Why Agile Trumps Waterfall in Motivation

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The growing popularity in Agile project management for software development is well established now and had a test of time to prove its worth. Although a relatively recent development, Agile offers many benefits over the traditional Waterfall method, and is being adopted by an increasing number of companies as a result. Though it does require great changes in the way your team needs to think and operate, it promises to make a massive difference in the long run. 

If you are not onboard with agile yet, the easiest way to get into it is to enroll in a Scrum Alliance accredited training be that CSM or CSPO which typically takes two days to complete and is packed with value and practical advice.

Agile Benefits

The Agile system comes with many proven benefits, not least the fact it provides both your team and the client with greater assurances of success. As Agile is an ongoing – even organic – method of development, it involves a variety of resources being used in conjunction, and also a lot of teamwork. Here are a few of the benefits of Agile:

  • Improved team collaboration means you get more out of your team all the time
  • Enhanced quality in software and development to a great degree
  • Massive customer satisfaction increase, surveys indicate by as much as 50%
  • Much faster time to market performance
  • Lower development costs by as much as 40%

Where we’ve quoted figures these are from industry surveys among companies that have used Agile and seen the benefits. So, these are the basic benefits of Agile that you get as a company, but why are we talking about it in terms of increased motivation? Let’s look more closely at this aspect of the system.

Agile and Motivation

What is particular interesting about Agile development is that all involved – the team and the client included – are able to see the development coming about, and to follow the process. It’s a fluent and active process of development that moves quickly towards the destination, and as your team can see things improving, this provides the motivation for them to continue down that path.

Furthermore, the advantage of increased teamwork is also a motivator to those involved; being able to play an active part in a team project gives every participant a feeling of worth, plus the satisfaction that no matter how small their part, it is an intrinsic element of the success of the project. Job satisfaction in itself is a motivating factor.

Further motivating factors include:

  • Agile development, by its very nature, means there is a very limited chance of failure when compared to Waterfall and other methods. This is because there is always a product that is working, one where problems can be rectified on the go and quickly.
  • The customer is able to attend to changes and assess the product earlier than with Waterfall, which again give both them and the team motivation to get things done, and to get them done well.
  • Re-work – going over what has already been done later in the project – is eliminated because of the above, which means less stress to the team involved.
  • Feedback is constant and detailed thanks to the fast-moving development rate, and this allows everyone to move on to their next stage with confidence and ease.
  • Delivery is more likely to be on time. Successful completion of a project is a satisfying moment for all, and the earlier delivery time means you can move on to new projects more quickly.

Waterfall may have been the established software development method until recently, but there is no doubt that Agile is fast becoming the preferred route. Check out the training courses now for all the information you need on making the switch. 

 

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