Politics
Stop Starting, Start Finishing with Agile – ReadWrite
The competitive, oversaturated market pushes companies to seek better ways to manage workload and optimize the working process to strive for continuous improvement and client satisfaction. At the same time, leaders are also looking towards acquiring that entrepreneur Agility. Thus, many have been fostering Agile thinking and mindset within their teams.
Agile mindset is a system of beliefs characterized by a customer-centric approach, emphasizing communication and consistent collaboration with the customer and inside the team. It is executed through practices of Kanban, Scrum, XP. The four Agile values, defined in the Agile Manifesto, deliver value to the customer, responsiveness to change, effective communication, and people centricity.
What is Agile Thinking?
Agile thinking is about embracing the philosophy of continuous change and growth over time. It’s more than just working by the Agile principles. It’s about achieving excellence: delivering maximum value and creating the best product possible based on the customer’s needs, responding to changes as the project progresses to achieve the final result envisioned by the client.
The primary objective of any project is client satisfaction. This can be achieved through relentless work and hundreds of hours put in by the team. But at some point, you have to look back and make sure that you not only work hard but work smart.
You can put in double the hours to complete a huge chunk of work, or you can optimize your process and deliver results faster.
You may work on a big project from start to finish and present it to the client, work in iterations, show some usable functionality at each step of the process, take in feedback, and adjust on the go.
In this day and age, when everything is moving fast, and change is inevitable, the latter is the preferable choice. More and more companies lean toward adopting agile culture into their team through its principles and behaviors.
Stop Starting, Start Finishing with Agile
The whole Agile culture might be clearly explained by the statement “Stop starting, start finishing” that lies in the methodology basis.
This notorious quote has been attributed to many individuals, but, originally it was used at a stand-up meeting in February of 2004 by David J. Anderson, the thought leader and the pioneer of the Kanban movement and CEO of Kanban University. The meaning behind it comes from one of the key ideas of Kanban, which is limiting the number of items in progress, preferably working on one task at a time.
Productivity may be a concern if you are working on multiple tasks simultaneously. That is why the focus should be on finishing tasks, one way of accomplishing which may be having fewer tasks “in progress.” You want to deliver tangible results, instead of piling up unfinished tasks and becoming overwhelmed with the sheer amount of work that needs to be completed, all within deadlines.
What are the Actionable Tips for “Stop Starting, Start Finishing?”
Or maybe you are a hardcore multitasker and cannot begin to imagine how this could be feasible? Here are some tips on how you can do this.
- Try not to have unfinished tasks migrate from Sprint to Sprint. Maximize the effectiveness of your Sprint planning and be realistic about your capacity.
- Don’t pile up WIP items. Having too many tasks in progress creates an elusiveness of being too busy and reduces overall productivity.
- Know how you spend your time. How much time it takes you to complete a task. This will help you improve planning and manage your time better. That way, you can achieve balance and maximum efficiency, reduce stress, and be a better version of yourself.
- Know your dependencies. If you can’t effectively finish tasks within a given time frame, this bears a burden on the entire team and even cross-team. Be mindful of the people who rely on you having finished the task on time.
- Be committed to finishing the tasks that you take up. Know what you can manage, and don’t bite off more than you can chew.
- Don’t bounce between unfinished tasks. This may mean that you are inefficient and not completing any tasks. Instead, it would be better to focus on one task at a time.
- Keep a zero inbox. Keep up effective communication with your team and the customer.
- Deliver acceptable results. Favor value over output. Your main objective is to deliver a useable product to the customer. Know what is expected and deliver results.
- Teamwork and collaboration. It’s not only about working on individual tasks but what’s important is to assess if, as a team, we can collaborate towards completing a user story and how to improve this teamwork.
The point being, you should manage your time and workload better, improve prioritization of tasks, know what’s expected, and work as a team.
How to think “Agile.”
Applying Agile basics to your work routine may be an easy adjustment, but what presents a real challenge is to change the way you think, adjust your entire mindset. You may try to achieve this by creating appropriate conditions for improvement in your working environment.
Agile rests upon the three pillars of People, Processes, and Tools. Thereby derive the main principles to achieve organizational Agility:
- Define the purpose. Set your eyes on the goal and do whatever it takes to reach it. Team collaboration directed at completing a user-story takes priority over each individual to-do list, as it takes a team effort on all stages of the project cycle to create a useable product or piece of functionality.
- Visualize the scope of work. To assist this, teams use a Kanban board available in many management tools like Jira and the like. With a Kanban board, you can see the entire scope of work for the planned period of time and the status of each task.
- Embrace planning in all its forms. These are PI planning, sprint planning, daily stand-ups.
- Seek continuous improvement. Measure your performance, set goals, and plan ahead. Have regular checkpoints to see how well you are doing.
The Agile process model, as depicted in the image below, shows a single cycle of a project which comprises gathering the requirements, design stage, development, testing, deployment, and review.
Upon the completion of each cycle, the client might find that there are new requirements for the project. Thus, the iterative nature of the project allows remaining flexible to any changes that may arise and respond to the client’s feedback upon each step of the process. Embracing the change allows for the project to grow and improve over time.
Benefits of implementing Agile thinking
Implemented properly Agile approach brings substantial business values for companies who apply it comparing with those who don’t and with any other methodology. Among some of the essential Agile benefits that matter for businesses are:
Increased productivity
The team can deliver higher quality products fast. A minimum viable product is delivered at the end of every sprint.
Continuous growth and innovation
Agile is a “growth” mindset. Flexibility to immediate changes in requirements means that the project constantly improves. This is a great environment to embrace innovation in all its aspects. This applies both to the project, team performance and processes. Through regular reviews and feedback, each team member is encouraged to always learn and grow as a professional. The processes are consistently reviewed and adapted to the current needs to increase efficiency and productivity.
Customer satisfaction
Agile is characterized by increased customer engagement in the project. The customer has more of a say in what is being done and how. If any changes are required, they are accounted for and implemented in the next iteration of the project. The customers get exactly what they want.
Trust and transparency
Agile is all about trust in team and business operations generally. That’s why companies that are using this approach are considered to be more trusted to partner up with other businesses. A great deal of trust is built by transparency. The team and the client know exactly what’s going on at any given stage of the project. The team is committed to the cause, with everyone working towards reaching the final goal. Clarity helps avoid issues, delays, and costly errors.
Reduced risks
The Agile approach encourages the team to be flexible to changes and be responsive to new requirements that may arise. In fact, it’s encouraged to implement changes in the project as possible. This has proven to greatly reduce risks and associated costs.
Summing up
Having adopted Agile thinking as the primary foundation for the workplace philosophy allows companies to keep up with the demands of the market and stay on top of the competition.
Learning and applying the principles to everyday routines and activities makes up an Agile team that is goal-oriented and responsive to change with the sole focus on creating a high-quality product and bringing to life the idea envisioned by the client.
Top Image Credit: liza summer; pexels; thank you!
Politics
The Top 7 AI Podcasts You Need To Hear Now
With artificial intelligence now being used to write everything from college homework to Congressional speeches, it’s more important than ever to stay on top of the latest advances in machine learning, natural language processing, and all things AI.
We’ve brought together a list of seven of the top podcasts that track and explain the newest developments. They look behind the scenes at the technology behind the platforms, and they discuss how artificial intelligence is already upending business, marketing, data analysis, and more.
The TWIML AI Podcast
The TWIML AI Podcast used to be known as This Week in Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence. The new name is shorter and snappier, but the content is just as deep and complex. Hosted by Sam Charrington, the podcast has produced more than 630 weekly episodes featuring interviews with a host of guests — usually technicians and scientists—working in the field of AI. The subjects of the discussions are often fairly complex. If you want to understand the human thinking behind artificial thinking, the show is essential listening.
The Bad AI Show
If interviews with Stanford professors aren’t your thing, try the Bad AI Show. Hosted by Joel Comm and Travis Wright of the Bad Crypto Podcast. The pair take a fun, laidback approach to new technology, explaining clearly — and wittily — the latest developments in artificial intelligence and its practical effects. Think of the TWIML AI podcast as a Stanford lecture and the Bad AI Show as the lounge next door. It’s a fun, relaxed chat with smart people about AI topics that get everyone thinking. The show is released as both an audio and video version.
The AI Podcast
One of the biggest challenges that a discussion of AI generates is how the new technology will be applied in the real world. Noah Kravitz’s The AI Podcast has already generated almost 200 answers. Each episode features an interview with experts using artificial intelligence to further their work. They’ve included a wildlife biologist tracking endangered rhinos, an astrophysicist analyzing starlight, and language learners grappling with Arabic pronunciation and even the delivery of sports highlights.
Data Skeptic
As you listen to those interviews with people applying AI to such a broad range of fields, it’s worth asking about the effectiveness of AI in solving those problems and whether they couldn’t be solved in an easier way. Claims for the benefits of artificial intelligence will grow, so make sure you’re also listening to Kyle Polich’s Data Skeptic. The podcast has already produced more than 470 episodes with interviews that take down the hype and take a realistic view of what AI can and can’t do.
The AI in Business Podcast
One area where both the hype and the expectation will be highest is in business applications of artificial intelligence. Each week, on the AI in Business Podcast, Daniel Faggella, the CEO of Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research, interviews AI executives from leading firms and startups to explore how business is adapting AI and exploring the opportunities the new technology offers.
The Marketing AI Show
Business is a broad topic. The Marketing AI Show tries to narrow things down with a focus specifically on the way marketers are using artificial intelligence to improve sales. The podcast is created by the Marketing AI Institute and the Marketing AI Conference (MAICON), and it’s essential listening for anyone wondering how the new technology can help their business identify leads and improve conversions.
Eye on AI
Finally, Eye on A.I. takes a broader, more journalistic approach to the developments of artificial intelligence. Out every two weeks and hosted by New York Times correspondent Craig S. Smith, each episode features an interview with a leader pushing AI into new ground. Episodes have discussed AI in supply chain optimization and finance but they’ve also delved behind the scenes to look at issues surrounding privacy and the future of AI itself.
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Jean Balzan; Pexels; Thank you!
Politics
Top 10 IT Staff Augmentation Companies in 2023
Brand value is essential for business, and most companies focus on this goal. Plus, the employees play a vital role here, so companies have now started relying on IT staff augmentation through which they can scale their services by hiring a specialized team of developers that help them focus on their goals.
Irrespective of size, businesses trust IT staff augmentation companies when recruiting the best talent in the field. Top IT staff augmentation companies help businesses fill the gap they feel due to the shortfall of employees. In addition, they help provide talented teams that justify the project needs within a specific budget.
According to a report by the Manpower group, there has been a talent shortage of more than three hundred percent in the last decade. Moreover, more than 65% of companies find it challenging to hire candidates for the job. Staff augmentation can help you find the best person for the job.
To help you find the best staff augmentation company, we’ve curated a list of the companies so you can evaluate them based on your tech expertise and budget.
Top 10 IT Staff Augmentation Companies List for 2023
1. eSparkBiz
With more than 12+ years of experience and 250+ development staff, you can trust the company for its tech solutions and expertise. It has been featured in the top IT staff augmentation companies.
Plus, it has a more than 95 percent client retention rate and has catered to more than 20+ countries worldwide. Moreover, it is ISO 27001 certified with CMMI Level 3. The company has a robust team of developers and project designers that take care of clients’ project needs.
- eSparkBiz strategically merges design ideas with business analytics. Additionally, it helps with documentation, wireframing, and UX.
Apart from conventional software development, the company also offers staff augmentation. The company has a rating of 4.9 on Clutch and five on HubSpot, which speaks volumes about its professionalism.
2. Premier Systems Inc
Founded in 1993, Premier Systems Inc. has been the biggest name in staff augmentation since its inception. The company follows the principle of client service and satisfaction. Plus, it meets the marketplace demand in a well-planned, cost-effective, and timely manner.
- The team of recruiting specialists works to achieve clients’ business targets quickly.
- Along with providing exceptional value, it maintains interpersonal relationships with clients.
The best part is; it caters to a wide range of business solutions that equip you with the right people and the right skills for the job. The company provides services like – direct placement, managed IT services, contract staffing, contract-to-hire, and project-based services.
3. Flexible Staffing Services
Flexible staffing services – established in 1991, have been catering to staffing and augmentation services. It has a strong connection to the success of many companies.
It meets the extended and specific needs to find industrial and critical staffing. Moreover, the company concentrates on the recruitment, development, and retention of dedicated individuals for different roles. Also, it provides meaningful and corporate support.
- The company sees each associate as a valuable resource and adheres to the standards of excellence.
Moreover, it meets clients’ needs by supplying flexible, superior, and competitive market rates. It is indeed a trusted name in IT recruitment and augmentation services.
4. Veraqor Inc
The company provides the best technical expertise powered by cutting-edge technology. Whether you are a startup or an enterprise, you can rely on effective business solutions from the company. It is ranked among the top IT staff augmentation companies.
- It provides a selected list of clients, ensuring the unhindered progress of projects. Moreover, it shapes to timely delivery and excellent recruitment services.
Apart from staffing and recruitment, it provides tech solutions like – data management, Artificial intelligence, Machine learning, and Cloud migration. The company can help create customized solutions that cater to your business needs. Veraqor Inc. harnesses the power of technology to shape a better future for clients.
5. CXR agency
CXR agency empowers clients to achieve their business goals through innovative technologies and web solutions. Having completed 400+ projects and serving 200+ clients, it has expertise in client and business relationships.
In addition to the collective experience, it has 30+ awards to its credit, which makes the company a trusted name in IT services. Plus, it believes that technology, in its truest sense – always yields results.
- You can trust CXR agency for recruitment and staff augmentation services.
- You can easily scale your tech teams and recruitment processes with an effective software development team.
6. ProCoders
ProCoders is an IT out-staffing company that works in collaborative environments and drives the best IT teams to companies. It helps build customized teams that keep you ahead of the game.
Moreover, it offers flexible solutions for IT staff augmentation. It works in lockstep that ensures consistency, information accuracy, and punctuality.
Over the years, the company has become a big name in IT staff augmentation services. In fact, in the last five years, the company has provided more than 150 dedicated teams to clients worldwide. Moreover, the solutions provided help you to find the right people for your business needs.
7. Newxel
With more than 100+ satisfied clients and 500+ teams of developers, you can trust the company for its expertise and experience.
If your goal is to attract the best team or the best developer for the project, the company will help you hire the team that will suit your need and budget.
- With distributed development and augmentation – you can get complete support for your services.
- The company works on a transparent corporation model that allows you to get the best software engineers and set up a local development team in the location you choose.
Newxel also offers varied tech solutions like – web development, mobile development, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, etc.
8. BEON.tech
The company provides access to high-caliber talent in a limited time frame. The matching specialists and team learn about your company culture and suggest custom-fit candidates according to the requirements.
- Apart from the successful allocation, the company helps build long-term partnerships.
Plus, it works on a simplified onboarding process that equips the best talents from different parts of the world.
BEON.tech helps you search different profiles and suggest candidates based on your roles. It lets you review cultural and technical insights so that you can get a better understanding of the candidate’s skill. It is one of the top companies for IT staff augmentation.
9. DOIT Software
DOIT Software is a trusted name in IT staff augmentation. It primarily focuses on your business needs, and you can get the best service based on your service requirements.
If you are a startup business, the company can help in the recruitment of a dedicated development team that will boost performance. Plus, it can strengthen the internal team with other resources. When you share your business ideas with the company – it will help you develop perfect solutions for your team.
Moreover, it has great domain expertise in healthcare, sports, wellness, fintech, management, and many other sectors. It also offers other tech solutions like – web and mobile app development, Data Science, and Artificial intelligence.
10. Devlane
Devlane is a software development company, but it provides different tech solutions like – web development, mobile app development, eCommerce, IT strategy consulting, and of course, staff augmentation.
- Through the staff augmenting model – the company extends the client’s tech teams with the best talent and requirements.
- Apart from providing complete tech expertise, it also provides all other features that come along with it.
Moreover, it takes care of project management, admin, payroll, legal matters, performance metrics, and incentives for the team. Though the company is relatively new and was founded in 2020, it provides the best expertise in staffing and recruitment processes.
Conclusion
Hiring a development team or employees can be a big challenge for any business, specifically startup companies. However, with the help of IT staff augmentation companies, you can get unmatched flexibility at a reduced cost.
Plus, there is no training required, and you’ll get full admin support. Staff augmentation companies can give access to any professional from any location. Also, you can increase your team’s capacity to add specialists and experts.
Inner Article Images: Provided by the Author; From the Company Website; Thank you!
Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!
