Principles Part 1 - Teams, Visions and Values

Last post I put forward 7 principles that I think every agile methodology should have. In this post, I'll be explaining (hopefully) what each of those principles means and why I think it is important. To recap, the six principles for a successful methodology are -

• They are built around small, self-organising teams

• The team has a clear vision of what they are doing and where they fit into the bigger picture

• The team delivers a regular flow of value via a well defined backlog of work

• There is a content authority responsible for making sure decisions are made quickly

• There is a clear bidirectional service agreement between the team and the rest of the organisation

• There is a fast feedback loop that allows the team and organisation to optimise both the process and the product.

• The methodology is self-similar at scale.

So, let's start looking at these in more detail.