Agile Frameworks: The Most Popular Approaches

Agile frameworks have become an essential part of software development. They help businesses and teams create high-quality products faster and more efficiently. When most people hear about agility, they think of Scrum, however, there are many other agile methods.

From Kanban to SAFe to DA: Each agile framework exists for a reason and has different characteristics and strengths. In this guide, we'll provide you with a comprehensive overview of the most popular agile frameworks, what they're used for, and their advantages and disadvantages.

What's the difference between an agile method and an agile framework? Since the two terms are often used interchangeably, we want to start with a few words about their differences.

Scrum is commonly referred to as an agile method, however, this isn't entirely accurate. Instead, Scrum is an agile framework that uses agile methods, like planning poker.

All agile frameworks are flexible and adaptable to dynamic environments. They conform to the agile manifesto and are noted for their customer-centric approaches.

Every agile framework has strengths and weaknesses. Below, we've briefly summarized the most important aspects of several popular frameworks, along with their advantages and disadvantages:

Scrum is perhaps the most well-known agile framework. The Scrum Guide offers teams and businesses a blueprint for how to implement an agile approach to work and incremental software development.

Would you like to learn more about Scrum? If so, be sure to check out our guide below:

A Kanban board is an agile method that's often used in agile frameworks. This board is divided into several columns that indicate which stage a project or task is in. There are usually three columns: "Open", "In Progress", and "Done":

However, Kanban isn't just an agile method, but can also a framework that's adaptable to agile and other contexts.

Those who use Kanban as a framework should be familiar with WIP limits and the pull principle. For more information about these, and everything else you need to know about Kanban, be sure to check out our guide here:

Scrumban combines aspects of Scrum and Kanban, such as the former's project meetings and Kanban's WIP limits. The result is a lean, agile project management framework.

You can read more about Scrumban here:

XP is an agile framework that's used to quickly respond to changes in customer requirements or needs. The framework can be traced to Kent Beck, who wanted to introduce quality assurance for software development projects.

Even from the name, it's possible to see that XP isn't for those who just want to try out an agile framework. XP has five main values:

There are more guidelines and principles that shape XP's processes. One of these is to consider whether the framework is applicable during the planning stage.

Some of XP's methods include pair programming and test-driven development. With this, changes and errors can be reacted to at any time.

Even customer testing is envisioned since it allows the team to ensure their software's quality and conformity to requirements. These must adhere to strict cycles, which guarantee quick, incremental task completion and coordinated process planning.

The framework developed by Alistair Cockburn is well-known for its flexibility and scalability to projects of different sizes and levels of complexity. Strictly speaking, Crystal isn't a single agile framework, but rather a family of variants with agile methods. These can be adjusted to meet the specific requirements and conditions of a particular project.

Crystal's key aspects include direct communication, incremental development, continuous improvement, and adaptability. People and teams are the method's focus. Its variants pertain largely to a project's level of risk, as well as the team's size.

The bigger the project and the greater the risk, the more roles and management methods a variant will have. With Crystal Clear, developers to test each other's results, however, with Crystal Orange, teams need to bring an external developer on board for this.

Jeff De Luca introduced this agile framework in 1997 to emphasize the development of features. Each feature should generate value for the customer and be introduced iteratively through a feature plan.

FDD can be simplified into five process steps:

FDD users can also take advantage of the toolbox of different agile methods, roles, and structures that it includes. These help ensure that increments are delivered quickly.

Design Thinking is all about teamwork and multidisciplinary. It encourages teams to think outside of the box and work differently than they're accustomed to. In this way, traditional thought patterns are abandoned so that innovative solutions to complex problems can be promoted.

Although many see it as an agile method, in practice, it's more accurate to refer to it as a framework with an iterative process. The user is made to understand challenges from other perspectives and encouraged to develop solutions that correspond to their needs and desires.

David Kelley developed the well-known Design Thinking Process, which is made up of five phases:

The Design Thinking framework is used in many different different branches, both to solve problems, as well as to develop products, processes, and roles.

DSDM is one of the oldest agile frameworks and debuted in 1994. It's guided by eight principles that determine how it approaches both processes and decision-making. Among others, these include a focus on the business's needs, empowered teams, and incremental development.

At its core, DSDM takes an iterative and incremental approach to projects. This makes it possible to flexibly design a project's course as well as to quickly react to changing requirements over the following seven phases:

Scrum is one of the most commonly used agile frameworks. However, when a project or organization grows, Scrum's limitations in terms of team size become quickly apparent.

For that reason, a number of frameworks have been introduced that take different approaches to scaling Scrum to work in larger teams. Below, we'll introduce you to a few of these.

SAFe is a comprehensive framework designed to scale agile practices at the corporate level. It's beneficial for those organizations that already work with Scrum but would like a framework to grow with them and their business.

This framework comes with a set of organizational and workflow patterns that allow multiple agile teams to work with one another in a coordinated and synchronized fashion. Individual teams are part of a sort of team of teams, referred to as an "agile release train" (ART). This can include anywhere from 50-125 people. As with Scrum, every team has a Scrum master and a product owner, however, there are also three new roles.

If that still isn't large enough for your needs, you can scale up with a Solution Train, which can accommodate up to 1,000 people. Every Solution Train is comprised of multiple ARTs.

There are, however, a number of factors that make SAFe a complex framework: These include its structure and processes, such as the fixed length of product increments (PI), and their elaborate planning. To ensure that its implementation is a success, the organization creates an implementation roadmap. At the same time, many organizations don't know how to effectively implement such a roadmap.

Is Scrum too small for your organization? With LeSS, you'll have another framework to scale agility.

Here, less is more, since the framework deconstructs hierarchies to streamline management and roles. It's great for organizations with multiple teams that work together on the same product. As with SAFe, there are different scaling options: LeSS and LeSS Huge.

LeSS is envisioned for two to eight teams and includes basic Scrum principles that can be applied to a larger group. How does it differ from Scrum? A product owner is responsible for multiple Scrum teams, which, in turn, have either their own Scrum master or share one with up to two other teams.

LeSS Huge is designed for eight or more teams.

To efficiently manage the various subject areas, the framework does add its own hierarchy: Area Product Owners (APOs) interact with both teams and the product owner, and are assigned to specific teams or areas.

Nexus is another framework that helps to overcome the challenges of scaling Scrum. This concept, developed by Ken Schwaber and his Scrum.org team, focuses on the discovery and management of dependencies between teams, to improve delivery and integration.

It adds new roles and events to Scrum that apply to more than just a single Scrum team. Collaboration and communication between teams should be improved. Nexus is designed for use by three to nine Scrum teams and is rooted in Scrum principles and practices. Ultimately, its goal is to minimize complexity to the greatest extent possible.

Each Scrum team has its own Scrum master and together, creates a Nexus. This is then organized into a Nexus Integration Team (NIT), which has a product owner, a Scrum master, and several team members.

The NIT should identify and resolve dependencies, as well as assist in project direction and create framework conditions for Nexus.

There are other Nexus events, such as a daily, planning, and a retrospective. To involve more than nine teams, there's another scaling option, Nexus+. However, there isn't a concrete roadmap for its use in practice.

With the next model, it becomes clear just how much methods and frameworks overlap with one another in practice. In fact, this model isn't even a framework: Discipline Agile (DA) doesn't provide any implementation guidelines and instead offers a technique toolbox that businesses or organizations can use to scale their efforts in an agile way.

Scott Ambler and Mark Lines from IBM developed this hybrid approach that incorporates Scrum, agile modeling, lean software development, and other concepts. In practice, teams see DA as a process decision framework.

DA emphasizes the importance of a well-thought-out, planned approach. However, it also takes into account the fact that every organization is unique and requires its own strategy. For this reason, DA offers an assortment of best practices and lifecycles, known as "Ways of Working" (WoW) that businesses can use to craft their own approach. This adheres to the motto "Choose your own WoW!"

The Spotify Model is an agile framework that can promote creativity and efficiency in large organizations. The framework's name comes from the music streaming provider and is characterized by its multiple structures and roles:

Thanks to its encouragement of autonomy and individual responsibility among squads, the Spotify Model stresses creativity and innovation. Organizations that use it can also react quickly and efficiently to change.

Scrum@Scale was developed by Jeff Sutherland, the co-founder of Scrum. It helps large businesses to easily scale Scrum to their needs, across all organizational levels.

Up to five Scrum teams can work on a superordinate team, known as the Scrum of Scrums (SoS). In addition to the existing Scrum roles, there are two new ones: the Scrum of Scrum Master (SoSM) and the Chief Product Owner (CPO). New coordination events and processes promote meaningful communication between teams.

Should the teams continue to grow and more than 25 of them exist, the framework can be scaled up further.

The product owner cycle, which tackles the "What" of a project, is reflected in the Executive Meta Scrum (EMS) team. The Scrum master cycle, responsible for answering "How?", is seen in the Executive Action Team (EAT).

The highest hierarchy is known as SoSoS (Scrum of Scrum of Scrums), which can be scaled to an organization's needs.

As you can see, there are a number of different agile frameworks available. But which is the right one for you and your organization? The answer depends to a large extent on your individual needs and the goals of your business.

We advise that you keep the following factors in mind:

Scrum and Kanban can both be used outside of software development. Large businesses will likely find the Spotify Model a reliable choice, as long as they want to encourage creativity and autonomy. Scrum@Scale is only viable for organizations that are familiar with Scrum and want to scale it to the corporate level.

If you're not certain, that's okay. Consult with experts who have worked with different models. An agile coach, for example, can help you to implement or scale agility to your business.

Agility is no longer just an IT buzzword: There are many different approaches that are applicable to a wide variety of different branches and business sizes. Each uses agility to encourage adaptability, speed in change response, more efficient processes, and a high level of employee satisfaction.

Choosing the "right" agile framework and scaling approach depends on your business's requirements and goals. Each has strengths and can be useful in a particular context. Keep in mind, however, that agility is not a cure-all. Instead, agility is a tool that, when used correctly, can help your business boost its efficiency and innovation.