Agile

What is agile?

Working with the agile methodology enables teams to quickly adapt to change — internal or external to the business — respond to user needs faster, and get products to market in a more cost-effective way.

If a software team follows the agile method accurately, they should find it easier to make decisions that result in better software development overall.

How do agile, the Agile Manifesto, and agile principles relate?

Agile is the broader way of working. The Agile Manifesto is the framework that helped define it, and the agile principles are the 12 guidelines that show teams how to apply agile in practice. In other words, agile is the overall approach, while the manifesto and principles explain the mindset behind it.

What are the advantages of agile working?

Agile helps teams deliver value faster, adapt to change more easily, and make better decisions as they go. Some of the biggest advantages include:

1. Faster delivery

By breaking work into smaller increments — and specifically, working in sprints — agile teams can release updates sooner, test ideas earlier, and reduce time to market.

2. Better responsiveness to customer feedback

Agile creates more opportunities to learn from users and stakeholders throughout development, rather than waiting until the end of a project.

eBook

Agile: Best practices and methodologies

Read now

3. Clearer prioritization

Because agile teams review priorities regularly, they can focus on the work that matters most instead of sticking to outdated plans.

4. Better alignment across teams

For larger organizations, agile can make it easier for product, engineering, design, and leadership teams to stay aligned as priorities change. By creating frequent feedback loops — either testing with end-users or amongst stakeholders — agile teams can confidently prioritize the products, features and builds that matter to users and the wider business strategy. This may mean reshuffling priority tasks, switching strategic focus or dropping activities altogether.

For enterprise product teams, agile is not just about working faster. It is about helping multiple teams respond to change, balance stakeholder input, and stay focused on the highest-value work. In practice, that often requires a structured approach to product prioritization so teams can adapt without losing strategic direction.