Agile is a popular method of project management and has many different practices that can help squeeze the most value out of this methodology. Agile is an iterative way of project management that allows a project team to complete the project in short bursts and slowly build the product with customer feedback throughout the entire project cycle. Learn Agile by attending an Agile Course at Logitrain.
Iteration is a signature Agile practice that allows project teams to select and complete work that can be done based on the time and capabilities they have at the time in small chunks instead of completing all goals and objectives in a long, continuous process, then being told something was missed or not done correctly like in a waterfall model. Iteration helps the project team get a perspective on what the project looked like, what it looks like and how it should look like.
Daily meetings are also an important practice of Agile. Regular meetings help a project team communicate and coordinate better. Meetings should be short and concise, with team members reporting on task progress and outstanding tasks as well as general performance.
There are also other Agile development methods such as Scrum, Extreme and Kanban. Each of these development methods has its own best practices too. For example, a best practice for Scrum is to create a product backlog, an ordered list of items that are to be added to the product. The product backlog also helps in another Scrum best practice, setting and keeping clear communication guidelines. Communication is essential so that the team has transparency between members and can coordinate more effectively. PRINCE 2 Agile and PRINCE2 Agile Foundation is a popular training course in Agile.
Kanban is another development method. Kanban focused more on visualising workflows and separating them into categories of not started, in progress and done. Using a workflow board to define the progress and status of tasks, problems can more easily be recognised and resolved. Another practice is to create limits for the number of work activities in the work-in-progress category at any given time so that work must be completed before adding another task. This helps by allowing team members to focus on important tasks and not get spread their attention on non-priority tasks.
These are only a few best practices that can be used with Agile development methodologies to ensure that the methodologies are being used correctly and are enhancing the performance of a project team. Many practices may seem like simple, logical actions but they are also easy to overlook or lose perspective on and so slowly make the methodology lose effectiveness. Regular check-ups on whether best practices are being followed will ensure that the project team is still working as it should be.
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