How Agile Can Help Remote Teams Work

Remote teams have their own pros and cons but managing remote teams can be a big challenge, specially when no working methodology is being followed. Thanks to the frameworks like Agile that the remote teams working in different parts of the world have equal chances of success. When you combine Agile and Remote Teams; you get Remote Agile Teams, which is possibly one of the greatest ease that modern world can offer.

Many businesses are now opting to get their work done via Agile Teams which are flexible, super-fast, dependable and most importantly efficient. There is a constant demand of Agile, especially for the Software development companies. According to the stats released by Atlassian in 2016, about 80% of the software development companies use Agile Software development methodology.

Since Agile is attracting so much businesses, it has become vital for remote teams to follow end to end Agile Development Methodology. Which has given birth to modern Remote Agile Teams. 

1. Clear milestones

When working with remote teams the product owners usually don't set out clear milestones. Instead they just assign a project and when things go wrong both parties suffer. While with Agile the product owners and team decide the plan of execution for the project by setting out clear milestones. This way the remote teams even being on different continent know the expectations and goals for any project. Setting out clear milestones also help in avoiding any sort of problems that might come in way by outlining the requirements and deliverables first. 

Read suggestions here: Divide Agile Software in clear milestones. 

2. Daily and weekly reports 

Agile includes concepts like Scrum and Sprint meetings. Sprint meetings are done to plan activities for upcoming weeks. The team and product owner mutually decide the deliverables for upcoming specific weeks. While Scrum meetings are held on daily basis with the team in which every team member reports the progress of their part and any possible hurdles. All these reports are communicated with the product owners to stay on the same page and to avoid any potential issues. Remote teams specifically can benefit from this framework as it doesn't leave any room for confusion and the progress of remote team can be easily tracked with Agile methodology.

3. Diversity support

Remote teams have the best chances to bring diversity and experience into the overall culture of any organization. Your one team might not have the same creative and experienced approach which can be a main foundation of your team. Agile supports the diversity of remote teams because it provides a well organized framework to get the work done according to the requirements. While Agile is always open to changes the team can offer the best solution to any changes, thus highlighting and supporting the diversity of all remote teams.

Learn how Agile can unlock diversity. 

4. Flexibility 

Agile promises flexibility! And with the higher affordability of remote teams, it becomes even more promising to go for it. Remote teams have different expertise and usually higher affordability but when you put Agile in the mix all teams can be made flexible, dependable and co-operating because of core Agile principles. Agile Teams and product owners go hand in hand for success of the project and due to flexibility of Agile, any desired or unforeseen circumstances can be catered.

5. Timely Deliveries

Another prominent benefit of Agile is that you get the work done within the project time. When working with Agile you get to set the milestones together with team and still leave room for any extra problem that may come. What can and can’t be achieved is usually cleared out first and then the deadlines are set. However, if any problem comes in the way, the cushion time can be consumed. When the remote teams work on Agile principles, they can meet their deadlines and with the Agile flexibility it becomes even easier for the remote teams to make timely deliveries. 

6. Lower Risks

Remote teams have higher risks because of communication gaps and expectation differences. 
However, when working with dependable Agile Teams, you thoroughly minimize the risks of failure. These risks range from the investment risks to productivity risks; thanks to Agile these risks are not a problem anymore. Mainly because of constant feedback from the product owners, the risks for any sort of changes afterwards can be thoroughly eliminated. Also, the constant feedback sets out the right way for team to progress, which is very important for remote teams. 

Read in detail how Agile helps you reduce risks here. 

7. Agile project management tools

Agile took the world by storm because of its strong concepts and that why many realized its potential to help in software development. There are many Agile project management tools available in the market. However, only few are rather detailed and customizable. Two most detailed Agile projects management tools are Jira and Yodiz. Jira is owned by Atlassian and Yodiz is run by Viztrend. Both tools have Agile as core and are very customizable, however Yodiz edges out Jira in terms of cost effectiveness. These tools are a bliss for remote teams and help them work on Agile principles with extensive features support that help in easy Sprint planning and project tracking. 

Develop the skills to lead projects effectively from start to finish with our PRINCE2 Practitioner course. Get a comprehensive PRINCE2 practitioner course outline and become a project management expert. Enroll today!

Final Thoughts 

Agile has made lives easier by giving a very easy and flexible framework for project management. This even becomes more interesting when it works even better for remote teams. Remote teams working on Agile methodologies are efficient and productive as compared to non-agile remote teams. 

Remote teams working on Agile: