The Agile Manifesto-New Scrum Master
The Agile Manifesto consists of four values and twelve principles which lead the Agile approach to software development.
Each of the methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe etc) within agile applies the four values in different ways, but all of them rely on them to guide the development and delivery of high-quality, working software, service or hardware to the customer.
Manifesto for Agile Software Development
We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
1. Individuals and Interactions Over Processes and Tools
The first value in the Agile Manifesto is “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” Valuing people more highly than processes or tools is easy to understand because it is the people who respond to business needs and drive the development process. If the process or the tools drive development, the team is less responsive to change and less likely to meet customer needs. Communication is an example of the difference between valuing individuals versus process. In the case of individuals, communication is fluid and happens when a need arises. In the case of a process, communication is scheduled and requires specific content.
2. Working Software Over Comprehensive Documentation
Historically, enormous amounts of time were spent on documenting the product for development and ultimate delivery. Technical specifications, technical requirements, technical prospectus, interface design documents, test plans, documentation plans, and approvals required for each. The list was extensive and was a cause for the long delays in development. Agile does not eliminate documentation, but it streamlines it in a form that gives the developer what is needed to do the work without getting bogged down in minutiae. Agile documents requirements as user stories, which are sufficient for a software developer to begin the task of building a new function.
The Agile Manifesto values documentation, but it values working software more.
3. Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation
Negotiation is the period when the customer and the product manager work out the details of a delivery, with points along the way where the details may be renegotiated. Collaboration is a different creature entirely. With development models such as Waterfall, customers negotiate the requirements for the product, often in great detail, prior to any work starting. This meant the customer was involved in the process of development before development began and after it was completed, but not during the process. The Agile Manifesto describes a customer who is engaged and collaborates throughout the development process, making. This makes it far easier for development to meet the needs of the customer. Agile methods may include the customer at intervals for periodic demos, but a project could just as easily have an end-user as a daily part of the team and attending all meetings, ensuring the product meets the business needs of the customer.
4. Responding to Change Over Following a Plan
Traditional software development regarded change as an expense, so it was to be avoided. The intention was to develop detailed, elaborate plans, with a defined set of features and with everything, generally, having as high a priority as everything else, and with a large number of dependencies on delivering in a certain order so that the team can work on the next piece of the puzzle.
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
With Agile, the shortness of an iteration means priorities can be shifted from iteration to iteration and new features can be added into the next iteration. Agile’s view is that changes always improve a project; changes provide additional value.
Principles behind the Agile Manifesto
The Twelve Principles are the guiding principles for the methodologies that are included under the title “The Agile Movement.” We follow these principles:
Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
Customers are happier when they receive working software at regular intervals, rather than waiting extended periods of time between releases.
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
The ability to avoid delays when a requirement or feature request changes.
Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
Scrum accommodates this principle since the team operates in software sprints or iterations that ensure regular delivery of working software.
Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
Better decisions are made when the business and technical team are aligned.
Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
Motivated teams are more likely to deliver their best work than unhappy teams.
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Communication is more successful when development teams are co-located.
Working software is the primary measure of progress
Delivering functional software to the customer is the ultimate factor that measures progress.
Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
Teams establish a repeatable and maintainable speed at which they can deliver working software, and they repeat it with each release.
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
The right skills and good design ensures the team can maintain the pace, constantly improve the product, and sustain change.
Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
Develop just enough to get the job done for right now.
The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
Self-organizing teams encourage great architectures, requirements, and designs
Skilled and motivated team members who have decision-making power, take ownership, communicate regularly with other team members, and share ideas that deliver quality products.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Self-improvement, process improvement, advancing skills, and techniques help team members work more efficiently.
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