Way of Working
Principles of quality software
Overview
The Way of Working is a recognition that the software development industry isn’t perfect, and it’s unlikely to ever be. There are constant risks that threaten to derail a project at any moment. Rather than watching the news cycle of over-budget, over-time IT projects repeat, we believe that with the right tools and tactics we can help companies deliver successful software projects.
Through our experiences and learnings in real-world projects, we have catalogued what works and what doesn’t work in the form of processes. These processes underpin everything we do. It creates a platform to share our ideas with our teams, customers and anyone else developing software. We believe this level of transparency and openness is integral to guiding our customers, competitors and any other organisation along the software development journey.
The Way of Working began as a defined process around the agile development framework, which has slowly grown into its own set of principles, tools and guidelines. Where the agile methodology sets out a vision, the Way of Working creates a more detailed framework for development teams to follow. Broadly speaking, the Way of Working processes and practices have been applied to:
- Develop bespoke web and mobile applications
- Migrate legacy software
- Maintain and enhance existing products
- Develop with teams of 3-9 people
- Release projects frequently
- Sustain and support projects and their customers
Every software project has four key phases: Brief, Scope, Development and Support. Projects will navigate these in different ways, and it is not designed to be treated as a linear process. The strength in this process is its ability to adapt to different use cases, while still maintaining a reliable and consistent process to guide the way.
While the Way of Working has been designed for software development agencies working on external customer projects, the same principles and tools can be applied to internal development projects.
