Agile Methodologies

Course Index:

Introduction: Software Development (SDLC)

Different Methodologies - Software Development

Predictive Vs Adaptive Methodologies

Why Agile?

Agile Principles

Comparison between Different Agile Methods

Introduction to Scrum

Scrum Roles and Tasks

PM Vs Scrum Master

Scrum Events

Scrum Artifacts

Estimation in Scrum

Scrum Metrics

Scrum of Scrum

Responsibilities of PO and SM

Agile Disadvantages

Scrum Management Tools - Comparison

JIRA Board

Scrum Revision

Introduction: Software Development (SDLC)

Different Methodologies - Software Development

Predictive Vs Adaptive Methodologies

Why Agile?

•          Change is Embraced

•          End-goal can be Unknown

•          Faster, high-Quality Delivery

•          Strong Team Interaction

•          Customers are Heard

•          Continuous Improvement

Agile Manifesto and Principles

- Manifesto

•       Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

•       Working software over comprehensive documentation

•       Working software is more useful and welcome than just presenting documents to clients in meetings

•       Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

•       Requirements cannot be fully collected at the beginning of the software development cycle, therefore continuous customer or stakeholder involvement is very important.

•       Responding to change over following a plan

•       Agile methods are focused on quick responses to change and continuous development.

- Principles

•       Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software

•       Welcome changing requirements, even in late development

•       Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)

•       Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers

•       Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted

•       Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location)

•       Working software is the principal measure of progress

•       Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace

•       Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design

•       Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential

•       Best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams

Regularly, the team reflects on how to become more effective, and adjusts accordingly

Comparison between different Agile methods

Characteristic	XP	Scrum	FDD	Crystal
Development Style	Iterative Increments	Iterative Increments	Iterative Increments	Iterative Increments
Project Team Size	Fewer than twenty people (small team)	All size	Large Team	All size
Team Distribution	Co-located	Co-located and Distributed team	Co-located and Distributed team	Co-located
Customer Involvement	Involved	Customer involvement through the role of product owner	Customer involved through reports	Customer involved through releases
Level of Documentation	Basic and as little as possible	Basic and anything of value	Vital	Basic documentation
Iteration Time Period	One to six weeks	Two to four weeks	Two days to two weeks	Depending on Crystal method

Introduction to Scrum

Scrum Roles and Tasks

ROLE – Scrum Master

Ensures the project team is working on the correct tasks and has everything needed to complete their work

TASKS

•       Interacts daily with the project team to ensure progress is made

•       Ensures that the team’s established software development processes are followed

•       Ensures each team member is assigned tasks

•       Removes blocking issues so team members can accomplish their tasks

•       Coordinates with the product owner to ensure requirements are available and prioritized

•       Coordinates with the project manager to ensure the team’s progress is accurately communicated

ROLE – Product Owner

Owns the vision and requirements for the project, thus controlling what the team works on.

TASKS

•       Works with external stakeholders to define overall project requirements

•       Documents requirements and their priorities

•       Communicates with the scrum master on the list of requirements and their priorities

•       Clarifies requirement questions and expectations

ROLE - Analyst

Serves as the conduit between the product owner and the project team so that everyone understands each other

TASKS

•       Works with the product owner to define requirements within the product’s environment, budget and scope

•       Documents business and system requirements

•       Translates technical issues for product owner and external stakeholders

•       Provides clarification on requirements for the project team

ROLE – QA Lead

Leads and provides direction to the QA team.

TASKS

•       Provides direction on the activities of the team.

•       Establishes the testing processes for the entire team

•       Coordinates with the scrum master to ensure the team is working on the correct items

•       Coordinates with the product owner, analyst or design team to determine deviation from requirements or as-designed feature

ROLE – QA Team

Tests the product to ensure quality specifications are met.

TASKS

•       Creates test cases

•       Tests the product (manual or automated)

•       Logs defects

ROLE – Design Lead

Leads and provides direction to the design team

TASKS

•       Provides design direction and vision for the project

•       Coordinates with the scrum master to ensure the team is working on the correct items

ROLE – Design Team

Provides visual design assets for the product.

TASKS

•       Creates visuals that can be used to apply the proper design for the product

•       Creates assets that will be used within the product

•       Provides support to the dev / QA teams to ensure designs are followed

ROLE – Project manager

Keeps track of the budget, schedule and scope

of the project and communicates status to all

Stakeholders

TASKS

•       Works with stakeholders to define budget, schedule and scope of the project

•       Ensures the team is working toward its goals and remains on track for project delivery

•       Collects status and communicates it with the entire team and stakeholders

•       Organizes and drives meetings with the team and third parties to ensure all dependencies are understood and met

•       Mitigates issues that will impact the budget, schedule or scope of the project

ROLE – Dev Lead

Leads and provides direction to the dev team

TASKS

•       Provides direction on the architecture of the project (or works with the architecture team), coding standards and what tasks each developer works on

•       Establishes the development processes for the entire team

•       Coordinates with the scrum master to ensure the team is on the right track.

ROLE – Dev Team

Develops the product according to desired specifications.

TASKS

•       Implement requirements and change requests

•       Fix defects

Coordinate with the product owner, analyst or design team for clarification on requirements

Project Manager vs Scrum Master

Scrum Events

Scrum Artifacts

Estimation in Scrum

Scrum Metrics

Scrum of Scrum

•      What has your team accomplished since our last meeting?

•      What problems occurred, if any, that negatively affected your team?

•      What does your team want to accomplish before we meet again?

•      What output from your team in future sprints, do you see as possibly interfering with the work of other teams?

•      Does your team see any interference problems coming from the work of other teams?

Responsibilities of PO and SM

Product Owner's Responsibilities

• Voice of the Stakeholders, represents the business
• Manages stakeholder relationships, communications & expectations
• Accountable for the vision, scope and scale of the product
• Defines key features of the product & success criteria
• Continuously refines requirements
• Sets delivery schedule by managing the backlog – creates and updates the release plan, including prioritization
• Accountable for the project success
• Decides on release date, content and budget
• Accepts and rejects work in the sprint reviews
• Takes advice from the team on Backlog Dependencies
• Single point of contact for the product (including New requirements Prioritizing backlog items)

Scrum Master's Responsibilities

• Responsible for helping the team deliver work to the Product Owner
• Makes sure the team can meet its commitments by removing any impediments they face, including Managing dependencies, escalating blockers that they cannot remove themselves
• Facilitates process & meetings (e.g. Reviews, Stand Ups, Planning, Estimation, Scheduling, Prioritization)
• Makes sure the team is fully functional, productive and improving quality
• Shields the team from distractions and interferences (including the Product Owner)
• Enables close co-operation across all roles and functions, removes barriers
• Responsible for reporting progress, including producing standard outward-facing artefacts

Agile Disadvantages

•          Disadvantages

•          Relatively New

•          People are afraid of what they do not know

•          People tend to know what they are getting upfront before they commit budget

•          Difficult to scale for large projects where Documentation  is essential

•          Needs experience and skill if not to degenerate into

•          code-and-fix

•          If not managed well, the execution can be too Agile

Scrum Management Tools – Comparison

Scrum Revision