Is Agile Development Methodology Applied Differently in Small and Big Projects?

Agile has various methodologies that are used for software development. Some of these methodologies are more mature than others based on the overall acceptance, utility in various project scenarios and product roll-outs. Some type of companies, goals of the product and team structure favour a specific methodology owing to its efficiency, effectiveness and ease of implementation.  It is a diversified umbrella holding the following main methodologies:

SCRUM

Kanban

Lean

Extreme programming

DSDM

You could choose one from the above for your product/service. Some of the factors that determine which methodology will suit you best are:

1.Type of organisation & its culture

2.Maturity level of your industry/sector

3.Type of product/service that you are in charge of

4.Are you building a new product from scratch, or managing an existing product?

5.Is it a pure development product or just maintenance & bug fixing of existing product?

6.What is your team size, and are you co-located?

7.What is the business driver behind working on this product/service? Etc.

Based on the factors mentioned above, you could decide the Agile methodology that would serve you best. Hence, you have a choice and that could differ between small & big companies based on various factors. However, once you have chosen a methodology, it is advisable to follow it with full sincerity.

In my opinion, if a micro company of fewer than 10 employees uses SCRUM, or a small company of 250 employees uses SCRUM or a big organisation with 3000+ employees uses SCRUM, the methodology & principles of SCRUM shouldn’t change.

It’s like saying it doesn’t matter where you play football, at a county-level, region-level, national or international level, the rules of the game are still the same. And that shouldn’t change. Yes, the way you do things might be a little different based on the company, its culture, size and practicalities etc.

For e.g. some companies might not have the policy to use physical moving boards (due to health & safety norms), so that team would have to use an online tool to do their stand-ups.

For e.g. some companies would have 5 developers sitting in 5 different time zones, so it would be impossible to have a stand-up every day. So, in that case, you would still do stand-up, but in this case, you could use a shared document where the developers would share the items they would normally share on a stand-up: What they worked on yesterday, what they would be working on today and if there are any blockers they want to raise.

I strongly suggest following the guidelines, principles of the methodology you choose, as everything is inter-related. If you start to pick & choose, then I am afraid you are no longer doing Agile, but instead, what I call it lovingly – FR-Agile!!

If you have any other questions, do write to us and we will get back to you with the best possible solution.

Ask your questions on our Contact Us page.

Thanks,

Onkar Singh Lohtham | Founder & CPO | Lead Trainer