Agile is more of a Management philosophy than a software life cycle methodology

Agile as a software development methodology is getting big popularity. It offers flexibility, empowerment of team, manages evolution of requirement, and provides a predictable development environment. There are many companies which are practicing agile development methodologies to improve the software development success. It is very well used and suitable for Product Development. Products are conceptualized and the final shape emerges slowly. Agile becomes very suitable for such environment.

Research shows that more and more companies are getting into agile bandwagon. The adaptation varies greatly. Many a times a part usage of agile is seen in different project environment. Agile is more of a Management philosophy than a software development life cycle. It can be utilized in different work environment and solving many chronic Management problems.

Blame game between Operation and recruitment function is not a new phenomenon. Such situation is very unpleasant and often occurs when there is a huge recruitment load. Once the classic recruitment process starts breaking, the shifting of responsibilities also starts. The recruitment cycle has stages like Job requisition creation, scanning the market, Getting potential candidates, short listing them, technical interview and other steps in line with a company requirement. Here is a story of a company which sweated in recruiting 30- 40 resources a month. Naturally the company was a small company. Once the company got a requirement to ramp up 90 resources in three weeks time frame, there was a big challenge. This was a mammoth task. It challenged the process in existence.

The agile was being adopted for software development in the company. It was realized that the principle could be utilized to solve this problem. The team was formed with participants like recruiters, technical interviewers, Managers who can approve selection, administration staffs etc. A scrum master was nominated. Stand up meeting was scheduled every day at 4 PM. The scrum meeting was conducted for 15 minutes and every one talked about three things – what he did in last 24 hours, what are the plans for next 24 hours and any bottleneck being faced. Scrum master worked with Management to debottleneck on daily basis. This team got a great success. They could meet their target for recruiting 90 resources with different skill profile. It was a great success! A success which can be boasted by this company.

I will argue agile is very powerful tool. It is much beyond software development methodology. It is a life changing tool. Some of the agile practices can be used for improving overall company's performance, creating team sprit and enriching work culture. Agile is much beyond software development methodology.
Bishram