More efficient software development: ways to improve

Rule 1. Go Agile

Let’s start with Agile. This is the foundation of effective project management. This approach aims to increase the efficiency of ongoing projects. Research confirms that the three most important advantages of Agile are the ability to change priorities, increased team productivity, and prime project management. As much as over 60% of respondents using the Agile approach have declared that they have accelerated their project activities, which has also positively translated into an increase in product quality.

Agile will be perfect in the context of software development. Currently, it is the most popular approach to building products in the IT industry. Managers use activities such as daily stand-ups, short iterations, flashbacks, task prioritization in backlogs, plannings, and testing in their companies.

If you are already actively using Agile in your project, then I have a small tip for you. Conduct a mini audit of your project management and verify that you certainly manage to maintain the most important Agile assumptions. I have noticed that many companies like to boast about using Agile, and in reality, their projects have a very poor Agile approach that is visible in the effectiveness of developed projects.

Rule 2. Choose the right project management structure

It’s time to think about how you want to implement the Agile concept in your project. Personally, I can prompt you and recommend the choice of Scrum. It can be said that it is a framework through which we can produce valuable products through process management. Scrum offers a very clear demonstration of the effectiveness of your software development practices.

Now, I would like to show you the example of Codest and how the project management process using Scrum looks like. We usually work in two-week sprints. We start with planning, during which we choose tasks that we will focus on during the sprint. Thereafter, the development team shares the tasks in a specific sprint. The Scrum Master watches over the entire process. He/she also makes sure that the entire sprint goes on schedule. Every day we organize ‘daily’. During these meetings, we share our work progress with others. We perform numerous tests during the sprint for the software to be of the highest quality.

Rule 3. Code review

It is one of our most important principles at Codest. We believe that great code reviews benefit everyone involved (development team and client). Why is this so important? Look at it from several perspectives:

1. The author benefits from obtaining a different perspective on their task and code. This is a great opportunity to learn for the future and draw conclusions.
2. The reviewer benefits from seeing different approaches to problem-solving in action. They will also improve their code-reading skills.
3. The team benefits as reviewing a solution to a certain problem requires an understanding of the problem at least at a high level of abstraction.
4. The customer benefits from quickly and confidently deployed changes and solutions.

If you would like to delve deeper into the topic of code review, then check out our article on this topic, which presents one of our good practices at Codest. You will find it here.

Rule 4. Measure your time and look for improvements

Agile and Scrum are designed to ensure the highest efficiency of your project. It is also a good practice to implement a tool that will report the work of a development team for you to know how much time your team devotes to each development phase. Perhaps, thanks to such information you will be able to draw conclusions and look for possible improvements.

I will give you an example. It may turn out that organized meetings take considerable time and are not entirely effective. In this way you will be able to plan the agenda of such meetings more effectively, gaining valuable time. At Codest, we use Harvest for this. It is simple time-tracking, fast online invoicing, and powerful reporting software.

Rule 5. Ensure effective communication

Communication is very important not only at the level of customer relations but also within the team. To be honest, I have noticed that many software houses are focused on how to best develop the process of managing communication and exchange of information with their clients. In turn, such great attention is not attached to what is happening between developers working on a project. Such imperfections also reduce the level of work efficiency.

Agile and Scrum will definitely help you in effective communication management. For this to work properly, you must implement clear and understandable rules for each member of the team. The division of roles in a project is important. If you are able to hire an experienced project manager, then do it. An important role is also played by the Scrum Master, who is also responsible for ensuring the effective exchange of information during the sprint. In this element, the available tools come to the rescue. We use Slack at Codest, which is a very useful solution. It helps us communicate efficiently. Our team is also composed of developers who work remotely. Slack works great.

Why is it worth taking care of increasing the efficiency of software development projects?

The answer to this question is very simple: it simply pays off! If you notice that you’re wasting your budget and time, then you should think about what’s wrong with your project. Perhaps (depends on the type of project) a good solution (more effective) will be establishing cooperation with an external partner. I am convinced that the implementation of the principles that I have shared with you in this article will help you effectively ensure the high quality and effectiveness of your project.

However, if you have a question about this topic, then feel free to contact me, and I will try to help you!

Read more:

– How do we care for the quality in our software development projects?

– Software Development in Germany: 3 Things You Need to Know