Agile is a set of high-level principles and values that support projects to run faster and more effectively. In other words, this methodology is designed to aim at delivering the product to users quickly and with high adaptability to changes. Today, companies can either adopt available lightweight frameworks or develop proprietary solutions to manage Agile projects. In this article, Designveloper will elaborate on the top 10 common types of Agile methodology you can ponder in 2025.
What methodology do you pick for project management?
For this question, some organizations can show their loyalty to traditional approaches (e.g. Waterfall or PRINCE2), while many either describe themselves as pure agile or lean toward lightweight methodologies. Beyond that, 42% of companies opt for a blend of more than one methodology to optimize different projects enterprise-wide.
Agile was originally developed for IT-driven products and services. But its 12 principles and values are now being adopted by other departments. According to the 17th State of Agile Report, 71% of companies apply agility-driven strategies for software development and operation projects.
The result of adopting Agile is beyond expectation; 52% of small companies and 43% of larger organizations said Agile helps them improve collaboration, foster software quality, and better meets their business needs.
Agile’s adoption spans beyond software development and IT operations. Particularly, engineering and R&D are two fastest-growing Agile adopters. With the increasing popularity of Agile methodologies, the global market for enterprise agile transformation services is predicted to increase at a CAGR of over 18% during the forecast period 2023-2032.
If you’re finding some ways to penetrate the Agile world, you should first identify which Agile framework best suits your company. In this section, Designveloper will focus on several most prevalent types of agile methodology that all project managers should know. These lightweight approaches work around the Agile Manifesto, hence showing some similarities. However, they have various features.
SCRUM is one of the most recognizable Agile frameworks by professionals. This Agile framework enables companies to manage projects at a team level and conduct timeboxed tasks.
Accordingly, the whole work will be split into small, manageable chunks that are carried out in a flexible order of priority. Each iteration, or called sprint, often lasts from one to four weeks with the involvement of the product owner, the Scrum Master, and developers.
This PM solution is suitable for the first stage of the product life cycle. For example, your company plans to launch a new product for the first time. However, your business domain is highly competitive or ever-changing, thereby leading to uncertain and easily changeable requirements.
Therefore, to mitigate unexpected consequences (e.g. user dissatisfaction or failure to compete), your team needs to target on-time delivery and quick feedback from customers. SCRUM is among the best options for Agile teams to work on the core functionalities of deliverables and release them early in the market.
But how do Agile teams leverage SCRUM in their projects? Let’s look at our work with this Agile framework at Designveloper:
Recommended reading: How to Estimate a Software Project? A Detailed Guide from Designveloper
Kanban is another fundamental Agile framework that teams should consider if they want to visualize their workflow.
Using physical cardboard or software, teams organize manageable pieces of work in named columns (i.e. To Do, In Progress, and Done). This allows teams to track where each item of work is located in the workflow.
Described as a team-level PM approach by Portman, Kanban is still widely adopted at other levels because teams working on Kanban mainly focus on making work in process (WIP) as small as possible. Teams optimize the product development process to minimize the average time to complete a task (or called the “lead time”).
Kanban mostly drives teams toward limited WIP rather than commitments to iterations. So teams can make good use of the framework when facing fewer changes and uncertain factors.
Like Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP) enables the project work to be implemented over short development timeframes, called “iterations”. Accordingly, it helps Agile teams adapt to changes in user requirements, even in the advanced stage of the product development cycle. And it also contributes to improvements in a product’s quality.
But what sets it apart from other types of Agile methodology is its main focus on technical aspects – that is, high-quality code. Accordingly, developers get instant feedback and improve their code by working in pairs and testing code (both manually and automatically). Project managers hold daily standup meetings to receive feedback on work progress and impediments. Meanwhile, product owners and other stakeholders base feedback on acceptance tests and a product’s performance in each iteration.
These traits of XP encourage productive teamwork and constant compliance with important rules to enhance code quality and deliverables.
SAFe is an Agile methodology that helps you implement agile practices at an enterprise level. One of the focal features of SAFe is an Agile Release Train which gathers multiple Agile teams sharing the same business and technology missions. With this PM approach, you can improve coordination between teams, develier value faster, and be flexible to changing market demands.
It works through three core ideas as follows:
This Agile methodology is popular for scaling SCRUM across the entire organization. Based on fundamental Scrum principles, Jeff Sutherland (also the father of Scrum) and Alex Brown developed S@S that focuses on building a scaled network of Scrum teams to develop high-fidelity deliverables.
The flowchart above illustrates how important components take place in two key cycles: the Scrum Master Cycle and the Product Owner Cycle. These cycles are essential in defining “what” (the product) is created and “how” (the process) to develop it.
Further, S@S introduces additional structures like Scrum of Scrums of Scrums or Executives Councils for larger deployments. It also aims to provide more guidance on scaling SCRUM events like Sprint Planning or Backlog Refinement for larger teams with complex dependencies.
FURTHER READING: |
1. How to apply Scrum into your Software Development Company |
2. The Importance of Scrum to a Software Product |
Large-scale SCRUM is an Agile framework designed to scale SCRUM to extremely large, complex projects. As such, this Agile methodology allows you to adapt the core principles of SCRUM to various teams working on a single product.
Accordingly, it works with a single SCRUM team as a foundation. As the project scales up in both size and complexity, additional SCRUM teams are brought in. These new teams should be introduced gradually to ensure a seamless transition and avoid disrupting the ongoing work.
Even with various teams, the core principles of Sprints, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives are still the same. It’s because these practices will ensure an iterative and consistent development process.
There are two key configurations of LeSS: Basic LeSS and LeSS Huge catering to different team sizes. Here’s a breakdown of when to use each:
Basic LeSS (2-8 teams, 10-50 members):
LeSS Huge (8+ teams, 50+ members):
Nexus is an Agile framework that leverages the core principles of SCRUM to help multiple SCRUM teams work more effectively towards a unified product goal. Accordingly, this methodology synchronizes Sprint cycles across all connected teams as follows:
So, what is the difference between LeSS and Nexus? They’re both for scaling SCRUM to handle larger projects with multiple teams. However, they take slightly different approaches. Here’s how:
| Feature | Nexus | LeSS |
| Focus | Coordinate the work of various SCRUM teams and add new roles for coordination. | Core principles and scaling for larger teams |
| Team Structure | Possibly include feature and component teams with specialized skills | Cross-functional feature teams that work on all aspects of a product |
| Scaling Option | Single configuration for 3-9 teams | Basic LeSS & LeSS Huge |
| Complexity | Genrally easier to adopt initially because it requires less upfront change and may handle existing team structures | More complex to execute because of cross-functional teams and possible organizational changes |
DSDM is another popular Agile framework that significantly underscores iterative development and rapid prototyping.
This approach involves working with real-world users to define their needs, get early feedback, and create the most essential functionalities. For this reason, you can accelerate time to market, enhance user satisfaction, increase team productivity, and mitigate risks of project failure.
While DSDM promotes flexibility, it also emphasizes a level of governance to maintain control and ensure project success. Accordingly, this Agile methodology follows the following key stages:
FDD is an Agile methodology that breaks down projects into small, testable functionalities. It focuses on the iterative development cycles of software features and constant integration. Further, it enables you to create status reporting continuously. This helps you track work progress and results better. For this reason, those adopting this Agile approach can deliver a high-quality solution on time and within budget.
Here are some of its core activities:
Developed by Alistair Cockburn for IBM in 1991, Crystal is an Agile methodology that prioritizes people and how they work together over processes and specific tools. In other words, this approach is about building an environment where your team members can work effectively together, instead of getting bogged down in following a pre-defined process or using tools.
Accordingly, Crystal involves a collection of Agile frameworks as follows:
| Method | Team Size | Designed For |
| Crystal Clear | 6 or less | Short, well-defined projects where a fixed budget and close collaboration are priorities |
| Crystal Yellow | 7-20 | Small to medium projects with a focus on user feedback and automated testing |
| Crystal Orange | 21-40 | Medium projects that may last around 1-2 years and provide new releases every 3-4 months |
| Crystal Red | 40-80 | Medium to large projects where the crew is divided into sub-teams based on needs. Here, these teams can combine Agile with traditional software development methods. |
| Crystal Maroon | 80-200 | Large projects that allow your teams to flexibly customize development methods. This helps your teams meet the specific needs of software being developed. |
| Crystal Diamond or Crystal Sapphire | 200+ | Extremely large projects with high-risk factors, potentially involving human life |
Agile project management is on-trend. This methodology is predicted to thrive in the future. This is attributable to digitalization which opens more avenues for changes and new trends. However, newcomers to Agile may find it confusing to choose the right framework for your business. So how can you select the most suitable Agile PM approach for your companies?
Recommended reading: 18 Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development
Your choice depends on various elements. To facilitate your selection of the proper PM solution, Designveloper suggests some important questions as follows:
Today, whether to drive project work, albeit partial or entire, towards agility is no longer the common question for many organizations. Instead, when and how to implement that ambition provoke more concern among business leaders. There’s no the same path to business agility for all companies. Depending on your company’s strategic vision, goals, and other important metrics, your business can apply and customize standard frameworks.
But when going agile, multiple organizations confront existing challenges such as resistance to changes or inconsistencies in Agile practices. Therefore, no matter which types of Agile methodologies are applied, it’s advisable to develop the Agile mindset beforehand.
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