Marketing professionals are starting to take their cues from the manufacturing industry and adopt lean agile principles to improve performance and value. A common tool in lean agile practices used in manufacturing are sprints. The two practices are complementary, and achieve significant results when applied appropriately.

Recently, a marketing director with a Fortune 100 organization observed the lean agile process of sprints in their engineering team. They would use month long bursts (sprints) to create and test the potential value of projects. At the end of each sprint, the engineering team would examine what worked and what didn’t. If it was deemed a success, the process was adopted. If it didn’t, then the process was eliminated from consideration. The marketing director found inspiration in the process and success of the engineers, and imagined the same success in the marketing department. Research shows that 77% of marketing departments had adopted lean agile practices in the past five years. Of those respondents, 67% of those organizations increased revenue and profits. This clearly shows the potential of lean agile practice performance in the marketing profession.

Marketing Lean Agile Sprints Work

In this specific marketing department, the director adopted the lean agile process of their engineers and started on a new journey of excellence. The director prioritized a list of their most important projects and delayed lesser ideas until later months. They went to work and ran sprints on their top priorities. When they made their marketing process more customer centric, they also found they started sharing a common language with others in the organization. The overall team started working together and better understanding individual roles. The marketing department developed the process to where they would run a large project and two smaller ones each month. They were able to focus the efforts of marketing to better fit into what the rest of the organization really need form the team. They developed a year-long plan for their sprints, which significantly improved the overall effectiveness of the marketing team. The marketing department was better able to say no, not right now to requests and really focus on what made a difference for the entire organization. The entire team was able to become more comfortable with both failure and honesty. It was like new life came into the department. A mindset developed within marketing that they could experiment with campaigns to reduce workload and effort when putting a new product into the marketplace.

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In taking a cue from manufacturing, marketing departments are embracing the principles of lean agile practices. Research shows that over the past five years, 77% of marketing departments have embraced lean agile principles, and 67% of those have shown increases in both revenue and profits. Needless to say, lean agile principles are making an impact in the marketing community.

Please take some time and watch this informative video on the topic!

https://youtu.be/j-r5W_Eq4G4

The post [VIDEO] Lean Agile Sprints for Marketing appeared first on 6sigma.

In 1957, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo introduced a small transistor radio about the size of a cigarette pack. It came in a colorful box complete with a soft leather case, an antistatic cloth, and a pair of earphones. The CEO of the company then went to New York City to canvass electronics store owners and sell them his newest innovation. The timing of this faithful move could not have been more perfect.

Rock and roll was an emerging phenomenon with teenagers, and these potential customers were eager to snatch up the small, portable device being offered by Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. They were able to fill their books with orders for this inexpensive device that kept their music out of the earshot of their parents. To appeal further to their western customers, the name of the company was quickly changed to Sonus (Latin for sound) and the powerful Sony was born! Even though this device had significantly lower sound quality than its more bulky, tubed competition, it had an immediate appeal to the customers, which launched Sony onto a trajectory of innovation and wild success in the personal electronics market.

Too many startups begin with an idea for a product that they think people want, then spend months or years perfecting that product without ever showing the product to the prospective customer. They then fail to garner support, and the startup fails before it gets off the ground. When entrepreneurs embrace validated learning, the development process will shrink substantially. They can then focus on figuring the right thing to build, which the customers want and will pay for. Entrepreneurs can adapt their plans incrementally, inch by inch, minute by minute.

There could not be a more perfect example that Apple and the iPhone. When the first iPhone was released, critics ripped Steve Jobs apart. The device had no keyboard, dropped calls were frequent, coverage was patchy, and the security safeguards were horrid. However, Apple understood the process and the customer. The design was gorgeous and had a broad appeal to early adopters who would embrace a device that played music, sent emails, made calls, and browsed websites. Much later, the device was refined and the basics were finally perfected. This is the epitome of a successful lean startup.

Research shows 75% of all startups fail. Reasons include valuing experimentation over elaborate planning, customer feedback over intuition, and iterative design over the traditional big design up front development. Lean startup requires a “get out of the building” approach. They must go out and ask potential users, purchasers, and partners for feedback on all elements of the business model, including product features, pricing, distribution channels, and affordable customer acquisition strategies. The emphasis should be on nimbleness and speed for an effective lean startup.

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In an era where technology’s embrace is reshaping the workplace landscape, the harmonious coexistence of automation and employee well-being emerges as a paramount consideration for business leaders. 

This article delves into the delicate dance between technological advancement and the human element within the workplace. Embark on a journey as we explore managerial methodologies such as Six Sigma, Lean, and Agile, uncovering their transformative potential in striking the perfect equilibrium. 

Join us to unravel practical insights into fostering a workplace environment that thrives at the intersection of innovation and employee welfare.

Navigating the Technological Tide: The Ascension of Automation and Integration

In an age of rapid technological advancement, the integration of automation has become an undeniable force driving industries forward. From manufacturing lines to data analysis, automation promises unparalleled efficiency, precision, and cost-effectiveness. 

As organizations strive for a competitive edge, the allure of streamlined processes and reduced human intervention is irresistible. However, this ascent is not without its implications. 

The increasing reliance on automation demands a careful consideration of its impact on the human workforce and the potential challenges it brings. Let’s delve deeper into this evolving landscape where the embrace of automation intersects with the well-being of employees.

Harmonizing Progress and People: Tackling Challenges in the Age of Automation

While the integration of technology promises boundless progress, it also poses significant challenges. The pervasive fear of job displacement looms large as automation replaces certain tasks, leaving employees uncertain about their roles. 

Additionally, the incessant pace of technological evolution demands continuous upskilling, potentially contributing to employee burnout. The delicate balance between harnessing the power of automation and safeguarding employee well-being hinges on strategic foresight. 

Navigating this terrain requires addressing the emotional impact of change, ensuring that the workforce remains engaged, and preserving the human touch that fosters innovation and collaboration. Amidst the allure of automation, these challenges serve as poignant reminders of our commitment to a harmonious future.

Orchestrating the Symbiosis of Technology and Employee Welfare

Amid the dual imperatives of technological advancement and employee well-being, managerial methodologies emerge as guiding beacons. Six Sigma, Lean, and Agile methodologies transcend their conventional roles, becoming catalysts for harmonizing automation and human-centric values. 

Six Sigma’s data-driven precision aligns with thoughtful automation, reducing errors while honoring employee contributions. Lean’s pursuit of value dovetails into recognizing technology’s role in minimizing non-value-added tasks, and optimizing efficiency without neglecting well-being. 

Agile methodology, celebrated for adaptability, fosters a collaborative environment, ensuring technology integrates seamlessly without isolating the workforce. In this symphony of methodologies, a melody emerges—a harmonious blend where innovation flourishes and well-being thrives.

• Six Sigma: Harnessing the power of data analysis, organizations can discern areas ripe for automation and those best preserved for human expertise. Through rigorous data collection and analysis, Six Sigma ensures that every automation decision is rooted in empirical evidence. This precision minimizes the risk of implementing technology in areas where its impact might compromise employee well-being.

• Lean: Scrutinizing processes for non-value-added tasks, Lean reveals the precise junctures where automation can maximize efficiency without sacrificing employee well-being. This data-driven approach ensures that automation targets are carefully selected based on their potential to amplify value and productivity. Identifying areas where human intervention remains indispensable, Lean safeguards against automation’s unintended consequences.

• Agile: Relying on data-driven insights, Agile ensures that automation decisions are informed and aligned with evolving needs. Constant feedback loops guide the implementation, allowing organizations to refine automation strategies in real time. This iterative process guarantees that automation integration is both effective and considerate of employee well-being

Towards a Balanced Future

As technology reshapes workplaces, the quest for equilibrium between automation and employee well-being becomes paramount. Managerial methodologies like Six Sigma, Lean, and Agile provide the compass, navigating this delicate balance. In this symphony of innovation and welfare, the harmonious future of work emerges, where progress amplifies human potential.

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Companies are often confused between lean vs agile, spending a lot of time thinking which approach to use for optimizing their processes. Both approaches have their own methodologies and frameworks, with significant overlaps and differences.

In this article, we discuss the important differences and similarities between the two approaches and show how the best option is to use both lean and agile for the brightest outcomes that directly translate to higher customer satisfaction levels, improved quality, and reduced costs.

What is Lean?

Lean is a powerful methodology that helps to identify and eliminate waste in processes to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and boost productivity. Wastes don’t add any value to the end user of the product or service. Wastes can take many forms like incomplete work, defects, switching between tasks, waiting times, etc.

Lean helps deliver products and services to customers in the fastest manner possible to achieve higher customer satisfaction levels. Lean focuses on the functioning of teams and the organization as a whole.

What is Agile?

Agile is a project management approach that breaks a project down into several phases and helps manage them in a better way. Agile, at its very core, is based on continuous iteration for improvement. Agile involves small cycles to make constant improvements.

The focus is on small units and on building them. Once that’s done, feedback is sought and the whole cycle is repeated for betterment. Agile is centered on collaboration and encourages team meetings.

Lean vs Agile: What Are The Differences?

There are several similarities between lean and agile. Both are highly flexible approaches that aim to improve quality. Lean focuses on improving processes to deliver higher value to customers while agile works to create small iterations for better products.

Lean teams deliver products without waste, with faster delivery being a key focus. Agile teams create small units and seek customer feedback, which is used to improve the offerings.

Agile places significant importance on collaboration between team members including designers, developers, and customers. Lean focuses on the final product delivered to the customer.

Lean traces its roots to the manufacturing sector while agile has been used for continuous delivery and improvement in software environments. 

Agile is more likely to pick projects that are innovative and need to adapt to new changes. 

Lean and Agile: The Best of Both Worlds

If you’re having a hard time with lean vs agile, know that organizations should ideally be using a combination of both lean and agile for maximum productivity and waste reduction. 

Lean and agile have many similarities and can work hand in hand seamlessly to create a people-focused culture. Both approaches can be used in diverse sectors from manufacturing to software development and focus on delivering the final products to customers in a timely manner with constant iterations to improve the offerings.

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Many organizations usually go the Agile route or the Six Sigma route, and that is perfectly okay. Technology has become a dominant force in modern times, becoming ubiquitous in our daily lives – both personally and professionally. Whether it is a task you have to perform at the office or at home, you’re bound to find an app that can help you with that.

Organizations are on a warpath in regards to innovation because the secret is out: technology has a significant impact on consumer behavior. If you don’t have the technology to help your customers with their ever-evolving needs, they will look elsewhere. And to add fuel to the fire, they demand solutions of the highest quality pronto.

The consumer market is exerting pressure on organizations, and Agile is used to face them head-on. Six Sigma is used in the same vein but is approached differently from Agile, which is why we hardly see them being applied simultaneously. This leads to the question: can these two play nice for the benefit of the organization and its customers?

Enter Agile Six Sigma. But before we talk about how they can work together, let’s briefly look at each one individually.

Six Sigma

In a nutshell, Six Sigma is a methodology that is employed to minimize defects by controlling variation. A big part of achieving this is through root cause analysis to eliminate any issues that negatively impact quality and consistent output. When implemented well, Six Sigma has been known to increase customer satisfaction.

Agile

Agile is popular in software development. It champions the concept of iterative development, which is where the development of large software is broken into small, easily manageable chunks. Agile outlines the guidelines that allow teams to consistently be productive and meet their deadline while constantly and consistently evolving the end product into something that will ultimately satisfy customers.

Agile Six Sigma – How They Can Work Together

While Six Sigma and Agile are implemented differently, it is not hard to see that they ultimately have the same goal. They are both ways to produce something valuable that will make customers happy. If two things have the same end goal, it is safe to assume that they complement each other and can be combined.

For organizations to marry these two concepts, they need to look at what they are trying to achieve and the issue they are trying to rectify. Software development is a process, after all. This means that Agile teams can incorporate Six Sigma to help them improve their performance. For instance, if the team is consistently missing deadlines, Six Sigma has the tools, like the fish diagram or the Five Whys, that can help them get to the root cause of the problem and eliminate it once and for all.

Conclusion

Both Six Sigma and Agile lead to better outcomes for an organization against market pressures. They can be implemented alone or together. But for the latter to happen, teams should look at what problems they are facing within their Agile framework and use Six Sigma to element them. The end result will be a faster and consistent development cycle that produces an end product that satisfies customers.

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In 2001, the Agile manifesto was created and proved to be a game-changer in software development. Basically, it is a set of four values and 12 principles that guide software development teams in using Agile development to maximize productivity and collaborative work during a project. They can also be adapted for almost any project across various industries.

According to a research by Douglas Insights it is anticipated that the global Agile project management tools software market will be driven by the expansion of complex project practices in various enterprises.

 Here, we are going to talk about the 12 principles of the Agile manifesto.

1. Early and continuous software delivery

This is the highest priority principle, as its main aim is to satisfy customers. The reasoning behind this principle is that it is extremely important to customer satisfaction that the time between releases is frequent. The more customers get working software regularly, the happier they are.

2. Change should be welcomed

In an ever-evolving business environment, change is the only constant. It is not wise to stick to a rigid development cycle, without allowing room for change. If customer requirements change, the team should be able to accommodate without delaying the deadline.

3. Frequent delivery of working software

Provide software that works on a regular basis. This can be between a couple of weeks or months. However, preference should be given to the period that is the shortest. This allows for constant feedback and earlier identification of bugs.

4. Stakeholders and developers must work together

Throughout the lifespan of the project, the developers and stakeholders should work together on a daily basis. Both are working towards the same goal, which is why it makes sense for them to be in alignment. 

5. Motivated individuals

Projects should be built around motivated individuals. Individuals should work in a supportive environment where they aren’t micromanaged. They should be trusted to self-organize and do the work without someone constantly looking over their shoulders. Micromanagement benefits no one and is counter-productive in Agile.

6. Face-to-face conversation

For information to be conveyed effectively in a team, it must be done through face-to-face interactions. For this to happen, team members need to be co-located. However, in today’s world, development teams are usually disbursed. If that is the case, efforts should be made to increase the frequency of communication using the appropriate conferencing tools and software.

7. Measure progress with working software

The biggest measure of progress is providing the customer with working software. Always keep your eye on the ball – working software – instead of getting bogged down in the specifics of the plan. You will end spending too much time doing secondary tasks, such as documentation, instead of the primary task.

8. Consistent development pace

Once the project hits the ground running, the team and stakeholders should maintain a consistent pace. This speed should be maintained for every release without delays and crunch time.

9. Technical excellence

To enhance agility, there must be a continuous focus on technical excellence and good design. This makes it easier for the team to embrace change, maintain a consistent development pace and update or improve the product as needed.

10. Simplicity

You don’t need the software to have all the bells and whistles to be classified as working software. Some features are considered to be non-essential. The team should focus on those essential features in order to produce working software.

11. Self-organizing teams

When teams are self-organized, they are able to bring out the best architects, requirements and designs. A team can deliver its best work when it is fully in charge of how it wants to work and owns every decision it makes.

12. Regular reflection and adjustment

The team will regularly reflect on its current effectiveness and identify room for self-improvement. Afterward, it will adjust its behavior to ensure self-improvement is achieved.

Wrapping up

With these 12 principles of the Agile manifesto in mind, software development teams can become more efficient and effective at creating working software. Any organization stands to benefit from having high-performance teams that collaborate with ease. This is the best strength of these principles and can be applied to almost any project.

The post Getting to Know Agile Development – 12 Principles of the Agile Manifesto appeared first on 6sigma.

What Do Lean and Agile Have in Common?

Both lean and agile are terms which refer to modern advancements in the way work is done, which have led to reduced cost, faster response times, and better customer services for many companies in different industries.

Although both lean’ and agile’ refer to two separate concepts, the two do share certain similarities, and each have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Deciding whether to utilize lean, agile, or both methods for your organization is an important first step for any new manufacturing start-up.

Lean Manufacturing Methods

Running a lean manufacturing business puts the most priority on the flow of material through the entire process (value stream), which keeps the costs at a minimum. When working properly, Lean methods maintain very little inventory, so the company can minimize how much money that spend on raw materials, in-progress work, and finished products at any given time.

Organizations using lean methodology use efficient purchasing and delivery systems to minimize cost by requesting inputs only when they are needed, and deliver the finished product as soon as it is ordered and needed by the customer. In addition, lean manufacturers tend to focus their core processes on main competencies, while also outsourcing a variety of productive activities to suppliers who can do it better and have more expertise. When these suppliers are treated like partners, this creates further cost efficiencies.

For example, a lean manufacturing business may outsource certain components or items that are not part of their core skills, allowing them to focus on and invest more solely in what made them successful in the first place. The suppliers deliver the items just-in-time (JIT), only when the company needs it. 

Additionally, the concepts of waste reduction, employee engagement and continuous quality improvement are vital factors in lean manufacturing.

Agile Manufacturing Methods

On the other hand, agile manufacturing businesses are less focused on keeping costs low, and more focused on shifting to be able to meet changing customer demands as quickly as possible. When it comes to processes, agile companies are setup in ways that are flexible enough to be rapidly changed as the customer’s needs change. Existing equipment, labor, tools and raw materials are used in agile manufacturing, enabling teams to create new or custom products on demand, which is much faster than their competitors, which becomes a competitive advantage.

For example, a car manufacturing company using lean methods will allow the ability to use existing infrastructure to build new car models without having to make a significant financial investment. Vigorous data systems are relied on by agile marketing, production and design departments; this enables them to provide updated, current information on available resources at any given time.

Similarities

Both lean and agile manufacturing methods share the same ultimate focus; increasing the sustainability of business within the sector of high-cost marketing. Both provide solutions to the challenges faced by manufacturers of the past, along with providing an opportunity for smaller manufacturing companies to compete with their larger competitors.

Both lean and agile concepts consist of a heavy reliance on statistics; both use computerized information systems and encourage open communication between teams, customers, and both internal and external stakeholders. Due to this, both concepts tie in well with modern advances in production technology; they’re perfectly matched to resources and tools available to today’s manufacturing managers.

Additionally, both lean and agile methods are decisions that should be made during the early planning stages of a company; they are designed to influence the ways in which businesses are structured not just in work sites and factories, but throughout every department of the organization from accountancy to marketing and customer services.

Shared Benefits of Lean and Agile

Benefits can be reaped from using both lean and agile processes; the two methodologies combined can strengthen said benefits even further. Lean manufacturing is used to improve cash flow and increase the amount of cash available to a business by efficiently cutting expenses, whilst agile manufacturing methods serve to increase company revenue by ensuring all terms are ready to fulfill any unexpected customer demand.

Additionally, both lean and agile concepts focus heavily on competitiveness; a priority concern in the global markets where manufacturers compete. Agile manufacturing allows a company of any size to successfully increase their number of total sales, whilst lean methods give businesses the freedom and flexibility to attract new custom via product price promotions and reductions

Why Do They Work Well Together?

Whilst lean and agile methods of manufacturing are two distinct things, they do work well together. Whilst lean manufacturing allows for costs to be reduced, agile methods allow companies to boost their reputation by being able to meet even the most challenging of sudden customer demands.

Combine the two together, and you have the perfect recipe for manufacturing business success. Whilst lean methods allow the company to save on costs, agile manufacturing can be used to ensure that products are gotten right the first time. For example, beta testing’, where customers are given the smallest useful part of a product and asked to report what works well and what does not, is a useful Agile method.

Additionally, lean methods can enhance agile strategies for managing team productivity. Within a lean manufacturing system, work is broken down into a set of value streams that demand signals trigger. Using this strategy, the output of one value stream will lead to more. Since agile is largely based on connecting the work of multiple teams, this method comes in useful for achieving efficiency and communication.

To Conclude

Both lean and agile manufacturing methodologies are popular options for reducing business cost, improving the ability to meet customer demands and enabling heightened competitiveness. They can each be used alone, however, when used together result in further benefits; both agile and lean strategies tend to enhance one another.

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In the most basic terms, Kanban is an innovative technique that is used in project management. The technique allows teams to be more productive and makes the processes much more streamlined. The word Kanban derives its origins from the Japanese kan which means visual and the word ban which means card.”

Kanban has become a highly popular Agile tool. It is widely used by businesses and is particularly useful for certain software projects. However, there are several situations where Kanban use does not match the instance for which it is being used.

The Kanban Approach

Kanban basically helps manage the creation of products while emphasizing on continuous delivery. It aims to relieve the development team of any burdens. Kanban, like Scrum, helps teams work in a more efficient way.

The process involves three key principles.

• It is important to visualize what you are doing at present. Considering all business aspects and items in the context of each other can be a very informative exercise.
• Put a limit on the amount of work in progress you are handling. This will help enforce a balance so teams do not overstrain and work too much at any time.
• The third aspect enhances flow and involves picking up the next thing highest in the list of backlogs when the task at hand is finished.

Basically, the approach helps foster continuous collaboration and encourage active learning. It helps define the best possible workflow for maximal efficiency.

The approach, therefore, is expected to have several advantages.

• It results in shorter cycle times and timely feature deliveries.
• Kanban is ideal in environments where the priorities keep changing continuously.
• It helps to respond to change in an efficient manner.
• Reduces the waste and activities that do not add any value to the business.
• Motivates and empowers teammates who perform higher by having rapid feedback loops in place.
• Balances demand and throughput. This helps work on the most customer value-centric features.

Wrong Reasons to Use Kanban

Businesses might be using the Kanban approach for all the wrong reasons without even realizing it. We examine below several such instances in which the approach probably isn’t the best fit.

• Kanban is not the best way to deal with varied story sizes. The teams should instead be taught to split the stories into smaller tasks.
• Using Kanban will not increase your speed with which you generally progress through your tasks. If you are unable to finish a story in one iteration, that certainly does not spell out a need to use this approach.
• It is sometimes easier to form cross-functional teams and ending multi-tasking approaches. Kanban might not always be the best solution from team stability considerations.
• Kanban’s simplicity is often the reason why businesses use it as a solution to all management challenges and issues. You will undoubtedly have to work hard and face a lot of problems.

The Right Reasons to Use Kanban

Let’s now examine closely the right situations where Kanban can be used to increase efficiency, improve processes, and remove waste while responding to ever-changing priorities.

• Allows priorities to be continuously changed. This is something Scrum does not lend itself to easily.
• Helps release items at any time, which is not often possible with other iterative methods and techniques.
• Helps realize and visualize the best workflows. The approach can be used when a business needs insights into its current operations and the stage the project is presently in.

Conclusion

Kanban is easily used in a number of business situations but is not the one size fits all solution for all business challenges. It is easily used when there is a need to model the whole value stream or when there is a need to respond rapidly to continuously changing priorities.

It ultimately helps foster continuous improvement. The best way to choose the ideal method for business process improvement is to first consider what it is that you wish to improve. This will help choose the most suitable approach rather than using one tool to solve all problems.

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Up and Running as Quickly as Possible

One of the core principles of lean startup is that you should have a minimal viable product as soon as possible. This is in line with general lean trends, and it’s a process that can be accelerated very well by designing a release plan from the very beginning. And that falls into agile territory and it’s something that can be handled well by someone with sufficient experience with agile.

It’s also important to start your whole run with an appropriate vision, ensuring that the product you’ll be working on will have a place in your target market at all. Agile experts can tell you a lot about product vision, as that’s something that gets a lot of focus during a typical agile run.

Building on Feedback

Another important aspect of lean startup is that you should always coordinate your efforts with what the customer actually wants. This may or may not be perfectly aligned with your own vision and expectations, which is why it’s important to spend a lot of time studying the actual requirements of your clients, and ensuring that everything you’ve learned is appropriately validated.

Both lean startup and agile have their own versions of this, and the overlap is significant. In both cases, the basic principle is the same you use customer feedback as the driving force behind any changes or further developments of the product. Collecting that feedback properly is also important, and you’ll need to take some time to ensure that you have the appropriate systems in place before you start distributing your product to the market.

Always Strive for a Quick Release

When running a lean startup, ensuring that you deliver something to the market as early as possible is critical, and this is where the concept of continuous deployment comes in play. However, you must also gather some experience from those releases and ensure that it’s integrated back into the next release cycle, and this where agile can help you. Continuous integration is an important concept in that field, and you’ll learn a lot about how to align your future developments with past experiences and draw from what you’ve achieved so far.

That’s the main point releasing over and over again in quick iterations until the product is perfectly aligned with customer needs and expectations. With enough experience, you will be able to shorten this process and ensure that you can reach that ideal point with far fewer repetitions of the release process. But until you get there, you’ll want to spend a lot of time and attention on applying agile principles to your lean startup, and taking as many useful parts of agile as you can.

Testing

Last but not least, both sides of the coin put a strong emphasis on testing and validation, and for a good reason. This is the only way to ensure that you are working in the right direction, and that the changes you make to the product are bringing it closer to perfection instead of introducing even more problems in the long run. Agile in particular can teach you a lot about sensible testing procedures, so spend some time familiarizing yourself with this aspect of the field.

Conclusion

Lean startup and agile are connected very closely, and you may have even been applying agile principles to your own work without realizing it for some time, if you work closely with lean methodologies on a regular basis. Recognizing the ways these two areas are connected and taking the most useful bits from both can be very useful for the leader of an organization of any size, and you should split your attention between them as equally as you can.

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It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with lean concepts that the methodology eventually found its way into software development. Today, lean and agile are commonly encountered words in programming circles, and many modern programmers pride themselves in their ability to follow the principles outlined in both of those fields, allowing them to deliver quality products in a measured manner.

And even though lean has been altered and adapted to the specific nature of software development in order to work better for this purpose, at its core, it’s still the same. Anyone familiar with lean methodologies should immediately recognize the core values of the philosophy in any typical list of lean software practices, and they should also know how to translate those into actionable items that they can execute in their workflow.

Waste in Software Development

One of the biggest problems in any type of software development is waste. Developer resources are commonly utilized incorrectly, leading to multiple rounds of repeating the same task, changing minor requirements, and in some of the worse cases, throwing out the whole project and starting over from scratch.

On the other hand, improperly designed software can be very wasteful of users’ resources, and even though some developers don’t put this in the same category as traditional waste in production, it’s just as bad when you consider the impact on your company’s standing on the market.

By following solid lean principles, a software development team can ensure that they bring waste down to a minimum, while also improving the overall quality of the products they deliver. Another core component of lean methodologies in software development is that decisions should be made as late as possible that is, anything involving the requirements of the project shouldn’t be planned too meticulously from the start.

Which, at its core, is just another technique for avoiding waste. You’ll sooner or later start to see this pattern all over lean software development guides, and the better your developers understand the concept, the more solid your software products will be.

Don’t Forget Agile!

Some people confuse lean and agile and lump them in the same category, especially when it comes to software developers, but there are some significant differences between the two camps that have to be observed. Both philosophies do emphasize rapid iteration and quick delivery of successful, functional results, and this is definitely something to pay attention to if you’re having trouble in the final stages of project delivery.

Agile tends to emphasize more on rapidly iterating on an idea, which can sometimes create a little waste, but nothing that can’t be controlled through some careful planning. Agile also places a significant emphasis on ensuring that you can keep up with your current pace of development in the future, instead of burning out after a short, but quick burst.

Another important aspect of agile is that you should take as many decisions as possible in face-to-face meetings instead of communicating over other channels. This might not sound directly related to building a product, but it does play a major role in understanding what your clients want to accomplish with the project exactly, allowing you to prevent a lot of waste from being created when you implement something you didn’t understand correctly in the first place.

Getting Everyone on Board

It can be difficult to make programmers follow lean and agile practices, especially if you have some more experienced people on your team who have been practicing for a longer period of time. These styles of development were very unpopular some time ago, and it will take even more time before they become the default way of teaching programming.

Conclusion

But the sooner you ensure that your developers know what lean and agile are, and how to follow them in their work, the better improvements you’re going to see in the overall quality of the output of those developers, and subsequently, the better your clients’ satisfaction will be. In the end, what truly matters is that you are able to deliver products that work according to their requirements, and know how to adjust them later.

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What Is Agile Software Development?

Developing software is a discipline that’s still at a relatively young age, and for the most part, we’re still learning how to tackle some of the more difficult issues that can arise in a typical large-scale software project.

Different methodologies and styles have emerged in order to address the problem in various ways, and among those, agile software development is one of the currently most prominent and respected ones. Agile focuses on delivering a functional product as early as possible, and coordinating the development process with the customer’s requirements tightly.

Here is a brief introduction to how the process works and the important ideas behind it:

Agile is based around a set of twelve principles, which are outlined in its manifesto. It’s important for any team wishing to implement agile methodologies to not only fully understand the principles behind them, but to also apply them in their daily practices.

1) Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
Customer satisfaction should be at the top of any team’s priority list when developing software. Even if the customer is the team itself. It’s important to properly understand the exact needs of the customer, and to communicate with them regularly in order to ensure that all requirements are being met. Frequent delivery ensures that any misunderstandings will surface early on.

2) Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
It’s not rare for software requirements to change in the course of development. While many other development methods struggle with this, agile actually welcomes it in its fullest. This means that a team should be ready to handle any changes in the requirements, even if it means scrapping a large portion of their hard work.

Compared to development methodologies which split the process into components like analysis, design, implementation and testing which can last weeks at a time, agile is very suitable for a rapidly evolving model.

3) Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
Again, this puts an emphasis on speedy delivery and on ensuring that the customer’s requirements are being met in a timely manner. Not only that, but by focusing on delivering a working piece of software, teams are forced to actually think about the critical components of the project and focus on them with a priority. The standard time frame is called a sprint, and it usually occurs every 2 weeks.

4) Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
This principle serves to correct a common problem in the modern software development environment. The gap between the developers of a program and the people presenting it to the customer is often huge, and can lead to significant problems in the development process. Agile ensures that all teams involved are always on the same page with regards to the future of the project.

5) Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
A more personal principle, this is based on the idea that a developer given a comfortable working environment and constant job satisfaction will be able to consistently produce higher quality work. This is a common concept in other industries, but it seems to have taken some time to arrive to the world of software in a more direct way.

6) The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Another common issue of software development is the way it predisposes individuals to communicate through electronic means. This can significantly add to the feeling of an improper connection between team members. When the situation allows for it, a team should always prioritize personal meetings to discuss the current status of the project.

Different software development methodologies can sometimes focus on various complicated metrics for determining the current status and health of a project. Agile, on the other hand, puts an emphasis on the simplest possible factor how much of the product is actually finished and works well enough to be presented to a customer.

8) Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
No matter how large a project grows, the team should always be ready to handle its new scale. The same goes for the opposite case as well if the requirements shrink, the team must retain its current pace and not waste any effort.

9) Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
Small details matter a lot in creating a solid final impression, but reaching the phase where they’re added to a project requires a solid underlying foundation as well. These two factors can significantly enhance the perceived value of the final product.

10) Simplicity ” the art of maximizing the amount of work not done ” is essential.
This is a rewording of a principle that’s very common in rapid software development in general nowadays. Do just as much as is required to complete the task, and only do more if the customer says something. This concept can be very effective in getting a project off the ground and up to speed. Often, it’s easy for developers to anticipate other customer needs, but this can add delays to the work, and it may not actually be something the customer wants.

11) The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
Management structure is another common problem in software development nowadays, and agile recognizes that by putting an emphasis on a team’s ability to govern its own work. While some form of higher-level management will always be required, it should not be critical to a project’s completion on the technical side.

12) At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Software development is a constantly evolving discipline, which sees new ideas on an almost daily basis. A good team should be able to constantly integrate those new developments into their own work when it benefits them.

Conclusion
It’s hard to say which software development methodology is objectively the best at the moment. The truth is that they all fill a different niche in a very large and complex market. But when it comes to rapid development and delivering a product that actually works as soon as possible, few can beat agile’s strong principles and simplistic philosophy.

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Where Did Agile Come From?

If you’re running a lean startup. or managing your business according to the Lean Six Sigma methodology, then you’ll probably have heard of the term agile.’ An agile business is a company that responds quickly and effectively to both opportunity and risk in either the internal or external business environment. Many lean experts have mentioned that Agile is likely a better term than “lean”, since it often makes people think about a diet or initiative to reduce staff.

Agile specifically refers to an improved way to develop and release software, using lean principles. The idea is to make the work visual, minimize the work-in-process (WIP), make problems visible, interact frequently with your customer, create empowered teams, and keep the batch sizes (tasks to complete) as small as possible. Even if you don’t use software, hopefully you can see how the principles could be used in any process or industry.

So, where did the term and the idea of agile’ come from? Here is a brief history of Agile’s main principles and how they came to be.  

The Agile Manifesto

The idea of agile business all began back in 2001. In the Wasatch mountains of Utah, seventeen people got together to ski, relax, share ideas and of course, sample some tasty food. Amongst them were Agile pioneers Alistair Cockburn and Ken Schwaber. The participants were a group of software developers and programmers who all agreed that a change was needed. Furthermore, they brought their own well-defined methods to the table, including Extreme Programming (XP), SCRUM and Crystal. The meeting culminated in the Agile Software Development Manifesto’, in response to the need for an alternative to the heavyweight, documentation-driven software development processes of the time.

Signed by all the participants, the Manifesto for Agile Software Development was a symbolic result. The group of independent thinkers named themselves The Agile Alliance.’ Although certain individuals were sometimes competitors to one another, they all agreed on one thing they felt privileged to work with a group of people who shared similar values and opinions.

At the core, the first Agile methodologists held values based on trust and respect for each other, promoting models of organization that are based on people, and improving collaboration to build the type of organizational communities where they would like to work. Today, almost two decades later at the time of this post, Agile values have changed very little.

Going Further Back

The idea of, and the term agile’ itself in relation to business and software development may have been coined in 2001, however, the idea goes back even further. Back in 1970, Dr. Winston Royce published and presented a paper entitled: Managing the Development of Large Software Systems’. In his paper, he argued that software development processes needed to change; putting software together like a product on an assembly line simply wasn’t working.

Specifically, Royce criticized the lack of communication between the specialized groups assigned to complete each part of the project. Compared to Agile methodology, it’s easy to see how the previous methods might fail.

Firstly, it’s wrong to assume that every project requirement can be identified before design or coding work commences.

Secondly, it’s inefficient. Each task is completed in sequential phases, but that could lead to the product being irrelevant at the end of the project. This is especially true today more than ever, since business realities can change dramatically from one month to the next.

Principles Behind Agile

The Agile methodology follows a series of principles that are based first and foremost on satisfying customers and welcoming changing requirements. Agile processes are designed with the main goal of providing early, continuous delivery of beneficial software.

Agile principles demand that projects are built around driven individuals; give them the support, environment and trust that they need to successfully get the job done. Agile is undoubtedly people-orientated: People are more important than any process’.

According to Agile principles, the leading facilitators of project success are the individuals working on it. Additionally, Agile suggests that the most efficient, effective method of transmitting information to or within a development team is with a face-to-face conversation.

Reflection is also a crucial part of the Agile way; development teams are encouraged to reflect on their past results, in order to determine methods of becoming more effective and productive. Regular change must be embraced to facilitate constant improvement within the team.

Agile promotes iterative and incremental processes. Software is developed in a succession of iterations, from the planning to the delivery stages. In each iteration, the various parts of the system are developed, tested, and then improved if needed, based completely on the feedback of the customer, not the ideas of the development team. During testing and improvement, a new part will be developed. The idea behind this is to improve the functionality with each release, allowing the system to grow. More frequent and smaller releases allow progress to be made, instead of waiting for one big change to be implemented, which might take months to complete.

Concluding Thoughts

Agile methods may be quite recent, but they are certainly not new. They have been around for much longer than the Manifesto for Agile Software Development has. However, it was not until the 17-strong team in Utah put their ideas down on paper that the Agile ideas were implemented within teams worldwide to change software development for the better.

Want to learn more? Read Joe Woods guest post, “An Outsiders View of Agile Software Development” >>>

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Different Types of Kanban Boards and Card Holders

Since it was introduced in the 1950’s by Toyota Production System founder Taiichi Ohno, Kanban has been adopted by thousands of companies in pursuit of success.

Kanban cards exist to track progress. Doing so helps each member of a business team stay up-to-date, allowing them to easily determine which strategies are useful and which aren’t. But, if you’re using Kanban cards to track progress, then you will need a way to display them. This enables your team to see the progress status on various projects or on the overall business. There are many methods to choose from when it comes to displaying Kanban cards in the workplace.

Here are some of the different types of Kanban boards and card holders explained.

Online Kanban Boards

In today’s digital world, online Kanban boards are a must in any office practicing the Lean Six Sigma method. With an online Kanban board, you can use your laptop, tablet or smartphone to visualize, manage your workflow, and engage in real-time collaboration on various projects with your team members. Online Kanban boards emulate their offline counterparts using apps, but they offer so much more: faster work completion, better efficiency, improved flexibility, and more transparency.

One of the biggest advantages of opting for an online Kanban board is that they offer easy customization. Using your device, you can effortlessly change the ways in which you deal with the designation of lanes or columns. You can also easily adjust the Kanban card to fit in with the details of your project.

Read about the pros and cons between digital and physical kanban boards >>>

Agile Kanban Boards

The term Agile’ was first coined in relation to Kanban almost twenty years ago, in a manifesto written by a 17-strong authorship team of independent software developers. Agile offers a flexible, interactive approach to using Kanban cards for business. The methods allow teams to divide the development process into smaller, manageable segments, enabling easier changes as work progresses, and minimizing the risk of a stand-still.

Although Agile teams are likely to need a more complex set of options than the to do, doing, done’ of basic Kanban, the adaptability of the system is what makes it so popular. Using Agile Kanban boards, teams can accept incremental changes, visually present complex tasks, workflows and progress, and improve the transparency of their workplace projects and collaborations. Using Kanban in Agile development allows you to visually track where work is becoming backlogged in any lane. You can then take more informed action steps when setting limits, ensuring that the workflow runs smoothly.

Excel Kanban Boards

One of the simplest ways to present your Kanban cards is to create a board using Excel, a software program that all Microsoft Office users have access to. If you do not use Microsoft Office, you can create Kanban boards for free online using Google Sheets.

To create a Kanban board in Excel (or Google Sheets), name the columns of your sheet to reflect each work progress stage: To-Do, Doing, Done, along with any further stages relevant to the project. This Kanban board method is popular, as it not only allows you to retain all the functionality of tracking a project using Excel, but it also allows for enhanced flexibility and visibility, which takes advantage of Kanban principles.

An alternative to using Excel is to use PowerPoint. This popular slide show software makes it easy to showcase or present your Kanban cards to staff, clients or stakeholders.

Kanban Bin Systems

In certain workplace settings, 2-bin and 3-bin Kanban systems can be used to track inventory. Used for replenishing items in a supply setting, such as a production line or other kind of factory, a worker will pull tasks from bin number one until the last task is complete.

Once the bin is emptied, the worker will flip the Kanban card (or the bin, in some cases) and begin on the tasks in the second bin, while the first one is replenished. When using a 3-bin Kanban system, one bin should be kept at the supplier’s location for inventory.

Wall Mounted Card-Holders and Racks

Wall-mounted racks or card-holders provide a traditional, yet effective, method of using Kanban cards to improve efficiency and productivity. Ideal for material handling environments, these racks or card-holders can help with the smooth flow of both projects and communication.

Rather than the usual signal cards, which represent capacity or demand on a task, Kanban cards in wall-mounted holder utilizes items such as magnets, sticky notes, or push-pins for representing each work item. As it travels around the board, each object correlates to a business process such as an item in production.

Kanban cards are one of the most versatile aids for business process improvement. The large assortment of methods available for displaying Kanban cards in the workplace allows any company to successfully adapt them to their needs.

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What is a Kanban Retrospective

Since the time the concept of Kanban started on Toyota’s factory floor, it has been evolving. Kanban has proven to be a set of ideas, if not a complete methodology that can be implemented successfully in a wide variety of industries and applications. One industry where Kanban, and especially Kanban boards, have been embraced on a large scale is software development. While being implemented in that industry, it cross-pollinated with ideas from Agile development, and especially Scrum. This gave birth to the idea of Kanban retrospectives.

What are Scrum Retrospectives?

Scrum is a development management methodology that depends on sprints short periods of a week or two of intense development efforts with specific goals and deadlines. After each sprint is over, there is a retrospective, which is a meeting that allows the development team to discuss problems and successes encountered during the last sprint. This meeting can be used to come up with improvements to the way the team operates that can be put to practice as part of the next sprint. This type of activity allows Agile teams to ensure continuous iterative improvement.

Kanban Retrospectives

As software development teams and organizations, that were used to the Agile and Scrum methodology, started employing Kanban boards to manage their tasks and workflows, the idea of retrospectives became part of the way they saw Kanban. As Kanban boards were mainly dealing with the workflow, they felt that a codified approach to solving problems and challenges was needed. They adapted retrospectives as a way to interrupt the regular flow, and to institute improvements.

Since this was not a centralized process, a few different approaches to Kanban retrospectives were developed. Each of them has its own pros and cons, its own focus, and each might be suitable for a different type of organization. Teams that are using a Kanban board to manage their tasks might actually want to look into the different types of Kanban retrospectives, and implement one of them to help facilitate regular improvement. An added benefit of having retrospectives is that it allows team members to feel involved and connected to the project, and to express their opinions and concerns.

Type 1: Scheduled Retrospectives

The simplest option, that probably lies closest to the Scrum roots of the idea, is to hold retrospective meetings at regular intervals. This means that there can be a regular retrospective that takes place at a recurring day and time, usually once or twice a week. A discussion about problems, issues and blockers, about possible improvements, and about the workflow in general, is held every time regardless of the size of the agenda for each meeting.

While if conducted well, such regular retrospectives can boost morale by making team members feel listened to, and could keep them motivated and invested. If there aren’t that many issues, those meetings might start to become a waste of time, which contributes very little to the overall performance of the team or organization. This is the most natural way to conduct retrospective for software developers used to Scrum, but it doesn’t seem to be the most effective or efficient one for other industries, so looking into the other options might be a good idea.

Type 2: Stop and Solve

Having regularly scheduled retrospectives doesn’t fit with the typical way work items are handled by Kanban boards and systems, so another simple way to do retrospectives started to become popular. The stop-and-solve or stop-the-line’ approach  means that every time there is an issue (that the person who encountered it can’t solve it on their own), an immediate retrospective involving the full team is called. Everyone looks into the problem, and brainstorms for possible solutions until a solution is found.

While this might be a fast way to fix a problem from the point of view of the individual facing it, forcing everybody to drop what they are doing is extremely inefficient. Additionally, in many cases this might even turn out to be impossible to implement. Larger organizations, or teams where the team member are not always at the same location, wouldn’t be able to implement this, even if they wanted to. It comes with a few additional cons. For instance, it’s very easy for those impromptu retrospective to become a burden and a constant distraction. While Kanban is usually supposed to facilitate flow, these might disrupt it. Still, there are certainly industries and organization where this particular type of Kanban retrospectives might actually be useful, and would benefit the organization and its competitiveness by manufacturing solutions to problems much quicker than usual.

Type 3: A Kanban Pull System

The last approach to holding retrospectives aims to fully integrate them into the Kanban system, and to treat them in the same way as all other operations. When this approach is implemented, the Kanban retrospective is an operation that needs to be triggered by a pull system. In other words, retrospectives get initiated when there is an actual reason to, and this is often based on explicit rules that are more complex than calling one right away.

When there is an issue, a Kanban card is assigned to it, and since all employees could discover or encounter issues, all employees should have the right to create such a card. One option is to have a separate board for issues with a backlog, and a limitation on the number of issues that can be worked on at the same time. The twist here is that the explicit rule should not just cover a maximum, but a minimum as well. When the required number of issues has accumulated, a retrospective is held, which is what makes this a pull system. This is an organized approach that makes sure there are neither pointless retrospectives with nothing to discuss, nor constant interruptions that disrupt the workflow.

Should Our Organization Implement Kanban Retrospectives?

Kanban retrospectives are not a requirement for a successful Kanban implementation. When Kanban is a part of a larger methodology like Lean, the process of continuous improvement will be handled in other ways. If you feel that your particular Kanban implementation would benefit from a version of the Kanban retrospectives, you should take advantage of the idea and make it part of your system.

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