The Agile Manifesto contains four value statements that should be considered while working in an Agile project. These statements are not rules but rather preferences that encourage the focus on certain areas without eliminating the others.
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools: good products are built by teams that work together efficiently so, while tools and processes are important, they’re not as important as collaboration and effective communication. This can bind people, minimize conflicts, optimize the time spent in meetings. In this direction, the Communication in IT projects course underlined some valuable aspects: why it is important to communicate, what makes people involved in projects not communicate, what benefits does nonviolent communication bring.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation: while documentation has an important place in any project, the stakeholders will find it easier to understand a demo/working solution rather than a complex diagram.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation: only the stakeholders know and can tell what they want. They’re also highly likely to change their minds and, like everyone else involved in the project, learn more through its lifetime. In this direction most courses underlined that it is necessary to know and recognize the stakeholders involved, understand their needs and, while having a contract with them is important this will not replace the need for information exchange or effective communication.
- Responding to change over following a plan: In Agile, the focus is not on planning and control but on adapting and changing (the process, the solution, even the initial plan). The traditional models, covered also in Practical Project Management course, do not adhere to this and stick to the conventional, detailed planning and favor a sequential approach.