More and more companies are adopting an agile approach to product development projects. There are many advantages to agile project management, including speed to market, the product’s quality, constant learning of users behavior and the ability to easily change contents according to needs.

As a services company, we’re often asked how can a services company be agile, and how can a company be agile when it is outsourcing projects. We found a few solutions for agile work in a services company, which allow the company and its clients to be agile and enjoy the benefits of this method.

Creating an Agile Working Model

The basis for a successful project is to set expectations with the client, a thing that might conflict the agility concept that highlights the importance of constant change and adaptation. Thus, we recommend that the first step in product development will be the scoping, a few weeks effort in which the team dives into the project’s details, the target market and the business requirements. 

At the end of this process we create a working plan that includes the required resources for each feature, and can determine the project’s cost and launch date. Since every project includes business considerations, we recommend to imagine a triangle with three sides:  budget, launch date, contents, and to set two out of those three sides. From this point, it will be possible to make changes in only one of the sides. For example, if a client with a limited budget wants to go-to-market without exceeding the original budget, we will set the budget and the launch date, and be able to change the contents according to needs.

Transparency and Full Communication Throughout Each Stage

In opposed to the waterfall method of product development, one of the guiding principles in agility is to maintain short iterations and constant learning. We applied a number of practices that allow us to work closely with our clients and quickly implement their feedback:

• Setting frequent demo meetings, where we present what has been done and decide on what next. The demo may include only a little content, but it allows us to implement changes easily, rather than implementing them after a few months, causing a delay in the launching date or adding development costs.
• Sharing the pace of progress with the clients allows them to be fully aware of the different tasks and the time they take, and to see if the progress is being made according to the original plan.
• Holding daily status calls in projects that include frequent changes, in which we go over yesterday’s and today’s tasks.
• For clients who are in critical stages of development, we offer a nearby workspace, letting them feel as if we were their in-house team and discuss relevant issues on a regular basis.

Creating an MVP Version

According to the agile methodology, we should create a lean product that conveys the product’s core values, and extend its contents after learning the users' behavior. Although creating a lean product is reducing the working hours and the product’s cost, we believe that this is the right way to create successful products. 

Working in Sprints

Our inner teams are working in sprints in order to maintain the agile principles. Sprint is a short period of time, in which we need to complete all the features we planned including their development and QA, and to get the approval of the designer, the product manager, and the client. Although the usual length of sprints in the market is two weeks, we decided to hold weekly sprints on Moveo in order to provide the shortest response time to our clients.

To sum up, many industries have already understood that agile is not just a working method but a way of thinking. The combination of agile thinking with the application of the above solutions increases the chance for successful projects.