Agile methods enable fast software development with reduced risk

Leading Agile methods and techniques

Scrum

Extreme Programming (XP)

Lean Software Development (Lean)

Kanban

Some of these are interrelated; for example Scrum works best when

firmly supported by engineering practices (XP) and by value flow principles (Lean)

Core Principles of Agile Methods

Iterative and incremental delivery

Releases delivered in iterations

Product delivery in small functional releases

minimizes risk

early feedback on changes

Collaboration

Team members self-organize

No top-down management control

Continuous Improvement

The delivery process is inspected and adapted

 

SCRUM	XP	LEAN	KANBAN
Sprints	Iterations	Deliver as fast as possible	Minimize WIP
Sprint Commitment	Simplicity	Decide as late as possible	Minimize WIP
Retrospectives - Continuous Learning	Feedback	Amplify learning	--
Self-organization	Courage and Respect	Empower the team	Respect the team
Definition of DONE	Engineering Practices	Build integrity in	Testing follows  coding
Removal of Enterprise Impediments	Communication	Value stream mapping	Value stream mapping

Benefits of Agile Methods

• Shorter time to value
• Early usable results
• Fast response to change
• Sharp focus on customer priorities
• Low process overhead
• High transparency
• Improved productivity 

With well-implemented Scrum, productivity can increase by multiples of 2x, 4x, 8x over performance achievable with traditional (e.g., waterfall) methods

      Agile Projects

• Get work done faster
• Prioritize work based on business value
• Adapt to changing requirements
• Eliminate waste
• Maintain high momentum
• Reduce risk
• Are fully transparent to stakeholders

Getting Started

A Qualytic Agile Solution Architect can help choose the best strategy for introducing Agile methods into your organization, and assist in the selection of method(s) to implement.

Essential First Steps:

Identify strong champions at senior executive level

Orient management to Agile methods

Review product visions and release strategies

Identify Product Owners / customer proxies

Create awareness among project teams

Do an Agile Capability Assessment *

* Agile Capability Assessment

Select a sample of projects and teams

Inspect work products and artifacts

Interview team members

Catalog and classify objective evidence

Verify and validate findings

Analyze along critical capability dimensions

Probe enterprise impediments

Probe potential organizational blockages

Transition

Select projects and teams

Train project teams in detail

Start iterative development

Embed engineering practices (testing, continuous integration)

Publish take-up and performance indicators

Publish benefits to the business

Supporting Steps

Identify constraints and waste in the value stream

Begin to eliminate waste and waste-enabling processes

Establish warm communication channels

What We Do

When Qualytic assists with Scrum projects, we bring in Certified Scrum Professionals (CSP) who will …

• Introduce the Scrum framework to your management and project teams
• Intensively train your project teams to prepare them for Scrum
• Lead 2-3 early sprints, shadowed by the individual who will take over as Scrum Master
• Shadow and coach team and the new Scrum Master
• Turn over leadership and continue coaching
• Continue to assess and tune adherence to the Scrum framework