Agile
All You Need to Know about Agile Software Development. Team and Project Management using Scrum.
Alex Campbell
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Table of Contents
AGILE
BOOK 1 Agile: Essentials of Team and Project Management.
Manifesto for Agile Software Development
BOOK 2 Agile Project Management with Scrum. Selected Scrum Practices and Tips.
Agile
Essentials of Team and Project Management.
Manifesto for Agile Software Development
Alex Campbell
Introduction
Leading a new team of people with different personalities, experiences, and backgrounds can seem like a difficult task. Fortunately, the principles that guide Agile Projects and project management create a team environment that should foster productivity and collaborative thinking. With the right tools in place, a focus on collective processes, and a system for handling any obstacles or stumbling block, you can see your Agile Project through to completion. Support your team with the foundation of the Agile Manifesto, create your own team manifesto or guidelines for a particular project, and learn how to lead a group of unique individuals toward a common goal.
If this is your first large project to manage, you'll have the opportunity to explore which Agile systems fit your leadership style and team. If you are an ace with project management but new to the team or to Agile Principles, this book will help you explore the systematic approach necessary to develop Agile software.
Chapter 1: Understanding Agile and Agile Manifesto
Agile describes an approach to project development and specific projects relating to software development. This approach allows developers and coders to work with greater autonomy and an improved focus on quality rather than fulfilling a certain function on a team. In short, this iterative approach to development uses increments to ensure quality results.
In 2001, a group of top developers came together and created the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. The group of men who brought these ideas and principles together had led their field in development by drastically changing team dynamics and the approach to project management. The Agile founders were those who developed and represented Extreme Programming or XP, Adaptive Software, Crystal, Pragmatic Programming, DSDM, and SCRUM. Although they had structural differences, these systems for development all broke down to the need to emphasize the value of the developers and team members rather than focusing on getting the product completed. Together they moved to take power away from corporate executives and managers who were unfamiliar with the software development processes and demands.
That goal of redirecting the power dynamic and the abilities to manage or control a team led to a substantial amount of strife across many industries. Virtually anyone who needed software developed was told that they needed to follow Agile principles and methodology, and that would mean they would have no control over the team or project. It is important to emphasize that the lack of control or absence of a hierarchical structure does not mean that there isn't a purpose for managing the project. Team members, SCRUM masters, and champions have key positions and roles to play. There are still deadlines, attainable goals, and specific steps necessary to see the project to completion.
What is Agile And What Agile is Not
One of the most common misconceptions is that Agile Development is a methodology or an approach to software development. Agile is a set of principles accompanied by values that, in theory, should advance idea generation and implementation within the creative process. There are multiple goals of Agile Software Development, and there are different methodologies for approaching an Agile Project.
While chapter two will layout the principles in full, we will quickly overview the core values so you can get acquainted with what exactly Agile promotes. The core values came into place because when the Agile Manifesto came together, these were particular struggles that software developers and coders experienced. These are still common challenges within an Agile Project. But the core values in the Agile Manifesto have turned the tables, and now these core values can make it more difficult for project managers and champions.
The core values of Agile include placing individuals or the people involved in development over the processes and tools used to complete a project. Well, it seems that this value should go without saying, if you look at nearly any department within a business, you'll see that the tools in the processes are valued much more highly than the people involved. When it comes to software development and a project which could easily go awry with the incorrect placement of a semi-colon, it is important that you listen to your team. Make sure that you value your team and make sure that they know they're valued. Project leaders and managers will often appreciate their teams, but the teams won't feel that firsthand and they can easily become disgruntled.
Additionally, Agile Developers value working software over excessive documentation or documentation that the people outside of the coding team can understand. Before Agile executives and high-level managers would put excessive documentation demands on coding teams. Then they would be quite upset when they would read the documentation and not understand it. Essentially the only people who need to understand documentation relevant to software development are the people working on the software for either building it or updating it later. If you can't understand the documentation that your team provides, feel free to ask questions. But you should hesitate to demand that they change their documentation practices as they may be using a uniform method.
Agile teams also put a high value on collaboration between the customer and the team. For Agile teams, one of the customers is the business itself. This intense focus on value often takes over contract negotiation in that an Agile Contract may read more as a general guideline than a list of expectations.
Finally, Agile teams demand the ability to respond to change quickly and giving priority to change over following a strict plan. This is a particular challenge for project managers. You may have a plan all laid out with milestones, and within just a few days, that entire plan can be thrown out. You will need to develop soft skills such as adaptability, compromise abilities, and creative problem-solving. This doesn't mean that the Agile Team tells you what happens. What this means is that you need to come together with your team and collaborate to determine a new plan that accommodates the changes as well.
