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Since I have read Kent Beck’s Extreme Programming Explained, I have done all I could to integrate agile approaches to software development in my own work. I started out with simple things, such as TDD, which has helped tremendously with making my projects easier to maintain. With TDD projects, I am never scared of rewriting whole parts of some project in an attempt to enhance its performance, and this has paid off.

However, I am very much aware that I am not quite to agility yet. Since much of my work has been of exploratory nature (I was a post-doc fellow in academia until spring 2011), I’ve mostly been writing prototype software, and I’ve often cut corners to fit my schedule in the boundaries of my grants. Also, even today as I am part of a very small, highly specialized team, I have little clue on how to implement some team-related agile features such as pair programming (of which I like the concept).

Everything I do, however, I try to do pragmatically, focusing on stuff that works, close interaction with people and fast deployment of new software. I make sure to look back on processes, measure how well they worked and instead of fidgeting on meeting fixed deadlines, try to manage expectations given unexpected problems (my work is still very much exploratory). I figure that always trying to make stuff better is as agile as it gets. Feel free to share your own perspective on agility in small or delocalized teams (e.g. people working from home, alone or with remote team members).