Startups Innovation and Agility in Action

Nowadays, startups operate in an environment of constant uncertainty and rapid changes, making their main challenges to consistently innovate, work agilely to leverage resources, and meet objectives enabling them to achieve both the scalability and profitability necessary for success.

Experts and leaders in the startup field have diverse opinions on the most efficient work methodology for these organizations. However, most agree that agility and adaptability are fundamental. In this article, we'll mention some of the most popular methodologies worldwide.

What does it mean to be agile in the business context?

Jeff Sutherland, one of the creators of Scrum, a well-known agile methodology, defines agility as 'the organization's capacity to make data-driven decisions rapidly, respond effectively to market changes, and continue delivering value to customers.'

In fact, the Agile Manifesto, created by a group of software development experts, provides a maxim that specifically explains this definition: 'We value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools; working software over extensive documentation; customer collaboration over contract negotiation; and responding to change over following a plan.'

In this sense, Agile methodology is an approach that allows startups to quickly adapt to changing market conditions. The most commonly used ones for project management are:

Scrum: Focuses on collaboration, transparency, and incremental delivery. It divides the project into fixed-time sprints and relies on key roles like the Scrum Master and Product Owner. Scrum encourages constant review of processes and work progress. This involves regularly checking the project and product status to identify deviations and areas for improvement. Additionally, it prioritizes customer needs and desires when defining and managing the Product Backlog (a prioritized list of tasks for developing features, enhancements, and fixes).

Kanban: Visualizes workflow and limits work in progress. It uses Kanban boards to maintain efficient time and resource management. It's highly adaptable and flexible. Changes can be made at any time since there are no fixed sprints. Work items can be added or rearranged based on changing needs. Its approach follows the principle of 'pull,' meaning the team works on items based on their capacity and priority.

Extreme Programming (XP): Focuses on high-quality software development practices. It includes practices like pair programming, automated testing, continuous integration, and frequent deliveries. It particularly suits small teams and projects requiring rapid software delivery. It focuses on close collaboration, constant feedback, and continuous quality improvement, making it effective for environments where requirements change frequently and adaptability is essential.

Lean Software Development: Inspired by Lean Manufacturing principles, LSD focuses on eliminating the unnecessary and delivering value efficiently. It promotes demand-based customer development and continuous improvement. Its aim is to enhance workflow efficiency and reduce delivery time. Its approach aims to develop only the functionalities needed at the moment they're needed, avoiding excessive uncompleted work. This is achieved by removing bottlenecks, automating repetitive tasks, and improving team collaboration.

Adaptability and creativity with the customer at the center:

On the other hand, methodologies that prioritize adaptability, creativity, and putting the customer at the center as paramount elements are varied and can include a combination of approaches. Some of these are:

Design Thinking: Puts the customer at the center. It's based on empathy and creativity to solve problems. Highly adaptable, it encourages interdisciplinary collaboration.

Lean Startup: Focuses on rapidly building Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) to efficiently validate ideas and learn from customers

Customer Development: Although not a methodology itself, it focuses on deeply understanding customer needs and iteration based on continuous feedback. It's used in conjunction with agile methodologies to focus on the user from the start

Agile UX (User Experience): It combines agile methodologies and user-centered design practices. This approach incorporates creativity and adaptability to design meaningful user experiences.

DevOps: Focuses on collaboration between development and operations teams to accelerate software delivery. For startups, this means automation, continuous delivery, monitoring, and feedback.

These are just some of the most commonly used methodologies currently. However, there are many others that could be useful depending on the organization's context.

From our role as a software studio, we believe in flexibility and innovation as principles for developing projects and adopting work methodologies according to each company's objectives to maximize efficiency and increase their chances of success in a highly competitive market.

At The App Master, we have versatile and specialized teams that combine agility with adaptability, generating satisfactory results for the startups we collaborate with. Our vision is to work hand in hand with these companies in search of solutions that allow them to grow their businesses, listening to their needs, and providing value with our experience, promoting agile development environments.

Ultimately, choosing the right methodology will depend on the nature of the business, but the ability to adapt and continuously learn is essential in any approach."