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What is swarming in Agile? Pros and cons of agile swarming

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What is swarming in Agile? Pros and cons of agile swarming

Flexibility, experience, and skillful use of resources are the basis of effective IT project management, especially when a problem that is difficult to solve appears on the way to success. The agile swarming method allows you to efficiently overcome obstacles thanks to the total mobilization of the team. Despite its many advantages, it comes with challenges, so let’s look at agile swarming pros and cons.

To be like a swarm of bees – what is swarming in agile?

Rapidly changing technologies and market needs somehow force changes in the functioning of IT companies. A standard, cascade approach to project management often turns out to be insufficient. An alternative to this approach is agile management, i.e., the flexible, agile philosophy and the swarm method. What is swarming in Agile? It is similar to the behavior of bees – many team members work together on a specific task. In agile swarming, project participants must have the time available and the appropriate competencies. It allows one to speed up the task completion, increase the efficiency of activities and smoothly move to the next priority.

Real purpose of swarming agile

Swarming agile allows you to solve complex problems together as quickly as possible. However, this is not the only goal of the method. Swarm in agile increases the team’s efficiency and enables them to improve their skills. Appropriate cooperation and communication between members is an opportunity for continuous development. Each subsequent problem is dealt with more efficiently, benefiting the company.

Agile swarming pros and cons

Each method of work has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is no different in the case of a swarm in Agile. Many challenges appear, especially at the beginning, when the team has to implement a new way of operating. Which Agile swarming pros and cons can one indicate?

Pros of swarm in Agile

Swarming agile – benefits:

  • Time-saving – many team members work at the same time to solve the task. It allows for significantly shortening the project completion time and efficiently completing it.
  • Increasing cooperation – one task is performed by members of different teams. A common goal encourages collaboration, skillful communication, and the application of the principles of practical group work.
  • Increased team performance – working in a multidisciplinary team enables competence development. It is possible, for example, thanks to the exchange of experiences or the complementary skills of individual members.
  • Focusing on the goal, not on a single task – swarm in Agile gives the possibility of a multidimensional view of the problem. Project participants implement one joint project, not only its elements.
  • Agile swarming – potential challenges

Agile scrum swarming – challenges:

  • Disorganized work – multiple members performing multiple tasks simultaneously can contribute to the chaos.
  • Conflicts – employees from different teams may have problems with establishing cooperation.
    The problem with focusing on the goal – project participants have to pursue a set goal and not focus on individual elements.
  • Task size – a too small task can cause a problem with the division of work among team members.
  • Type of work – agile is not the answer for every task. Agile is a method that is goal-oriented, not task-oriented.

Agile scrum swarming – summary

Agile scrum swarming brings many benefits to the functioning and development of the company. It is a flexible and effective method that allows you to overcome difficulties more efficiently. It also enables the effective use of the team’s resources and the improvement of its competencies. Before using it, consider Agile’s swarming pros and cons to entirely using this solution’s potential. The key to success is total commitment and identifying obstacles on an ongoing basis. It is also important to assign a competent manager to the project, take care of regular statuses, and achieve precise goal setting. The implementation of Agile swarming may initially cause difficulties, but with time the actions will become more efficient and intuitive.

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