How do the Agile Principles support Customer Satisfaction? When the Agile Manifesto was drawn up in 2001, it embodied Four Values and Twelve Principles. These values and principles signalled a brand-new technique to Software Development. The first, and essential Principle states:-.
“Our Highest Priority Is To Satisfy The Customer Through Early And Continuous Delivery Of Valuable Software”.
This is a simple enough declaration to understand. What is not so obvious is the effort required to keep to the implied promise in this Principle.
Customer Satisfaction Requirements
In order to meet the value from the first principle, it requires:-.
- ‘Valuable Software’: To the Customer that means Software that fits their Requirements and is defect-free. To achieve this, the Requirements must be carefully constructed and the Software must be rigorously Tested. The Seventh Principle states that “Working Software Is The Primary Measure Of Progress”. The Software has been debugged and performs according to Specification.
- ‘Early Delivery’. The Software must be Delivered as early as possible. This is achieved in two ways. Firstly by delivering the leanest possible Product that will fulfil the Customer expectations. It should be without any frills attached. The Tenth Principle describes this as “Simplicity“. The second action is to break down the code into small work packets that can be coded and tested in a short time of two to eight weeks. This is stated in the Third Principle.
- ‘Continuous Delivery’: This requires that the rate of delivery needs to be consistent and sustained. This is accomplished by holding Retrospectives regularly. Continuous Improvement can be applied to the Processes and Practices to optimise efficiency. Through regular Reviews the rate of Development can be increased or at least sustained throughout the Scrum Project. The Eighth Principle states that “Agile Processes Promote Sustainable Development”.
Complying with the First Principle is the first big step in achieving Customer Satisfaction. There is also another important aspect to factor in:- the Customer must be involved in and committed to the Project. One of the Four Values calls for “Customer Collaboration“.
The Customer is King, but likewise Partner.
‘ Customer Collaboration’ can be really difficult to accomplish. It is an effort that needs to be driven from outside the IT Business system’s sphere of impact. To succeed there needs to be buy-in of C-suite executives.
In lots of organisations this requires an excellent deal of Change Management. A lot of the Customers for the Software anticipate that their Requirements will be Documented and signed-off. The Development Team will go off and develop the product. They will only return when the Product is ready for User Acceptance Testing. This is how it used to Work, with very mixed results. ‘Agile Scrum Development’ requires a joint Scrum Team (Scrum Master, Product Owner and Development Team) of the Business Customers and Development Team. The Fourth Principle states that.
“Business People And Developers Must Work Together Daily Throughout The Project.”.
Responsive to Market Forces
The business has to be responsive to Market forces. These market forces include competition and innovative disturbance which can change the Business Model overnight. The Second Principle states that the group must be prepared to effect Changes during Development.
The Sixth Principle emphasizes that Communication must be Face-To-Face whenever possible. In today’s world of remote Work, it is not always possible to Work Face-to-Face. The ability to Communicate Online through Software such as Skype or Webex makes it easier to mimic Face-to-Face conversations where video is used.
Customer Satisfaction and Getting the Best-Fit Product.
One of the biggest challenges in designing and building the optimal Product is determining what is critical and what is “nice-to-have”. To Deliver the right Product at the right time, it is essential to strip away any non-essential Features. These are the features that add only nominal Value to the Product as a whole. This is done prior to the Project beginning by specifying the “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP). The Project to Develop the Product can then be kicked off as soon as an MVP has actually been designed.
Keeping the Product Lean and Mean does not stop there. Keeping in mind that Changes can be asked for while the Development is in progress. Every Change must be evaluated to ensure it is critical to Project success. This should be carried out in consultation with all business Stakeholders. It should be a democratic and tactful decision via a majority vote.
Measuring Customer Satisfaction.
When User Requirements are being gathered, by crafting User Stories, for example, it is required to specify Customer Satisfaction right from the start. The User needs to state what the “Conditions of Satisfaction” will be for the Story or Feature being described. The conditions are expanded into Acceptance Criteria.
The Acceptance Criteria for a Work Item must be satisfied before the Work can be Signed-off as “Done”. The confidence levels of Business Stakeholders in the Project should be high throughout the Project. This is because of their daily interactions with the Scrum Team. This involvement can be defined as a “Customer Journey” from the need for a solution through to solution delivery. While customer journeys and mapping that journey are normally used when dealing with external Customers, they are very useful for any Customer engagement. Mapping the Customer journey in this case can also help in the Change Management Process where your Stakeholders have never participated in the Agile way of Work.
Knowing that you did your Best.
Among the strongest signs that your Project provided an excellent Customer experience will be where business adopts the disciplines of Agile. It has been acknowledged that working in Teams is the brand-new method of Work on the 21st century.