Agile Manifesto

23/02/2024

The Agile Manifesto is a foundational document for the Agile software development methodology. It articulates the values and principles that guide Agile practices. Here are the four values and twelve principles outlined in the Agile Manifesto: 

 Manifesto Values

  1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools: Agile prioritizes the importance of people and their interactions over rigid processes and tools. It emphasizes collaboration, communication, and teamwork among team members.

  2. Working software over comprehensive documentation: Agile emphasizes the importance of delivering working software as the primary measure of progress. While documentation is important, Agile values tangible results and prioritizes delivering value to customers through functioning software.

  3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation: Agile promotes active involvement and collaboration with customers throughout the development process. It emphasizes understanding and responding to customer needs and feedback, rather than relying solely on fixed contracts or requirements documents.

  4. Responding to change over following a plan: Agile recognizes the dynamic nature of software development and the need to adapt to changing requirements and priorities. It encourages flexibility, continuous improvement, and responsiveness to change to deliver the best possible outcome.

       Manifesto                   Principles

he Agile Manifesto consists of twelve principles that provide guidance on how to apply the four core values of the Agile Manifesto into practice. Here are the twelve principles:

  1. Customer satisfaction through early and continuous software delivery: Agile prioritizes delivering valuable software to customers early and frequently, ensuring that their needs are met and their feedback is incorporated throughout the development process.

  2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development: Agile recognizes that requirements can evolve and change over time. Embracing change allows teams to adapt quickly to customer feedback and market demands, leading to better outcomes.

  3. Deliver working software frequently, with a preference for shorter timescales: Agile encourages delivering functional increments of software frequently, typically in iterations or sprints, to provide value to customers more rapidly and to gather feedback early.

  4. Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers: Agile emphasizes the importance of collaboration between stakeholders and development teams to ensure that the delivered software meets business objectives and customer needs.

  5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done: Agile promotes empowering and trusting individuals within self-organizing teams. Motivated team members are more likely to produce high-quality work and achieve project success.

  6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation: Agile values direct communication and encourages colocation or virtual face-to-face interaction to enhance collaboration, reduce misunderstandings, and foster shared understanding among team members.

  7. Working software is the primary measure of progress: Agile emphasizes delivering tangible results—working software—as a measure of project progress, rather than focusing solely on documentation or intermediate deliverables.

  8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely: Agile advocates for maintaining a sustainable pace of work to prevent burnout and ensure long-term productivity and effectiveness.

  9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility: Agile emphasizes the importance of technical excellence and sound design principles to maintain flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness to change over the long term.

  10. Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential: Agile encourages teams to focus on delivering the most valuable features and eliminating unnecessary complexity. Simplifying processes and solutions leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness.

  11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams: Agile trusts that self-organizing teams, with the right skills and autonomy, are best positioned to make informed decisions and produce high-quality outcomes.

  12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly: Agile promotes continuous improvement through reflection and adaptation. Regular retrospectives allow teams to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency.

These principles serve as a guide for Agile teams to effectively deliver value to customers, embrace change, collaborate closely, empower individuals, and continuously improve their processes and outcomes.