Agile:

I am from for support project and most of the time I work on issue solving and tickets solving.
Initially I felt, we can’t implement agile methodology in support project. Especially for my case
(ticket handlings and issues solving - without ticket (work initiate through mails)). But After
having Agile session with my PM and some classroom trainings, I had good idea on Agile and I
got to know that we can implement agile methodology in work through the kanban methodology.
Here I am explaining some information about agile and how we can implement agile in our work
area.

What is Agile:
The dictionary meaning of Agile is “able to move quickly and easily”.
Agile is a time boxed, iterative approach to software delivery that builds software incrementally
from the start of the project, instead of trying to deliver it all at once near the end. Agile
methodology helps us to add value to the client growth. Agile approaches help teams respond to
unpredictability through incremental, iterative work cadences and empirical feedback. Agile
proposes alternatives to waterfall, or traditional sequential development.
Manifesto:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

How is Agile different?

Analysis, design, coding, and testing are continuous activities
You are never done analysis, design, coding and testing on an Agile project. So long as there are
features to build, and the means to deliver them, these activities continue for the duration of the
project.
Image1: Represent traditional water fall method.

It works by breaking projects down into little bits of user functionality called user stories,
prioritizing them, and then continuously delivering them in short two week cycles called
iterations.

Image2: Represents Agile implementation.

Types of Agile Methodology:

Popular agile software development frameworks include (but are not limited to):

 Adaptive software development (ASD)

 Agile modeling
 Agile Unified Process (AUP)
 Crystal Clear methods
 Disciplined agile delivery
 Dynamic systems development method (DSDM)
 Extreme programming (XP)
 Feature-driven development (FDD)
 Lean software development
 Kanban
 Rapid application development (RAD)
 Scrum
 Scrumban

The Scrum methodology:

SCRUM is a process in agile methodology which is a combination of Iterative model and incremental
model.
One of the major handicaps of the traditional water-fall model was that until first phase is complete, the
application does not move to the other phase. And if by chance there are some changes in the later stage
of the cycle, it becomes very challenging to implement those changes, as it would involve revisiting the
earlier phases and redoing the changes.

Some of the key characteristics of SCRUM include:

 Self-organized and focused team

 No huge requirement documents, rather have very precise and to the point stories.
 Cross functional team works together as a single unit.
 Close communication with the user representative to understand the features.
 Has definite time line of max 1 month.
 Instead of doing the entire “thing” at a time, Scrum does a little of everything at a given
interval
 Resources capability and availability are considered before committing any thing.

To understand this methodology well, it’s important to understand the key terminologies in
SCRUM.
Image3: Represent Agile scrum methodology.

The kanban methodology:

Kanban systems are an approach to scheduling work. Typical Agile projects use time-boxed
iterations. At the beginning of the iteration, the team meets and chooses stories from their
backlog that can be done by the end of the iteration. Over the course of the iteration, they
develop those stories, and at the end of the iteration, they ship them.
The work of all kanban teams revolves around a kanban board, a tool used to visualize work and
optimize the flow of the work among the team. While physical boards are popular among some
teams, virtual boards are a crucial feature in any agile software development tool for their
traceability, easier collaboration, and accessibility from multiple locations.
Regardless of whether a team's board is physical or digital, their function is to ensure the team's
work is visualized, their workflow is standardized, and all blockers and dependencies are
immediately identified and resolved. A basic kanban board has a three-step workflow: To Do, In
Progress, and Done. However, depending on a team's size, structure, and objectives, the
workflow can be mapped to meet the unique process of any particular team.
The kanban methodology relies upon full transparency of work and real-time communication of
capacity, therefore the kanban board should be seen as the single source of truth for the team's
work.

Image4: Represents Agile Kanban methodology.

Implementation of Agile methodology in my work area:

In our team, Agile methodology is being implemented in the following ways:
Ground rules or Social Contract:
To encourage punctuality, we have a minimal fine of Rs 5/- for being late. (Later this money is
utilized for team snacks).
To avoid any delinquencies in claiming our labour on CATS portal there is again a fine of
chocolates (for the team members), if we forget to claim on time.
To complete mandatory trainings on time.
Standup meetings:
Our gather each morning for stand-up meeting where we discuss
What we had done yesterday?
What we are going to do today?
What is blocking us from completing my tasks?
These meetings help the team by providing quick status update on the performance of team and
thus team can manage workload properly.

Task Boards:
There are 3 columns (in our case we have a tool)
Tasks to be done.
Tasks in progress.
Tasks completed.

Helping culture:
In case of any issue a team-member is facing other members try to help him or her. This helps in
Increasing a feeling of team belongingness.

Appreciation and encouragement:

Whenever a team member helps other team member or achieves a goal or performs exceptionally
other team members appreciate him or her. It can be in any form like a mail or even a
handshake.The members encourage each other to increase the output of the team. It helps us to
create an environment in which each member takes initiative on their own to solve problem
rather than one person assigning tasks to other people.

Weekly performance analysis team meeting:

Every week, our team meets to discuss the performance of the team as well as on how to tackle
upcoming tasks.
In these meetings, the team divides work into small increments that minimizes the amount
upfront planning.
Give back Evidence:
I have gone through below blogs to understand the Agile process
https://w3-connections.ibm.com/blogs/marcopaim?lang=en
https://w3.ibm.com/thinkacademy/?cache=3-27-15#/agile/agile
http://www.allaboutagile.com/what-is-agile-10-key-principles/
http://www.jamesshore.com/Blog/Kanban-Systems.html
https://www.atlassian.com/agile/kanban