The “Agile Skeleton” - The Bare Minimum to Call Yourself Agile:
Team Members Available to Do Work Demonstrate Working Software to Get Feedback (no more than thirty days away) Stakeholders Identified and Invited to Demonstration
Practices Common to Most Agile Methods (Scrum, XP, Lean):
Team Size 7 +/-2, Maximum of 12 Cross-Functional Team Customer/Product Owner Fully Available to Team Customer/Product Owner has Authority to Manage System Features Customer/Product Owner has Knowledge to Define System Features Customer/Product Owner Communicates with All Other Stakeholders Regular Iteration/Sprint/Cycle Length Iteration/Sprint/Cycle Length Less Than Thirty Days No “Break” Between Iterations/Sprints/Cycles Consistent and Sustainable Pace/Effort Daily Status/Scrum/Stand-up Meeting Less Than Fifteen Minutes Daily Status/Scrum/Stand-up Meeting Held at Consistent Place and Time Daily Status/Scrum/Stand-up Meeting Team Members Report to Each Other All Team Members Required to Attend Daily Status/Scrum/Stand-up Meeting Iteration/Sprint/Cycle Planning with Whole Team Team Room with All Needed Equipment and Supplies Quality is Not Negotiable – Defects are Always Top Priority (Stop-the-Line)
Basic Scrum Rules
Full-Time ScrumMaster Identified ScrumMaster Ensures Skeleton, Common and Basic Scrum Rules Followed ScrumMaster Tracking and Removing Obstacles Daily Scrum Meeting with Three Questions (Done? Will Do? Obstacles?) Anyone Can Observe Daily Scrum Meeting, but Not Participate First Part of Sprint Planning: Product Backlog Items Selected by Team Second Part of Sprint Planning Meeting: Team Creates Sprint Backlog of Estimated Tasks Sprint Backlog Tasks Added/Updated/Removed by Team Sprint Burndown Chart Sprint Review Includes Demo and Retrospective Retrospective Meeting with Whole Team for Process Improvements Definition of “Done” for Tasks Definition of “Done” for Product Backlog Items Definition of “Done” for a Shippable Increment of Software Commitment Velocity Calculated (from Sprint Backlog Estimates) Team Members Volunteer for Tasks, 1 Task at a Time Until Complete Team Can Seek Advice, Help, Information Team Members Have No Roles No Interruptions, Advice About or Reprioritization of Team's Work During Sprints Sprint Planning and Review Meetings 1/20th Sprint Duration
Optional Rules of Scrum to Implement Depending on Context:
Project/Release Burndown Chart Team of Volunteers – Team Members Self-Select for Team Membership Planning Velocity Calculated (from Product Backlog Estimates) Scrum of Scrums for Multiple Teams Cancelling the Sprint Early