Agile Best PracticesAkhil Munjal

The Concept of AgileDefinition & Sample Sprint

• Agile helps teams respond to the unpredictability of building software by using iterative and incremental development. Typically, requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between cross functional teams and clients

• Agile promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change.

2

Project Initiatio

n

Sprint 0

Sprint 1

Sprint 2

Release

Sprint 1

Integration Test Sprint

0

High-level project planning

Initial Stakeholder engagement

Define ways of working

Project Initiation High level

requirement gathering

Commit to sprint lengths, team capacity

Delivery team roll-on

Sprint 0 Reprioritise backlog

with client Commit to and

deliver stories Shippable product

at the end of each sprint

Sprints 1+

Product Backlog

Sprint Backlog

Sprint Backlog Product

Fig: Sample Sprint Cycle

Agile TerminologyOverview of Agile Approach

Product Owner – ‘Voice of the Customer’• Ensures end product

delivers value to the business or customer

• Sets and adjusts priorities and product backlog

• Accepts or rejects work via showcases and pilots (review)

Scrum Master• Accountable for delivering

Sprint goals• Removes obstacles for team

and keeps momentum• Coaches and provides

motivation

Team Members• Develop and deliver product

on a daily basis• Self directed and self

organizing• Cross functional (change,

process, design, test)

Design, Build Test

Inception

PrioritiseRetrospective

Plan

Showcase & Deploy

Iterative deployment

• User Stories• Product Backlog• Sprint Backlog• Burndown Chart• Potentially shippable Product

increments

Roles Products Events• Product Owner• Scrum Master• Team

• Sprint Planning • Daily Scrum (Daily

Standup Meeting)• Sprint Review• Sprint Retrospective• Backlog Refinement

Agile ImplementationKey Activities

Advisory and Strategy Team• Understand the client drivers

and motivation for Agile• Help the leadership and C-

suite understand Agile Impact

• Work along business divisional leads in rolling out Agile

Program Manager• Establish and launch

Governance Structure & Processes

• Integrate project work plans and clearly capture milestones and dependencies

• Confirm delivery processes each project should use

Agile Coach• Co-ordinates with Agile

Strategy Team to understand vision & roadmap

• Work with Project Team to define Agile Delivery Model and Setup Agile Practices

• Participates in all Key initiatives and fine tuning it

Agile Best PracticesWhat works well

Conduct early and regular Showcases• Provide early mock ups of the product / change deliverables to put theory into immediate

practice• Pilot the product (including surveys, training or communications) prior to full deploymentInvolve the client/customer and stakeholders in continuous dialogue• Run Agile basics and refreshers at the commencement of the project• The review process should be streamlined: present only the executive summaryBe flexible with hybrid Waterfall/Agile approaches• Agree in sprint 0 the Agile methods and ways of working with the client/customer• Agile projects commonly incorporate waterfall practices (such as code freezes and CRP), and

change must adapt their models accordinglyPlan differently• Change planning should feature only critical path change activities• Change planning should be flexible and adaptive to changes, while keeping aligned to the

overall journeyChange team in a silo and not immersed in scrum activity• Change team members must attend daily scrums and showcases• Change team members should adopt a major and minor role in the teamChange team not focused on critical path activities• Change activities must always focus on business value and not become ‘top heavy’• Change activities must be targeted on each sprint release dateChange team not adapting rapidly to changes in product development• Change team should respond to changes in priorities with flexible planning• Change team should maintain and communicate a clear view of the impact of ongoing

changesChange team too focused on delivery and not fostering engagement• Change team have a vital role to play in team well-being and recognition• Change team should ‘step back’ each sprint to take an active and driving role in

retrospectivesChange team not aligning sprints to the overall journey• Each sprint should align with the journey and business case as expressed in epic user stories• Agile is not an ‘excuse for poor planning’ – a change plan is required to set expectations

What Can go

Wrong in Agile

What Works Well

Agile Best PracticesSuccess Factors & Metrics

Sponsorship• Actively engaged senior management

sponsors to communication change, strategy and direction

• A sponsorship strategy that builds and sustains support throughout phases

Sponsorship• Measurable linkage to business objectives

with cross-organizational focus• Accelerated implementation approach to

quickly address known challengesBalance• Leverage of leading practices from the

industry and our expertise• Focus on adopting leading practices while

keeping in mind our clients’ realities, priorities, and constraints

Team Compensation• The right resources at the right time, with

pilot projects to insert ‘player-coaches’ on the ground

• Effective knowledge transfer throughout the project

Metrics and MeasurementBurndown Chart for tracking Sprint progress• Automatically generated visual chart when electronic

tooling is used• Represents development complete by stage or

completed user stories• Includes Work in ProgressVelocity• Estimate of rate at which team can do work (no. of

points needed for each story x no. of stories estmated per sprint)