Agile Philosophy

Zaheer Abbas, CSM®

An alternative to traditional Project Management(Waterfall) which is risky and invites failure

It is hard to practice

Development is incremental

It requires courage and commitment

Iterative approach(Sprints)

1.What is Agile Development?

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

2. The Agile Manifesto

3. Scrum MethodologyPart of Agile movement

Inspired by empirical inspect and adapt feedback loops

Emphasizes decision making from real-world results rather than speculation

Demonstrated potentially shippable product increment

4. Why Scrum?Suits ANY project type

Defined process

Increase in quality of deliverables

Handle changes effectively

More control of the project schedule

Project state clarity

5. The Scrum ProcessThe Empirical process control theory

1.Transparency

2.Inspection

3.Adaptation

6. The Scrum TeamThe Scrum Master

The Product Owner

The Development Team

6.1 The Scrum MasterHe has no Management authority

Does not have a Project Management role

Facilitator

Removes impediments

Ensures team productivity, shields from external interferences

Servant leader

6.2 The Product OwnerResponsible for the ROI

Assign work

Rejections & approvals

Interface between the development team and the stakeholder

6.3 The Development TeamSelf organizing

Cross functional

Transparent

Takes ownership of the work

7. The Sprint - 1 to 4 weeks

8. Stories & Tasks explained1. As a <type of user>, I want <goal> so that I <receive benefit> PRODUCT

BACKLOG

As a customer, I want to be able to create an account so that I can see the purchases I made in the last year to help me budget for next year

Related tasks - SPRINT BACKLOG

2. Login

3. Logout

4. Password management

5. Design

6. Purchase history, Saving preferences, QA, UAT

8.1 Scrum Artifacts1. Product backlog items(PBIs) OR Use case scenarios

- Comprehensive list of all the modules of a project which we want to deliver

- Responsibility of the Product owner

- Feature list is prioritized

- If a feature is not present in a Product backlog, it does not exist

2. Sprint backlog

- List of items committed to be delivered for this current Sprint(what)

- Has an end date

- List of Sprint tasks(how)

9. Scrum Events/CeremoniesSprint Planning

Daily Scrum

Sprint Review - Defines “Done” state

Sprint Retrospective

9.1 Sprint planningWho

1. Product Owner2. Development team3. Scrum master

WhySelect the User stories the development team can complete during the Sprint to meet the Sprint goal.

WhenAt the Sprint start

9.2 Daily Scrum meetingThe development team members discuss about -

➔ What I did yesterday?➔ What I am doing today?➔ What is blocking me?

Duration - 15 minutes max

8.3 Sprint review

Who1. Product Owner2. Development team3. Scrum master4. Stakeholders

WhyTo demonstrate the completed work and to gather feedback

WhenAt the end of each Sprint

8.4 Definition of ‘DONE’ - Importance❏ Differs from Project to Project

❏ Client

❏ Product Owner

❏ Reviews & approvals

❏ T & M model

❏ Productivity

❏ Past experience

❏ Expert advice

8.4 Sprint Retrospective - Sample points

What worked well

What can be improved

Suggestions

● Team bonding ● Clarity on requirements

● Making requirements more granular

● Delivery on time ● Staying back late nights

● Plan for fewer story points

9. Estimation in ScrumAs this is User Story based estimation, we use different types of estimation techniques

- Planning Poker – planningpoker.com

- T-Shirt Sizes – Not so frequently used as there is no math number in it

- Relative Mass Valuation – For large list of Product backlog stories

10. Performance measurement1. Actual stories completed Vs. Number of stories committed

2. Velocity & consistency

3. Quality

4. Communication & collaboration

5. Retrospective Process improvement

6. Adherence to Scrum rules and practices

10.1 Velocity chart

Sprint1 Sprint2 Sprint3 Sprint40

10

20

30

40

50

60

Velocity

Estimated Actual

Sprints

Velocity

10.2 Burn Down Chart

9. The Agile transformationCHANGE! The mindset

Communication importance - Communication & communication

Fully transparent

Culture modification

Training

Ownership

Willing to offer help

10. The Agile transformation(Contd.)

Friendly environment

Freedom to fail

Self organize

Learn

Enjoy

11. Agile - The start! Project NEW

❏ Start by forming Agile teams at the start of the project - Max 9 including ALL

❏ Identify ALL the resources - Dev, QA, designer, PM, SM

❏ Define one persona as the PO - Internally or from the Client side

❏ From the Project plan, identify the milestones

❏ Rename milestones as Sprints - 4 weeks max for each Sprint

❏ Take the initial 1-2 weeks as Sprint ‘0’ for planning the Project & Sprint ‘1’

❏ Consider delivering 1 Sprint at a time

❏ Perform all the Scrum events ethically

❏ Take less work initially for all domains - Dev, QA, design etc.,

❏ Make sure to deliver what was promised

Agile – Starting with basics❏ Sprint 1 may/may not go well, trust yourself

❏ Deliver Sprint 1 with the highest quality

❏ Review it with all the stakeholders

❏ Get approvals

❏ Completed Sprint 1 - Retrospect yourself and note down the lessons learnt

❏ Ask for feedback

❏ Feel proud in it and move to the next Sprint

❏ Learn and apply

❏ Repeat

12. Points to consider1. We are an Agile Team

2. Winning is everyone’s effort - Same with losing!

3. Always try to be cross functional, know what other’s responsibility as well

4. Help them out

5. Raise a flag immediately, do not wait till the 11th hour

6. Anyone from the same Agile team can be a Scrum Master, we don’t need a profile for it.

7. There is no blame game

8. Take ownership of what you do

9. Fail - Get up - Repeat!

Thank you!