Agile March 1

When I first heard that term "Agile March 1" I was confused - what is so Agile about the 1st of March? Can it cunningly dodge the bullet every 4 years due to the appearance of February 29th?

In the context of games development, it is the first push (or march) of an Agile development methodology. A methodology that emphasises rapid short development cycles with frequent evaluations. An approach that works best for small teams (which we are).

The team at Red Redemption are busily coming to the end of the first March of development on the first of the prototypes that we recently secured funding for. These developments are on the Nintendo DS, a platform we feel very excited about (everyone in the team has one) and that we also feel hasn't reached its full potential yet.

So the first March is about basics - getting to grips with the platform and ensuring it can do what we want it to do. Pushing it and seeing where it gives, and tackling some tricky issues at an early stage to avoide pitfalls later.

What is exciting about this is not necessarily the software development approach we are using, rather it is how the team has really pulled together on the project. They have a clear set of goals, nicely defined by Klaude our MD/Producer, and a clear strategic vision of what we are trying to achieve, and boy have they launched into it. As my role has changed from a day to day operational role to a more strategic and communications role, this has been an interesting experience for me as I am not directly involved in the March.

I feel like a proud father watching his baby (the company) grow up. There is a real sense of achievement over how the team has become a well oiled machine over the last few years. There is none of the politically charged motivations I have seen in other companies, rather there is a desire to problem solve as a team.

The newest members of the team Klaude (MD), Amy (my PA and Office Manager) and Robin (Developer) have all meshed really well with the existing team members (me, Hannah, Ian, Sam and Matt), but also brought some really creative new energy into the projects.

So next week is going to be interesting as the team complete the First March and then push on to the second. But so far things are looking good. They hit some obstacles last week, but were able to solve them in a very professional and robust way and that is exactly what the first March is all about.