EXIN Agile Scrum Master

Agile Way of Thinking

 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

List agile methods and principles

Analyze business benefits of agile methods

Practice daily scrum

Apply continuous improvement in scrum adoption

 Waterfall Model

Waterfall model refers to a series of steps from start to finish. In a waterfall model:

Entire scope is Plan and design is

known and stable decided up front
 Agile Model

Agile model refers to short increments with feedback. It was designed in response to
inflexibility of traditional methods.

It usually applies to:

Complex projects 01 Agile 02 Changing requirements

 What Is Agile?

Agile is a combination of iterative and incremental approaches.

Agile (noun): It denotes a method of project

management, often used for software
Agile (adjective): Moving, thinking,
development, that is characterized by the
understanding, and responding quickly and
division of tasks into short phases of work and
easily
frequent reassessment and adaptation of
plans.

Refer to the Exin Handbook for Scrum Masters and Product Owners
i by Johann Botha for detailed introduction
 History of the Agile Manifesto

In the late 1990s, evolution

of agile from a family of
lightweight, quality-driven
access to software
development

In February 2001, the

Agile Manifesto was
signed by 17 leading
software developers.
 Agile Manifesto

Agile Manifesto lists the following principles:

Value individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Use working software over comprehensive documentation

Respond to change over following a plan

Prioritize customer collaboration over contract negotiation

“That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.“
agilemanifesto.org
Activity: Agile Principles

Duration: 15 min
For the agile principles highlighted by the facilitator, you need to:
For the agile principles highlighted by the facilitator, you need to:

1. Read the principle

2. Make a catchy bumper sticker or a slogan of no more than three words
3. Construct an example of how it can be implemented in real-life projects

Be prepared to discuss your answer when prompted.

 Agile Principles

The following 12 principles are based on the Agile Manifesto:

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous
1
delivery of valuable software.

Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes

2
harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.

Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of

3
months, with a preference to the shorter time scale.

4 Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
 Agile Principles

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and
5
support they need and trust them to get the job done.

The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and

6
within a development team is face-to face-conversation.

7 Working software is the primary measure of progress.

Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and

8
users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
 Agile Principles

9 Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.

10 Simplicity, the art of maximizing the amount of work not done, is essential.

11 The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective and
12
then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Discussion

Duration: 5 min

Your organization feels that agile methods are useful but is not sure about the business
benefits.

There is an inertia that causes your organization to stick to the existing methods. Unless clear
advantages are cited in a convincing manner, the organization is unlikely to invest in adopting
agile methods.

You feel that agile methods are indispensable in the quest for success in the modern world.
 Instructions

1. Explain the benefits of being agile in a language that business understands

2. Provide examples and data points to support your contention
 Why Agile?

Data about usage of agile and its benefits:

97% Organizations are already using it

Organizations have been using it

61% for three years or more

Ref: State of agile survey 2018 – www.stateofagile.com

 Why Agile?

Organizations report increased

69% ability to manage changing priorities

Organizations felt their agile projects

95%
are more successful

Ref: State of agile survey 2018 – www.stateofagile.com

 Why Agile?

9% Failed 29% Failed

42% Successful 14% Successful

49% Challenged 57% Challenged

Ref: CHAOS report 2015 – www.standishgroup.com

 Faster Delivery of Value

Agile projects provide quicker delivery of value by following an incremental approach to delivery.
Customer does not have to wait too long to see the value delivered.

Value Delivered Agile Projects Traditional Projects

Project Timeline
 Benefits of Agile Methods

Most teams who implement agile methods successfully will be able to realize the following
benefits:

Higher quality through

Higher productivity and
lower cost due to less
waste and less rework
Improved stakeholder
evolving designs and
satisfaction due to greater
alignment with customer
adaptability to their needs
needs
 Benefits of Agile Methods

Most teams who implement agile methods successfully will be able to realize the following
benefits:

Improved employee
engagement and job
Faster time-to-market
satisfaction due to
through the incremental
sustainable pace, self-
delivery model
organization, and delivery of
high-quality products
 Scrum

Scrum is the most popular agile method. The three pillars of scrum are:

Scrum

Transparency

Adaptation
Inspection
 Scrum

Transparency Transparency means that the teams share information openly and
are totally transparent.

Inspection Inspection means that the product and the process are
subjected to frequent inspections.

Adaptation Adaptation means that based on the findings of the

inspection, the teams will make the necessary adjustments
 Values of Scrum

Scrum values are C-FORC:

Commitment Focus Openness

Respect Courage
 Overview of Scrum

Scrum process can be viewed as follows:

Daily Scrum
The internal team inspects
and resolves problems with
the help of daily meetings.
24 Hours

Sprint Review
Demo
Sprint Planning 1-4 Weeks

Working Increment
Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Sprint Process
of the Product

Sprint Retrospective
 Five-Step Process for Adopting Scrum

ADAPT
Awareness: Transfer:
Why is the existing process not working? Advantages of scrum
Reinforce the need for change Culture of inspect and adapt

Desire: Promote:
To use scrum Early successes with scrum
Conviction that scrum will be better Create momentum behind it

Ability:
To be successful with scrum
Develop capabilities

Ref: Succeeding with agile – Mike Cohn

 Measuring and Improving

Process of questioning leads to improvement. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. How would we know if scrum was successful?

2. What are we trying to improve?
3. Do we know the baseline measures?
4. Did scrum make it better?
5. Is scrum helping us produce better products?
6. Has it impacted quality?
7. Are we delivering business value faster?
 Balanced Scorecard for Scrum

A balanced scorecard gives a holistic set of measures to assess the success of Scrum.

The scorecard should contain the following metrics:

Future Orientation:
Employee Satisfaction: Complaints
Scrum Understanding: Conferences

Business Value:
Business Value Delivered: Cost savings, revenues
Features Per Release: User-visible features
 Balanced Scorecard for Scrum

Operational Excellence:
Predictability: Projects in expected sprint
Productivity: Delivered functionality
Quality: Internal, customer

Customer Orientation:
Uptime: Product performance
Customer Satisfaction: NPS, surveys
 Key Takeaways

Agile methods use iterative and incremental approaches for

product development.

Agile reduces the time-to-market by incremental delivery

and enables faster feedback, reducing chances of failure.

Scrum is the most popular agile method; it incorporates the

pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

The journey toward agility must be planned and the

outcomes measured for continuous improvement.