The agile development method is preferred by modern businesses over the traditional waterfall technique to scale up to the global market dynamics. Agile development is a methodology that offers several benefits, including surplus flexibility, better adaptability, etc.
Defined by four core values and 12 standard principles in the agile manifesto, this methodology is increasingly gaining exposure in the industry.
However, with several frameworks and distinct features, this development method is surrounded by various myths that almost all software developers and organizations believe in. This article wraps ten such misconceptions regarding agile development.
10 misconceptions about Agile development
One of the ways to improve agile is to avoid any myths related to the procedures, principles, frameworks, and overall project management. Unfortunately, the following are top misinterpretations often believed by most professionals dealing with agile development.
- Agile is recent and easy to implement
Most software professionals and organizations believe that the concept of agility is particularly new. Hence they believe it would require some time to grow until it can be implemented in the development procedure.
However, this is not true as agile has been around since the 1980s and constantly evolves. Moreover, those familiar with this methodology believe it’s easy to enforce agile methods in the existing environment.
However, this is a common misconception because it takes lots of effort to simplify working environments and implement agility principles.
- No planning and structuring is needed
Another falsehood surrounding agile development is that no architectural planning, designing, or structuring is necessary. This is false as agile is based on considerable planning, the undertaking of different frameworks and layouts, and delivering the end products.
Multi-sprint planning and intra-sprint planning are essential to determining the period within which the goals and objectives must be achieved. Furthermore, the results are measured by comparing the pre-planned objectives and deliverables.
- Agile and scrum are the same
Agile is a generic term used for a development methodology encompassing a wide arena of frameworks. For example, scrum is one development framework that measures objectives by breaking them down into sprints.
At the same time, agile is an iterative development method in which the complete product is delivered at the end of the project. Moreover, agile includes multi-functional teams, while scrum roles include scrum master, product owner, etc.
- No Documentation is necessary
Although one of the principles in the agile manifesto stresses the importance of working software over detailed documentation, it does not mean that proper documentation is not required at all. It simply outlines that the sole focus should not be on writing long and extensive documents.
Moreover, documentation is a key aspect of understanding the objectives, gaps, and effective face-to-face communication. Details and information documented are useful in avoiding the same mistakes over and over in the development cycle.
- Agiles’ primary goal is speed
Most professionals believe agile methodology involves delivering products faster than the waterfall model without measuring the quality.
This is a grave mistake as agility refers to delivering working software continuously rather than involving rapid delivery of products with poor quality.
Quality assurance is a must for a successful development process, as stated by the seventh principle of the agile manifesto. It states that properly functioning software is a key measure of progress in project development.
- Agile is not suitable for distributed development
Distributed development refers to the research and development process extended across multiple settings such as locations or organizations.
Most software professionals believe that agility is confined to the single development environment, which prevents them from truly utilizing the manifesto.
The distributed agile delivery model is one of the several agile frameworks covering multiple environments in software development.
- Agile offers immediate benefits
Transformation of the development environment may take months, if not years, to fully implement an agile methodology in an organization.
Those believing in obtaining instant benefits are surrounded by the misconception as development teams may not be capable of the huge transformation in the beginning.
- Agile doesn’t require software testing
Another common myth encountered in agile methods is that the development process doesn’t require software deployment and testing. This is mistaken as agile is all about adaptability and iteration.
Agile principles do not mean that core cycles in software development need to be removed. As software testing is not limited to simply examining the end product and can be used to determine obstacles, requirement gaps, etc., most development teams carry out the testing process.
- Agile is only for IT companies
While the original emphasis of agile methods was on software development, it has expanded to several other fields over the years. Agile principles are used in business development by several organizations to employ better team enthusiasm, flexibility, improved product quality, etc.
Agile marketing, sales, etc., practices are employed in business to develop varied products and solutions. Moreover, new and advanced tools are not necessary for incorporating agile practices.
- Agile is favorable in all kinds of projects
While agile principles are not restricted to complex projects and can be implied in small development projects with equal benefits, these are not exactly simple solutions for all projects.
Both agile and non-agile frameworks need to be combined to effectively develop a product. Agile is pragmatic and needs to be integrated with other existing principles to be implemented in an organization. Agile simply cannot be employed in every project on a sole basis.
Conclusion
Various components define the successful implementation of agility within an organization. They play key roles in determining the growing development process, from organized teams and regular sprints to solving impediments and regular communication.