Below you’ll find a list of the top 10 agile terms in software development. Learn more about these buzzwords and how Software Mind can help your organization implement an agile methodology while leveraging development outsourcing.
Top 10 Agile terms worth knowing
1. Agile Manifesto
The Agile Manifesto is a great starting point for anyone looking to familiarize themselves with the agile methodology. The manifesto, which outlines the 4 values and 12 principles of agile software development, was created by a group of software developers in an effort to provide a clear and alternative set of processes for developing software. The agile values include prioritizing:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools,
Working software over comprehensive documentation,
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
Responding to change over following a plan.
2. Scrum
A scrum is a daily stand-up meeting with the sole focus being to review each team member’s progress on any given project. Scrums help to keep everyone accountable and on the same page, ensuring no one falls too behind or gets too far ahead in the development of a project.
3. Scrum Master
A scrum master oversees the development process and acts as a problem solver for the team, preventing roadblocks and enforcing the agile way of doing things.
4. Stakeholder
A stakeholder refers to anyone with a vested interest in the product. This can be the client, the end user, salespeople, legal representatives etc. Stakeholders have an informative role in the development phase and are critical in defining the project’s requirements.
5. Backlog
The backlog is the ever-changing list of the software’s requirements. It’s not to be seen as a to-do list but as a prioritized list of desired features of the product provided by the stakeholders.
6. User story
A user story is an informal, general explanation of a software feature written from the end user’s perspective. Its purpose is to articulate how a software feature will provide value to the customer.
7. Burndown & burnup charts
A burndown chart visually measures the progress of a project over time (the vertical axis is made up of the backlog while the horizontal axis represents time). A burnup chart displays completed work (the vertical axis shows the amount done over the horizontal axis, time). These charts are essential to inspiring the team as they work and help provide a realistic time frame for the project’s completion as well as a working scale of the project.
8. Feature creep
While changes are expected, and embraced in the agile way of doing things, the phrase “feature creep” refers to features that are added after development has begun. Adding too many features during the development phase can result in feature creep and software that’s too complicated or difficult to use.
9. Timeboxing
Timeboxing is similar to time blocking in that it assigns a specific time frame to accomplish a goal. The definitive feature of timeboxing however, is that the work stops at the end of the timebox, instead of when the work is complete. This is extremely helpful in terms of productivity and controlling the scale of a project.
10. Sprint
A sprint is a short development phase, usually lasting anywhere from one week to a month. Sprints help prevent projects from feeling overwhelming and allow feedback to be given at appropriate junctures.
Implementing an agile methodology while outsourcing
One of the biggest obstacles to outsourcing is maintaining or implementing an agile development process while collaborating with a vendor. If you’re implementing an agile framework, it is critical your vendor’s team is also committed to the values highlighted above from the Agile Manifesto.
Software Mind saw how difficult it was to adopt an agile methodology while working with an offshore partner. It has since been our mission to provide cost-effective outsourcing options to agile companies.
We believe one of the most effective ways to maintain agility while outsourcing is to embrace a staff augmentation model. In this model, remote developers join your internal development teams and work on your schedule. This allows your organization to fill specific skill gaps without changing your internal processes and implement agile methodologies throughout your internal teams and your distributed teams simultaneously.
Interested in implementing Agile? Connect with us continue exploring all of our custom software development and remote staff augmentation services.
About the authorSoftware Mind
Software Mind provides companies with autonomous development teams who manage software life cycles from ideation to release and beyond. For over 20 years we’ve been enriching organizations with the talent they need to boost scalability, drive dynamic growth and bring disruptive ideas to life. Our top-notch engineering teams combine ownership with leading technologies, including cloud, AI, data science and embedded software to accelerate digital transformations and boost software delivery. A culture that embraces openness, craves more and acts with respect enables our bold and passionate people to create evolutive solutions that support scale-ups, unicorns and enterprise-level companies around the world.
