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Although they relate to project progress and how projects are developed inside companies, Agile Methodologies have also become a management style option because they value human development between stages and customer satisfaction more than the revenue of what is delivered.

In the Agile Manifesto, twelve items guide the work that can turn your company into an environment for building better apps—faster and more efficiently. They are:

• Satisfy the customer by delivering valuable software;
• Accept requirement changes when they provide competitive advantages, showing the adaptability of agile processes;
• Deliver working software;
• Promote joint and daily work between business people and developers throughout the project;
• Build projects around motivated individuals, giving them the environment, support, and trust to do the best work;
• Communicate project information efficiently and in person;
• Use working software as the primary measure of progress;
• Promote a sustainable environment through agile projects, with teams maintaining a constant pace;
• Pay continuous attention to technical excellence and good design, increasing a project’s agility;
• Maximize simplicity and reduce work that doesn’t need to be done;
• Let the best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self‑organizing teams;
• Reflect regularly as a team on how to become more effective, adjusting and optimizing behavior according to the projects being developed.

All of this makes Agile Methodologies the best path for delivering valuable projects—both for the hiring company and for the customers who will use the software—on the right timeline and with quality beyond expectations.

Why are Agile Methodologies on the rise?

One reason Agile Methodologies are on the rise is their popularization among startups and large technology companies. After all, today the delivery process for apps, software, and many other technology channels no longer follows a fixed, immutable scope. It’s essential that teams involved can row with the tide.

In traditional methodologies, everything is very limited: specific tasks follow a linear development order, which requires complete planning before work reaches the teams. You need to set specific deadlines that create pressure to meet needs even before they appear.

In Agile Methodologies, teams talk to each other periodically to find the best ways to deliver on time—even when scope changes occur during the production line. Agile structures are built to accept those changes as part of the process, seeking to prevent issues rather than just “putting out fires” after they happen.

A successful case in this line of thinking is Spotify, which uses the scalability of Agile Methodologies to deliver.

Basically, teams split the app into multiple “pieces” and assign internal groups to be responsible for each slice of development. In the end, they bring everything together, since teams have been exchanging ideas about their part throughout the process.

What are the main Agile Methodologies used in the world?

Some people think the only agile methodology is Scrum, but the reality is that many other approaches can be found and used, depending on each company’s context.

Among those that deserve special attention—because they are relevant and gather strong practices—are:

• FDD (Feature Driven Development);
• XP (eXtreme Programming);
• MSF (Microsoft Solutions Framework);
• DSDM (Dynamic System Development Model).

Before choosing one to apply in your company, know that Agile Methodologies tend to work best in organizations with lean teams—although that reality is changing, and even larger companies are adapting effectively to deliver more and better.

That’s why it’s important to know where you want to go and what your corporate reality is before applying any Agile Methodology—whether from our list or beyond. After all, no method will make your work more effective if you don’t truly know where you’re headed.