Agile Method

Agile Method [Advantages and Disadvantages]
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Advantages and Disadvantages of the Agile Method
Advantages
Over the years, agile has grown into a renowned methodology with wide adaption, which can be attributed to its high effectiveness through the provision of multiple benefits to project teams, guarantors, project managers, and consumers, altogether.
Innovation and Viability
In a contemporary world that has increased developments and progress of technology, the agile methodology advocates for the incorporation of recent advancements. Primarily, the emphasis of the methodology is the delivery of a product that depicts a possibility of satisfying the investors, consumers, and all other stakeholders (Bull, 2015). On the other hand, the rapid development of technology prompts successful corporations to have a strategy that accommodates the expansion of possibilities of their product based on outcomes and events, all of which the agile methodology addresses. Based on the methodology’s key principles, a procedure of multiple little growths requires less complex management and implementation as compared to wholesale approach that calls for a complete version (Alexander, 2017; Bull, 2015). Still, the viability aspect of the agile method positively contributes to the level of motivation. Typically, a framework that focuses on annual updates makes weekly incremental alterations appear as milestones towards the realization of the project objectives.
Pricing and Transparency
The contractual properties of the agile methodology advocate for transparency.

Mainly, the regular agile contract pliably describes the types of resources necessary for a project in addition to where an organization should dedicate them (Dawson, 2015). Furthermore, consumers actively partake in defining the requirements and relative expenses with the stakeholders involved with project development. Essentially, the module of the methodology enables open discussions, which is a contribution to the unity of the development team (Dawson, 2015). The time and expenses linked to the functionality of a project are subject to discussion among the team members.
Business Value Comes First
The processes involved in the agile methodology make it a requirement that the organization deals with higher value functionalities first, which reflects on the business. For instance, an organization could decide to deploy software faster as the foundation for ensuring the consumers enjoy the benefits earlier (Dawson, 2015). Moreover, given these foundations, the agile method ensures a minimum wastage of resources since the team works on up-to-date errands. On the other hand, the focus on the business value guarantees better adaptation to alterations and faster reactions (Alexander, 2017).
Great Communication
As part of the project, the agile method require active participation of clients for improved communication between them and their providers. More so, the clients receive consistent information and detail concerning all the project developments (Alexander, 2017; Bull, 2015). All the stakeholders including the agile practitioners can share knowledge easily and receive instant feedback, which is essential for faster detection of difficulties and flaws. In addition to improving the morale of the team, the concrete communication contributes to an optimized development process and a lighter weight framework (Dawson, 2015). Still, the organization maintains augmented attention towards specific consumer demands courtesy of the increased frequency of collaborative efforts.
Costs
The agile methodology advocates for regular installments of payment based on the finished and sanctioned work (Alexander, 2017). Therefore, organizations, and other clients view the expenses based on each functionality prior to programming and can drop the less-significant modules or products to decrease the collective expenses. This results in a reduction of waste through minimized usage of resources (Dawson, 2015; Bull, 2015). Moreover, it offers augmented suppleness and prosperity through efforts that are more focused.
Disadvantages
Limited Predictability
In the case of some project deliverables, the development team is unable to quantify the comprehensive levels of input required to achieve the set objectives, particularly in the initial development processes of the project life cycle (Dawson, 2015). Consequently, the development teams using the agile method for the first time operate with fear of the apparent nonentities resulting in frustration, weak processes, and bad decision-making (Fridman, 2016).
Greater Demands, More time and Commitment
The agile method requires consistent communication between the stakeholders, which should be face-to-face conversations, mostly (Fridman, 2016; Alexander, 2017). The close cooperation required among all the involved parties poses challenges inform of increased demand for time and commitment. For instance, the clients must present themselves for prompt testing and approval of the different phases before the development team moves to the next levels (Dawson, 2015). Despite the positive results of the approach, it is onerous and consumes a lot of time and energy. Still, the fundamentals of the agile methods demand collaborative efforts and increased involvement of the users for success. Mostly, the clients must be subject to training as a necessity for their success in product development (Bull, 2015). On the downside, failure to involve clients negatively affects quality and successful completion in addition to imposing a poor image on the company in charge of development.
Lack of Necessary documentation
The agile method has documentation with limited detail since the prerequisites of the project include clarification just before development (Fridman, 2016). Consequently, when new members are recruited into the development team, they experience complexities such as knowing the details regarding specific features and the level of performance needed. This is a disadvantage that results in misconstructions and additional challenges (Dawson, 2015).
Project Easily Falls Off Track
The start of the agile method needs limited planning and is based on the assumption that the needs of the client change constantly. Therefore, due to the limited information regarding the apparent and forecasted changes, the agile method experiences limitations (Dawson, 2015). Additionally, when a client’s communication is vague, the development team might put increased efforts on the wrong areas of development (Fridman, 2016). The method can influence a consistent change in the project scope prompting the ever-changing products to last infinitely.
References
Alexander, M. (2017). Agile project management: a beginner’s guide. CIO. Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/article/3156998/agile-development/agile-project-management-a-beginners-guide.html
Bull, N. (2015). Advantages and disadvantages of Agile Project Management. Linked In. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-advantages-disadvantages-agile-project-management-nich-bull
Dawson, C. 2015. The pros and cons of utilizing Agile Methodologies. Nearshore Americas. Retrieved from http://www.nearshoreamericas.com/agile-methodology-advantages-disadvantages/
Fridman, A. (2016). The Massive downside of agile software development. Inc. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/adam-fridman/the-massive-downside-of-agile-software-development.html