Agile methodology: WTF?! — Issue #6
The Agile software development is a developing method stemming from the idea of streamlining the traditional Project Management.
The word Agile was used in such a context in 2001 through the publication of the Manifesto for the Agile Development signed by some US computer scientists — including the well-known Kent Beck.
This approach contrasts with the traditional cascade method and emphasizes on clear, rapid to responses, keen to changes, based on short development cycles quality writing.
Over time the scope of the methodology has expanded from software development to project management throughout, in a sense of thinking stream.
The goal of the Agile Development method is to not merely provide a tool that can only be articulated and adapted to individual realities, but rather provide a set of useful guidelines for project management and, in a sense, to ensure the success of such initiatives.
Unlike old management methods, based on a long product conceptualization, information gathering, market data and on product release with subsequent testing, the Agile Development method emphasizes the subdivision of the project into smaller fractions to achieve and test the various features over time.
The Scrum method is one of the basis for the Agile Development method.
It allows to subdivide the project into mini-projects, called Stories, with each one placing particular attention on the user experience. Each story represents customers’ needs that can be achieved by implementing a pivotal product feature.
All stories are placed in the Product Backlog with the intent of allowing them to be enjoyed by the entire team; it is a physical or virtual space that can be represented by a physical board, an excel sheet or a web page.
Scrum subdivides the product development cycle into time that takes the name of Sprint; time usually ranging from one to four weeks during which the team takes on a number of stories to tale.
Such method time-boxs each event, ie an event is expected to be timed. Observing such times and trying to figure out where it is possible to improve is a key aspect to master.
In addition, Scrum subdivides the people involved in the project into three different roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master and rest of the team.
The Product Owner is the one who ensures that the in-development features bring value to the business. Theoretically the P.O. joins the stakeholders and above all the client to stay in contact with to write stories, assigning them priority and adding them to the Product Backlog.
The Scrum Master is the team manager and revises the stories so that they are unbounded and can possibly reach any set goals; somehow, it has a padding function between the Product Owner and the team.
The five major events that characterize the scrum method are Backlog Refinement, Sprint Planning, Sprint, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.
Backlog Refinement is a meeting whereby the whole team, including the Product Owner and the Scrum Master, gather to discuss the stories available in the Product Backlog to prioritize and estimate the time needed and associated risks.
Sprint Planning is the first task to procede with at the start of a Sprint: a function within which the stories are played depending on assigned priorities while being subdivided into split tasks.
In Sprint Planning you also need to define the Sprint Goal, which is the one goal described by a snippet that illustrates what will be done and how the result will bring value to the product.
During the Sprint, the team works to complete individual stories trying to respect the estimated time set for each one.
For a story to be completed a team is expected to adhere to a shared sense of increase, meaning that the whole team itself, alongside the Product Owner, has to feel that the goal of the story has been achieved.
As mentioned earlier, in Scrum, at the end of each Sprint, the product must show a value increase — which typically takes shape in a new version of the product.
During the Sprint Review the project is evaluated respecting the Sprint Goal setpoints indicated during the Sprint planning.
Finally we have the Sprint Retrospective that is focused not so much on the product itself but on the developing process whose purpose is to identify the improving procedures the team can undertake.
It is important to point out that Scrum, like all Agile Development methods, is iterative for the end the retrospective to loop back from scratch.
Photos by Kelli Tungay, Patrick Perkins, Paul Hanaoka.
