Introduction to Agile & Lean Methodologies

Are you planning to develop a carrier in project management or software development? Then you must be aware of the two most popular project management methodologies Lean and Agile.

These two methodologies are mostly used or followed in software development for faster and more sustainable results. In this article, you will get to know what these two popular Methodologies and how similar and different they are.

What is Lean Development Methodology?

Lean Methodology is a set of knowledge that is developed based on manufacturing and focuses on delivering better products through continuous improvement.

You can easily say that Lean and Agile ideology is created from different parts of the world. Lean development was developed in Japan in the 1950s or ’60s by an engineer named Taiichi Ohno.  And it is known to the world as the Toyota manufacturing technique.

Principles of Lean Methodology

Here are the traditional rules or concepts followed in lean methodology –

• The lean methodology states ‘do something when someone needs it, rather than hoping someone would want it. That is the product should be made only when there is a demand.
• Take time to increase the quality in the non-demand times, it also increases the production and efficiency.
• Instead of doing a particular job repeatedly should focus on improving the quality of the work you are doing
• The production will be of more quality if it is done in small lots.

Though the above traditional concepts are implemented in software development emphasizing quality improvement. It says to remove all that doesn’t add value.

In short, lean development focuses on increasing quality and customer satisfaction continuously.

What is Agile Development Approach?

Agile is a development framework that contains continuous iteration and development of the software which aims at the final customer satisfaction. The development cycle is divided different sprint, which is usually two weeks.

At the start of each sprint the consumer requirements are gathered and at the end developed code is present before the consumer for testing. There are different types of Agile Project Management techniques like Kanban, Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), etc…

Principle of Agile Methodology

The basic principle of the Agile methodology is that the development process should be flexible enough to accept the change.

Advantages of Agile Methodology

Here are some advantages of agile development methodology –

• It assures a better quality of development
• Best choice for large and complex projects with non –defined funds.
• It is an incremental process and any change can be made in the mid of the development, this reduce the development risk.

Difference: Agile vs Lean development

Both of these development or project management methods aim at improving the quality of the work by continuous testing or supervision. But there are many differences between them. Here are some of the important differences between them –

PARAMETER	AGILE DEVELOPMENT	LEAN DEVELOPMENT
Origin	It is a software model that contains six phases of the Software Development Life Cycle(SDLC)	It is also a software development model derived from the manufacturing model.
Principles	The principles are derived from the Agile Manifesto.	It follows the traditional principle of the lean manufacturing model.
Types	There are different types of agile software development frameworks, like Kanban, Scrum, etc…	There is no further classification or adaptation of the Lean development model
Focus	It is all about the customer satisfaction and value of the product.	It focuses on the improvement in product quality and the speed of development.
Suitability	It can be used for any type of project can small and large.	It is better to use it for the small batches.
Flexibility	It is a more flexible framework, as the requirements or plan can change in a different phase.	It is not flexible enough to meet the dynamic changes in the deliverables.
Approach	It follows the continuous iteration approach.	It supports the continuous inspection and adaptation of the product.
Steps or Phases	It has six phases in its development model	It has seven principles in the traditional manufacturing model.

Download the Comparison Table: Agile vs Lean

Conclusion:

Though both of the models are focused on the quality and flexibility of the development cycle, comparatively agile development is the best choice for software development. It has various frameworks that assist the fast and flexible software development life cycle.

If you any more questions regarding this discussion please leave them in the comment section below.

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