THE AGILE PHILOSOPHY

In the 1990s, software companies hit a roadblock. Traditional modes of working were not responsive enough to meet the consumer demands that were growing exponentially. There was a breakthrough after 17 software developers documented a new mode of working in 2001, which today we call Agile. The fundamental principle in Agile is to prioritise customer satisfaction by responding quickly to change instead of following a fixed plan.

The Agile philosophy advocated a mindset shift in project management by laying out the core principles of Agile work processes. Soon, emerging software companies started adopting this philosophy by remodelling their work processes. By doing so, they gained competitive advantages in seizing new market opportunities in the digital age.

Most of the work processes that are recognised as adhering to the Agile philosophy contain similar strategies. These include working in short iterative cycles and breaking a big project into smaller modular components. These strategies also promote transparent collaboration, enabling timely information sharing through small, mult-domain, and self-organised teams.

Prominent users of Agile methods, such as Apple, Facebook and Airbnb, demonstrated the appeal of these new processes. They ignited a wave of widespread adoption of this philosophy beyond IT and software companies. There are now companies that solely develop Agile project management platforms for others, such as Atlassian's Jira platform.

The Jira platform is based on an Agile project management framework called Scrum. It starts by breaking down a project into any array of sub-components. Then, these sub-projects are prioritised and assigned to small teams with a short timeline of one to two weeks, termed Sprint. Throughout the Sprint, the framework emphasises information exchanges through events such as the daily 15-minute meetings termed Daily Scrum, Sprint Planning, and periodic reviews. These meetings promptly align team members with the progress, obstacles, and strategy adjustments.

By quickly delivering small working products in such short times, the success of Scrum lies in being able to narrow the critical distances that an initiative had to cover. It brings developers closer to customers, connects the organisation's skillsets, and bridges the space between long-term deadlines and short-term actions by implementing near-term milestones.

By narrowing these gaps, organisations can respond quickly and effectively. These are essential qualities needed to survive in the face of uncertainty. It was these qualities, through Scrum methodologies, that navigated many of the software companies through the maze of uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.