Agile Software Development Tips
- There are many applications of the Agile approach used in industry (such as Kanban, Lean etc.) of which Scrum is only one methodology. That said, it is the most widely employed method!
- Agile aims to maximise efficiency, innovation as well as customer satisfaction.
- The waterfall approach follows a linear sequential process while the agile approach follows a cyclical iterative process.
- In the agile approach, the scope of the project may change while cost and time variables stay fixed. In the waterfall approach, the scope of the project is fixed while the cost and time variables of the project may change.
- The waterfall approach of project management involves specialised departments that pass the project from one department to the next whereas the agile approach to project management involves cross-functional teams who work together collaboratively.
- Scrum is built upon agile values and principles, as such it cannot be applied to a waterfall model of project management.
- *Inspection is one of the three key pillars of the Scrum Methodology, alongside “transparency” and “adaptation”.
- *In the agile approach to project management, delivery and verification is made at intervals throughout the process. In the waterfall approach to project management, delivery and verification is only made upon completion.
- Customer collaboration is prioritised over contract negotiation in the Agile Manifesto. Other values that are prioritised are responding to change, individuals and interactions as well as delivering working prototypes.
- *Transparency means visibility is given to significant aspects of the process to all parties involved.
- A showcase of progress is made to the Product Owner and others outside the scrum team during the Spring Review Meeting. During the Sprint Retrospective Meeting, the Scrum Team reflects on the Scrum process together and discusses how practices can be improved for the next Sprint.
- If membership changes need to be made to the scrum team, these should be completed before or after a sprint.
- The Daily Scrum Meeting should be held standing, and last no longer than 15 minutes. In this meeting, team members each provide updates on work completed, share next steps and discuss collaboration opportunities.
- The Sprint Backlog holds all of the product backlog items selected from the sprint and will be edited by team members throughout the duration of a sprint.
- A burndown chart gives a summary of how the number of uncompleted tasks are changing over time. It provides an overview of team productivity and alerts possible hold-ups in progress.
- The Scrum approach allows teams to deliver milestones as small pieces.
- Key: Work with business partners throughout a project.
- Key: Measure sucess using completed software
- Key: Allow teams to self-organize.
- Self-organization is an overriding theme of the Agile Manifesto, which makes it unique to software development methodologies.They will do a much better job working on the design and tests from the ground level, rather than from an up-front plan.
- The Scrum approach breaks deliverables and milestones into small pieces, and involves the entire team to focus on one goal until it is done.
- Demonstrate the completed work is Scrum Teams to do at the end of every sprint.
- Basics of the Scrum framework designed to encourage a fast feedback loop which is the short time frame and a focus on a completed product at the end forces the team to fail and learn fast.
- In the Agile Manifesto, Scrum values responding to change.
