A compilation of the absolute basics for those who want to know about Agile Methodology with some insights on Scrum. The idea is to give enough to fuel the curiosity to learn more. It might not interest one of he / she is an Agile guru but may I ask for your review / comments / suggestions. I'd love to hear from you all...
3. Agile Myth #1
Agile = No
documentation
“Working software over
comprehensive documentation”
is often misunderstood with
no documentation at all. But
how could agile Frameworks
like Scrum survive in highly
regulated environments like
the medical or financial
industry if this were to be true.
For sure there is
documentation, but we don’t
waste time on documents that
deliver no value to the project.
4. Agile Myth #2
Agile = Anarchy
The biggest fear of any
manager is to lose control
over their agile teams. Self
organization is often
interpreted as anarchy.
Management is required to
define clear visions and
goals and the constraints of a
project
5. Agile Myth #3
Agile = Faster
It isn't faster just because it’s
called a Sprint!
Writing quality software is
serious business and takes
time. One cannot guarantee
that doing Agile would mean
delivering faster. However
one could guarantee having
delivered much higher value
in a comparable time.
6. Agile Myth #4
Agile = Silver Bullet
Agile is not the only solution
know to mankind! However
strong the case of merits and
values can be put forth, one
can’t deny that several
successful products have
been delivered using
waterfall or other
methodologies. Its not a one
size fits all approach .
It’s all about people after
all…
7. Agile Myth #5
Agile = Simple
Switch
It’s more got to do with
“being” Agile and not
“doing” Agile. While a
simple 2-day course might
arm you with the basic
concepts it might take long
to imbibe the principles that
Agile methods are based on
8. Agile Myth #6
Agile = Easy
To be able to deliver a
potentially shippable
product every 2-4 weeks is
not easy. Not many
development methodologies
can even attempt this.
Considering Agile to be easy
would be detrimental.
However, once the team is
Agile-mature, it does run
like a well oiled engine with
minimum interference.
9. Agile Myth #7
Agile = Software
Development
Often the agile journey starts
with software development,
but it should not stop there.
To have an agile software
development team in an non-
agile environment is like
planting a tree in the desert -
it won’t survive. The whole
company culture has to
change, everybody needs to
adhere to the agile principles
like lean thinking.
10. Agility overcomes…
Communication Problems
The delivered solution isn’t really what the
business wanted
Unused Features
Building the right thing – the business changing
their mind
Delayed or late Return on Investment (ROI)
Over-engineering (‘Gold plating’)
15. Scrum Requirements
User Story - A story is a self-contained unit of work agreed upon
by the developers and the stakeholders. Stories are the heart of
Scrum, and the building blocks of your sprint. E.g. As a
salesperson, I'd like to set my password, so I can log into the system
Theme – A group of related stories contributing to a common goal
or are related in some obvious way, such as all focusing on a
single customer. However, while some stories in a theme may be
dependent on one another, they do not need to encapsulate a
specific work flow or be delivered together
Epic - Epics resemble themes in the sense that they are made up of
multiple stories. They may also resemble stories in the sense that,
at first, many appear to simply be a "big story." As opposed to
themes, however, these stories often comprise a complete work
flow for a user and their business value isn't realized until the
entire epic is complete
17. Scrum Artifacts
Product Backlog - Prioritized features list, containing
short descriptions of all functionality desired in the
product typically written by the Product Owner and the
Scrum Team
Sprint Backlog – List of user stories identified during a
Sprint Planning meeting by the Scrum team to be
completed in a Sprint
Potentially Shippable Product - A potentially shippable
product is one that is ready for distribution to anyone in
the company for review or even to any external
stakeholder. Adhering to a list of “done” criteria ensures
that the sprint product is truly shippable
19. Sprint
Planning
Meeting
WHEN – At the start of each
Sprint, usually day long
WHO – Product Owner, Scrum
Master and the entire Scrum
team. Outside stakeholders may
attend by invitation of the team
WHAT
Product Owner - Describes the
highest priority features to the
team
Team – Ask questions, refine the
user stories, commit to a set of
user stories that would be
delivered in the sprint and do
task break down
Scrum Master – Facilitates,
servant-leader
Outcome
Sprint goal
Sprint Backlog
21. Daily Standup
meeting
WHEN – Each day of the Sprint
at a fixed place at a fixed time
(time-boxed to 15 minutes)
WHO – Product Owner, Scrum
Master and the entire Scrum
team
WHAT – Each participant
answers the following
questions
What did I do yesterday?
What will I do today?
Are there any impediments in
my way?
Outcome
Update the story board /
progress
Team members make
commitments to each other
Impediments list modified
23. Sprint Review
/ Demo
WHEN – At the end of each
Sprint (Four-hour time limit)
WHO – Product Owner,
Scrum Master, the entire
Scrum team, management
and stakeholders
WHAT –
Demonstrate working
software
No PowerPoint
presentations
Presented as a natural result
of the sprint vis-à-vis the set
Sprint Goal
Outcome
Record feedback
25. Sprint
Retrospective
WHEN – At the end of each
Sprint (Three-hour time
limit)
WHO – Product Owner,
Scrum Master, the entire
Scrum team
WHAT –
Reflect on the Sprint metrics
Discuss what went good
Discuss what needs to be
improved
Discuss continuous
improvements
Outcome
Record feedback and create
actionable items for
improvements
26. Metrics – Sprint Burn
down
Graphical representation of work left to do versus time
27. Metrics – Velocity Trend
Velocity is how much product backlog effort a team
can handle in one sprint
28. References & Vote of Thanks!
Marc Löffler - 7 Agile Myths
DSDM Handbook
Jeremy Jarrell - Stories versus Themes versus
Epics
Wikipedia – Scrum (software development)
Scrum Alliance
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