Introduction to Agile Methodologies

Ric CookeSkills4Stem

Contents

• Really, really brief introduction to Agile• A game…

• It’s a way of working

• It’s about delivering value

• It’s a philosophy for how teams can work well together

• It’s about being agile (not just “doing” agile)

• Agile movement began in software development in 2001

• Since moved out into many other areas…

No plan of operations can extend with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main body

Field Marshall Helmuth Carl Bernhard Graf von Moltke

Robert K. Greenleaf

©Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. Copyright 2016

• Suggested the concept of servant leadership in his 1970 essay “The Servant as a Leader”

Toyota Production System

© 1995-2018 Toyota Motor Corporation

The Agile Manifesto

individuals and interactions over processes and tools

working software over comprehensive documentation

customer collaboration over contract negotiation

responding to change over following a plan

The Agile Manifesto

individuals and interactions over processes and tools

working software over comprehensive documentation

customer collaboration over contract negotiation

responding to change over following a plan

The Agile Manifesto

individuals and interactions over processes and tools

working software over comprehensive documentation

customer collaboration over contract negotiation

responding to change over following a plan

The Agile Manifesto

individuals and interactions over processes and tools

working software over comprehensive documentation

customer collaboration over contract negotiation

responding to change over following a plan

Twelve Principles of Agile Software

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

2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.

3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.

Twelve Principles of Agile Software

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

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

6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.

Conversation…..

From cakewrecks.com (and Jeff Patton’s Story Mapping book)

Twelve Principles of Agile Software

7. Working software is the primary measure of progress. 8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors,

developers and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

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

Twelve Principles of Agile Software

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.

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

And now an activity…

How long does it take to write a name…?

Courtesy of Henrik Kniberg

When stopwatch is started:

• All customers will hand developer their cards and tell you their name

• Developer will write first letter of first customers name on first card, then first letter of second customers name on second card etc

• Once all first letters done, go back and start on the second letters…

• When a name is finished deliver card to customer

• Customer, record the delivery time on the card.

How did we do…?

Multi-Tasking…

• Weinberg – working on two projects at the same time costs you….

Source: Gerald Weinberg: Quality Software Management Vol 1: Systems Thinking

Try again….

New company policy: limit WIP to 1

Courtesy of Henrik Kniberg: https://crisp.se/gratis-material-och-guider/multitasking-name-game

So what did we do?

• Ran an iteration• Reviewed what happened• Limited WIP• Ran a second iteration (hopefully quicker!)• Reviewed again

Take away

• The Agile Manifesto

• One lesson I’ve learned – limit work in progress (avoid multi-tasking)

Any Questions…?

Links

• http://agilemanifesto.org/• https://www.crisp.se/gratis-material-och-guider/multitasking-name-

game• http://www.stephenbungay.com/Books.ink• https://jpattonassociates.com/user-story-mapping/• https://www.infoq.com/minibooks/kanban-scrum-minibook