Introduction
Generally, the success of an organization is influenced by the nature of the project undertaken by the company management. To have an effective and proper outcome, the leadership approach and understanding amongst the stakeholders concerning the endeavor are critical and necessary. Different agile methodologies can impact the progress of the business operation. The appropriate choice from the options is significant in promoting the achievement of the intended objectives. Sometimes, arrays of objections are encountered by various group members, but with well-organized leadership, the management will be capable of addressing the concerns to ensure all parties are in the same direction. Proper evaluation of key features of Scrum and eXtreme Programming (XP) agile techniques enables the organizational leadership to pick the right method that can facilitate growth for the whole operations applicable.
To have an effective project outcome, the organization’s leadership should have a proper methodology for project management. Developing a set of principles that guides the various activities and stages involved in the undertaking provides the team with a clear direction for the process. Formulating a practical framework by taking into consideration all the stakeholders and the goals of the business is vital in ensuring the company attains the set objectives. Therefore, it is necessary to select an agile methodology based on the available team, the nature of the project, the type of organization, and the intended purpose of the program. Making sure all the parameters are aligned, the management will be at ease to oversee the progress and adapt quickly to possible changes at different stages of the activities. The Scrum and XP agile methodologies portray various active manifestos to the project team.
The Scrum Agile Methodology
The scrum agile methodology is a project management approach whereby several hands-on system procedures involve various components and interlocking steps. For instance, the organization produces a wish list called a product backlog. On the provided list, the team members of the project then select one of the priorities, which they then plan for implementation (Hidalgo, 2019). Upon completion of the execution task over the given duration, the management calls for a ‘daily scrum’ where a meeting is held to discuss the program’s overall progress. It is the responsibility of ScrumMaster to ensure the team does not deviate from the project goals. Once the selected element is completed and ready to show, the sprint is reviewed, after which the process begins again by choosing the next item to work on.
Based on the principles of the agile manifesto, the management focus is to satisfy the consumers by ensuring they deliver the project early and ineffective state. Through the review, the teams have the potential to make any change that might be needed to improve the consumers’ advantage. Moreover, the project manager chooses the most significant task to be achieved within the next two weeks (Mohan et al., 2022). Continuous meetings during the undertaking are necessary, and teams’ motivation through the provision of support and trust increases their confidence in the job. In addition, attention is essential to facilitate working to improve agility.
The eXtreme Programming (XP) Agile Methodology
The XP project management methodology is an approach that allows an organization to improve the satisfaction of consumers by providing them with features and aspects of the product they need at the moment. The XP agile technique facilitates faster delivery of the necessary change. Generally, the system is based on development cycles that are short and frequent releases of the products. The XP entails unit testing, code reviewing, repeated communication, and using pair programming.
About the principles of the agile manifesto, the XP methodology is geared toward facilitating client satisfaction. For instance, when applying the XP approach, the project manager develops a list of all requirements from customers by engaging users to provide their view containing the needed features. After receiving the concerns, the program team then works on the software to develop an effective release plan that covers the demands mentioned by the clients. Once the team has established the working software, they will then deliver them at intervals whereby each stage of development is issued in two to three weeks. To achieve the fast process of making the products, the programming team works in pairs, and a series of daily meetings is maintained to enhance smooth operations.
The nature of products plays a vital role in influencing the type of agile methodology to be used in project management. For instance, a dynamic product requires the application of the XP method to enhance the iteration of software to match the ever-changing aspects. When the customers’ requirements are not constant, then using the XP approach to achieve their satisfaction is appropriate. Furthermore, the size of the project is essential to determine the ease with which it can be completed within the shortest time possible. Moreover, the business value is another vital consideration in determining the most practical approach. The product that is deemed to provide higher value would attract the use of an agile technique that ensures maximum exploitation of the situation.
Both the XP and scrum agile methodologies have various principles and practices in project management. XP has five common values that play an essential role in ensuring the effectiveness of the program. For instance, communication is necessary during the software development process to drive the team involved by sharing available valuable knowledge from one member to another (Palopak et al., 2022). It focuses on simplicity, whereby the team chooses the task that will take the shortest time possible to work. Furthermore, it values courage to enable stakeholders to encounter challenges. In addition, respect and feedback are core to enhancing the positive outcome. Some of the critical practices undertaken in the XP approach include planning the game, simple design, testing the software, releasing the development in small quantities, and engaging in programming pairing.
On the other hand, scrum projects require the teams’ adherence to the following principles to promote the program’s performance. The values ensure there is confidence in the framework, which motivates stakeholders. For instance, the management should ensure transparency, adaptation, and inspection. This will allow all the procedures to be well followed and information made clear to the team. Furthermore, it depends on self-organization, collaboration, and prioritizing activities based on their value. Prioritization allows the team delivers optimal output throughout the project life (Mohan et al., 2022). Lastly, the scrum utilizes the aspect of time-boxing and iterative development to enable managers and developers to build products that meet the customers’ within the shortest time possible. Based on practices, the method engages in a product backlog whereby lists of all requirements are made. It is then followed by developing a sprint plan that enables teams to break down the available tasks.
In the agile methodologies frameworks, the engagement and responsibilities of various personnel differ from one approach to another. For instance, an organization applying the scrum criteria in project management will be required to have a product owner. The individuals ensure that stakeholders are working in the same direction towards the set objectives of the program. They must formulate the expectations of the customers and the current trend in the market. Furthermore, the project has a scrum master; the person’s role is to make sure the team adheres to the scrum principles for effective operations by engaging in daily meetings, conducting reviews, and managing barriers. Lastly, the development teams that are in charge of performing the necessary activities in the scrum sprint, such as data analysts.
However, the XP personnel includes the customer that provides the stories about the product. An XP programmer is responsible for defining relevant tasks from the given requirements. Furthermore, other professionals are XP testers, XP coaches, and XP managers in charge of testing the functionality of the developed codes, overseeing projects, and scheduling meetings, respectively (Beecham et al., 2021). Lastly, the approach requires a doomsayer to notify the team about the risks.
Conclusion
Understanding the various agile methodologies for project management is essential for facilitating the maximum outcome of the program. It is important for business organizations to effectively evaluate the advantages and limitations associated with different agile frameworks before selecting the preferred one. When the company wants to gain adequately from any project, it is appropriate to use the XP method since it reduces time wasting and allows the team to modify the program during the progress. Furthermore, the management must consider the type of teams involved to promote proper collaboration.
References
Beecham, S., Clear, T., Lal, R., & Noll, J. (2021). Do scaling agile frameworks address global software development risks? An empirical study. Journal of Systems and Software, 171, 110823.
Hidalgo, E. S. (2019). Adapting the scrum framework for agile project management in science: Case study of a distributed research initiative. Heliyon, 5(3), e01447.
Mohan, P., Narayan, P., Thirugnanam, M., & Sarkar, S. (2022). XPS-MoSCoW: A prioritization-based hybrid agile model of SCRUM and extreme programming. International Journal of Software Innovation (IJSI), 10(1), 1-15.
Palopak, Y., & Huang, S. J. (2022). Correlation of agile principles and practices to software project performance: An AHP–Delphi analysis. International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, 1-25.