Project Management

The Agile Manifesto

Once upon a time, in a ski resort far, far away…

Seventeen project management practitioners held a summit.

The participants didn’t agree about much, but they found
consensus around 4 main values and 12 guiding principles.

And so, the Agile Manifesto was created.

The 4 values

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

Individuals and interactions

over processes and tools

The very best processes and tools are worthless
without the right team and effective communication.

Working software

over comprehensive documentation

Documentation is worthless if the
system doesn’t work or is incomplete.

Customer collaboration

over contract negotiation

To deliver a truly useful final product, the conversation needs
to be ongoing and the team needs to practice adaptibility.

Responding to change

over following a plan

Change is a reality of software development,
and your process must reflect that reality.

There is value in following a plan, but Agile places more value on responding well to change.

People change their priorities for a variety of reasons. As work progresses on your system your project stakeholder’s understanding of the problem domain and of what you are building changes. The business environment changes. Technology changes over time, although not always for the better. Change is a reality of software development, a reality that your software process must reflect.

There is nothing wrong with having a project plan, in fact I would be worried about any project that didn’t have one. However, a project plan must be malleable, there must be room to change it as your situation changes otherwise your plan quickly becomes irrelevant.

Having a plan is important, but being able to respond to change is even more important.

12 principles

- Satisfy the Customer
- Welcome Change
- Deliver Frequently
- Measure of Progress
- Motivated People
- High Bandwidth
- Whole Team Daily
- Sustainable
- Technical Excellence
- Simplicity
- Self Organising Team
- Continuous Improvement

Satisfy The Customer

The highest priority is to satisfy the customer through
early and continuous delivery of valuable software

Welcome Change

Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.

Deliver Frequently

Deliver working software frequently, according to
how quickly the customer can consume it.

Measure of Progress

Working software is the primary measure of progress.

Motivated People

Build projects around motivated individuals.

Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.

High Bandwidth

The most effective method of conveying information to
and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.

Whole Team Daily

Business people and developers must
work together daily throughout the project.

Sustainable

The sponsors, developers and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

Technical Excellence

Continuous attention to technical excellence
and good design enhances agility.

Simplicity

The art of doing just enough
and no more than is necessary.

Self Organising Team

The best architecture, requirements and designs
emerge from self-organising teams.

Continuous Improvement

At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become
more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.

What we learned

The Agile Manifesto
Is an agreed set of values and principles which define what “Agile” is.
4 Values
Guide us on the value of the work we do, and which work is most important.
12 Principles
Help us understand the intent of the Agile Manifesto more clearly.