liberty Mutual Insurance’s director in Agile engineering, explained that works that were usually handed over to the application development teams have shifted and moved closer to the project development teams. This, in turn, enabled the reduction of lead time. Aforementioned will lead to critical structural changes and overall organizational alignment. Hence the executive teams which were previously planning longer cycles will reduce to quarterly or monthly.
Externalizing development capabilities
Steve Myers, Accenture’s Industry X.0’s managing director of smart technologies practice said that enterprises are prepared to development capabilities. “Wherever specialist expertise is needed, such as in accounting or law, businesses look for external experts to deal with their toughest challenges. So why not for the development of innovative products?” he quizzed. He believed that this will overturn the traditional approach of carrying out all physical development in the house.
Agile is moving towards a more formal structure
Gina Casamassima, management consulting firm Apprio’s vice president of the federal health division, feels that Agile is moving towards a more formalized structure, such as the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe 5.0®). She warned that Corporations and government entities have challenges in incorporating old managerial structure into SAFe. She stressed that the focus of business agility in SAFe 5.0 requires technology and business leaders to be in sync with IT operations and development to make sure that the enterprise remains innovative and competitive.
Agile for all
In recent years, it is quite common to notice Agile flowing out of IT into several other industries which have led to the creation of new departments namely Agile Human Resources, Agile Marketing organizations and Agile Engineering. Though originally introduced as a method for enhancing software development, Agile has traversed industry barriers and have even been adopted by individuals as an approach to managing their day to day lives. This expansion is likely to continue much faster in 2020.
Scott Abate, digital business solutions provider Anexinet’s Agile project manager was quite positive that the original principles and values of Agile software development would be applied to newly formulated departments such as Agile Customer Service. The new adopters will transform and realize the benefits of adaptability and agility in their dynamic business environment.
Final word
It is to be noted that despite incurring an extra cost for acquiring Agile coding experts and Agile project managers, enterprises can expect greater returns on project objectives and businesses due to the more effective use of Agile practices. Simply put, the more you invest in people, the more you will reap long-term benefits.
As you can see, there’s incessant demand for Agile practitioners across the globe. If you desire to see yourself progress in the career of Agile Project management, then this is the best time to get yourself certified. Please contact PM Training School, Auckland, New Zealand to know more.
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