The document provides an overview of agile methodologies. It defines agile as an iterative project management approach using short development cycles called sprints. The core values of agile according to the Agile Manifesto are prioritizing individuals, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change. Key aspects of agile include sprint planning, daily standup meetings, user stories, acceptance criteria, product and sprint backlogs, and retrospectives. Popular agile frameworks are Scrum, Kanban, and lean.
2. What is Agile?
Agile Project Management System (PMS) that uses short development cycles called “sprints” to
focus on continuous improvement in the development of a product or service.
In 2001, the Agile Manifesto, a "formal proclamation of four key values and 12 principles to guide
an iterative and people-centric approach to software development," was published by 17
software developers.
Realize that Agile development is more than a set of practices. It is a mindset, and building that mindset
needs learning from each successive cycle and repeating the ‘better practice’ till it becomes second
nature.
3.
4. Agile - Four Key Values
The Four Core Values of Agile software development as stated by the Agile Manifesto are:
● Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
● Working software over comprehensive documentation
● Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
● Responding to change over following a plan.
5. Agile Principles
There are 12 key principles that still guide agile project management today.
1. Customer satisfaction is always the highest priority and is achieved through rapid and continuous
delivery.
2. Changing environments are embraced at any stage of the process to provide the customer with a
competitive advantage.
3. A product or service is delivered with higher frequency.
4. Stakeholders and developers collaborate closely on a daily basis.
5. All stakeholders and team members remain motivated for optimal project outcomes, while teams
are provided with all the necessary tools and support, and are trusted to accomplish project goals.
6. Agile Principles (contd…)
6. Face-to-face meetings are deemed the most efficient and effective format for project success.
7. A final working product is the ultimate measure of success.
8. Sustainable development is accomplished through agile processes whereby development teams
and stakeholders are able to maintain a constant and ongoing pace.
9. Agility is enhanced through a continuous focus on technical excellence and proper design.
10. Simplicity is an essential element.
11. Self-organizing teams are most likely to develop the best architectures and designs and to meet
requirements.
12. Regular intervals are used by teams to improve efficiency through fine-tuning behaviors.
7. What is a Sprint?
● The main activity in Scrum project management is the Sprint or Iteration
● It is a time boxed iteration that usually lasts between 1-4 weeks, the most common sprint length
being 2 weeks
● For each Sprint, a new task board, called Sprint Backlog, is created to list all the things that need to
be accomplished over the next week or two.
● As the Sprint starts, communicate with the team and update them on where things stand.
● Every Sprint should end with Potentially releasable product, Scrum Team should have goals to
ship every sprint
8. Sprint Goal
● Before the start of any project, scrum teams typically engage in sprint planning, an activity
that focuses on what will be delivered in the upcoming sprint and how the work will be
accomplished to meet the sprint goal. Adopting a realistic approach to estimating what can
be reasonably accomplished within a sprint can help prevent scope creep.
● Scrum teams also manage scope creep by defining a Sprint Goal which expresses the
purpose of the sprint, and helps to manage unplanned work. User stories are defined in line
with the sprint goal and any stories perceived as “extras” can either be dropped or
postponed to the next sprint. They also reflect on their goal at the end of the sprint and
assess how well they performed in line with it.
9. What is a Standup Meeting?
The daily stand up must be held standing up, limited to 10-15 minutes
Focus on 3 aspects:
1. What did we do to achieve the team’s Sprint goals yesterday?
2. What will we do today to meet the team goals?
3. What might impede us or the development team from achieving our goals?
Don’t let the scrum become a technical discussion or a planning meeting either
Don’t bring up any item that requires a longer discussion. These should be added to a "parking lot" list,
and discussed preferably right after the scrum.
10.
11. User Story
● User Story is a tool used to capture a description of a software feature from an end-user
perspective.
● The user story describes the type of user, what they want and why.
● A user story helps to create a simplified description of a requirement.
● A user story template often uses the following type of format:
As a <role>, I want <feature> so that <reason>.
● Example: As a user, I want to upload photos so that I can share photos with others.
12. Acceptance Criteria of a User Story
● Acceptance Criteria specify conditions under which a user story is fulfilled / done
● Concisely written criteria help development teams avoid ambiguity about a client’s demands and
prevent miscommunication.
● Acceptance criteria are acted as a catalyst for test cases and it should be testable.
● It’s natural that different people see the same problem from different angles. Clearly written
criteria introduce a single solution to the functionality you intend to implement.
● As a rule, criteria written by a product owner (the client) are reviewed by a member of the
development team to make sure that the criteria are clearly specified and that there are no
technical constraints or inconsistencies from the development perspective.
13. Product Backlog
● In short, making a list of all the things the team needs to do and organizing them in separate boards
- is the “Product Backlog.”
● Listing Tasks and User Stories: Think about the projects and goals. What specific tasks need to be
completed to reach them? Don’t hold back. Get down to the dirty details, and try to break down
tasks into their smallest parts.
● Breaking down your tasks allows you to much more accurately estimate how long it will take you to
complete each task. It also helps you identify dependencies and priorities—what’s most
important? What needs to happen first?
● These boards create transparency, aligning everyone on the big picture and ensuring that
everyone is working toward the same goal.
● Team members can add new tasks to any backlog as new things come up and projects evolve.
14. Sprint Backlog
● This is the prioritized list of tasks the team needs to complete during the sprint.
● During Sprint Planning or Backlog Grooming, tasks from the product backlog are moved to
the current Sprint’s task board
15. Agile Ceremonies and Meetings
● Sprint Planning Meeting or Backlog Grooming: at the start of each sprint a planning meeting is
held to discuss the work that is to be done. The product owner and the team meet to discuss the
highest-priority items on the product backlog. Team members figure out how many items they can
commit to and then create a sprint backlog, which is a list of the tasks to complete during the
sprint.
● Daily scrum or daily standup: each day during the sprint team members share what they worked
on the prior day, will work on today, and identify any impediments. Daily scrums serve to
synchronize the work of team members as they discuss the work of the sprint. These meetings are
time boxed to no more than 15 minutes.
16. Agile Ceremonies and Meetings(contd..)
● Sprint Review: at the end of a sprint the team demonstrates the functionality added during the
sprint. The goal of this meeting is to get feedback from the product owner and any users or other
stakeholders who have been invited to the review.
● Sprint Retrospective: at the end of each sprint the team participates in a retrospective meeting to
reflect on the sprint that is ending and identify opportunities to improve in the new sprint.
17. Popular Agile Methodologies
Within agile there are some frequently used or popular methods, with Scrum, Kanban, and Lean being the
most popular. Some agile methods include:
● Scrum
● Kanban
● Lean (LN)
● Dynamic System Development Model,
(DSDM)
● Extreme Programming (XP)
● Crystal
● Adaptive software development (ASD)
● Agile Unified Process (AUP)
● Crystal Clear methods
● Disciplined agile delivery
● Feature-driven development (FDD)
● Scrumban
● RAD(Rapid Application Development)
18. Agile - Scrum
● Scrum is a powerful framework for implementing agile processes in software development and
other projects.
● This highly adopted framework utilizes short iterations of work, called sprints, and daily meetings,
called scrums, to tackle discrete portions of a project in succession until the project as a whole is
complete.
19. Agile - Kanban
● Kanban is a popular framework used to implement agile software development.
● It requires real-time communication of capacity and full transparency of work.
● Work items are represented visually on a kanban board, allowing team members to see the state
of every piece of work at any time.
● The work of all kanban teams revolves around a kanban board, a tool used to visualize work and
optimize the flow of the work among the team.
● Virtual boards are a crucial feature in any agile software development tool for their traceability,
easier collaboration, and accessibility from multiple locations.
20. Agile Team
There are three key roles within Scrum:
1) Scrum Master,
2) Product Owner
3) Scrum Team Members
21. Product Owner
● The Product Owner serves as the customer proxy
● He / She creates and prioritizes a product backlog (work to be done)
● The Product Owner is responsible for representing the interests of the stakeholders and ensuring
that the product backlog remains prioritized
22. Scrum Master
● The ScrumMaster is responsible for implementing the Scrum.
● A ScrumMaster differs from a traditional project manager in many key ways, including that the
ScrumMaster does not provide day-to-day direction to the team and does not assign tasks to
individuals.
● A key part of this role is to remove impediments or issues that might slow the team down or stop
activity that moves the project forward.
23. Scrum Team
● The Team is made up of a cross-functional group of 5-9 members who are responsible for
developing the product.
● Scrum teams are self-organized, all members collectively responsible for getting the work done.
● Scrum Teams respond to each other promptly, listen attentively, hear their opinions and not dismiss
them even when they are different to your own. They practice having empathy for the teammate’s
point of view and trying to see things from their perspective
● An art of respecting people is learning how to be assertive and disagree with a point of view,
without sounding aggressive or threatening or just plain argumentative.
24.
25. Agile Myths
MYTH 1: AGILE MEANS 'NO PLANNING'
MYTH 2: AGILE MEANS “NO GOVERNANCE”
MYTH 3: THERE IS NO DOCUMENTATION WITH
AGILE
MYTH 4: AGILE PRACTICES ARE NEW
MYTH 5: AGILE ONLY WORKS WITH SMALL
PROJECTS
MYTH 6: AGILE = SCRUM
MYTH 7: IMPLEMENTING AGILE IS EASY
MYTH 8: PURE AGILE IS THE ANSWER
MYTH 9: AGILE IS UNDISCIPLINED