Agile & Scrum Overview

What is Agile?

Agile is a mindset and a set of principles to build software in small, frequent increments with strong collaboration and rapid feedback. It focuses on adaptability, quality, and customer involvement.

Why is Agile Important?

• Responds quickly to customer feedback
• Helps teams adapt to changing business needs
• Increases transparency and visibility of work
• Reduces risk by delivering software faster in small increments

The 12 Principles of Agile

• Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery
• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
• Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months)
• Close daily collaboration between business people and developers
• Build projects around motivated individuals
• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication
• Working software is the primary measure of progress
• Sustainable development pace is maintained indefinitely
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
• Simplicity is essential
• Self-organizing teams produce the best results
• Regularly reflect and adjust behavior to become more effective

Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto emphasizes 4 values:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

It also lists 12 principles that guide Agile teams toward quality, delivery, and adaptability.

Waterfall vs. Agile

Waterfall is linear and sequential, suitable for fixed-scope projects. Agile is iterative and incremental, ideal for projects needing flexibility. Agile promotes frequent reassessments and adaptations.

Benefits of Agile

• Faster delivery of value
• Improved product quality
• Greater transparency
• Customer satisfaction through early feedback
• Better team collaboration and motivation

Agile Terminology

• Epic: A large body of work that can be broken down into stories
• User Story: A requirement told from the user's perspective
• Backlog: A prioritized list of work
• Sprint: A time-boxed development cycle
• Increment: A potentially shippable product piece

Agile Frameworks Overview

Scrum: A widely used Agile framework with fixed-length iterations (sprints), well-defined roles, and ceremonies.
Kanban: Visual task management that limits work-in-progress and focuses on flow.
XP (Extreme Programming): Emphasizes technical excellence through pair programming, test-first development.
Lean: Derived from manufacturing, focuses on waste reduction and continuous flow.
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework): A structured approach to scale Agile across large enterprises.

Agile Roles

• Scrum Master: Facilitates the Scrum process, removes impediments, and shields the team from distractions.
• Product Owner: Owns the product backlog and ensures the right work is being prioritized for value delivery.
• Development Team: Cross-functional professionals who deliver increments of work.
• Stakeholders: Internal or external individuals invested in the outcome of the product.
• Agile Coach: Guides teams and organizations in their Agile adoption and practices.

Intermediate Agile Topics

Scrum Deep Dive

Scrum emphasizes short iterations called sprints. Events include:

• Sprint Planning: Team selects work for the sprint based on priorities.
• Daily Standup: Short daily meeting to align on progress and obstacles.
• Sprint Review: Team demonstrates what was built during the sprint.
• Sprint Retrospective: Reflect on the sprint to improve future performance.

Artifacts include:

• Product Backlog: Prioritized work maintained by Product Owner.
• Sprint Backlog: Tasks planned for the current sprint.
• Increment: Completed product that adds value.

Definition of Done (DoD) defines when work is complete. Acceptance Criteria specify conditions for each story.

Velocity: Measurement of work completed each sprint. Burndown Chart: Visual progress toward sprint goals.

Kanban Concepts

• WIP Limits: Restrict the number of tasks in each workflow stage to prevent overload.
• Pull System: Team pulls tasks when ready, promoting flow and self-organization.
• Kanban Board: Visual tool to track task status (To Do, In Progress, Done).

Agile Estimation & Planning

• Story Points: Relative size/effort of a user story, typically based on Fibonacci (1,2,3,5,...).
• Planning Poker: Collaborative estimation using cards to promote consensus.
• Sprint Planning: Meeting to define work for the upcoming sprint.
• Release Planning: Forecasting features and timelines for product release.

Agile Ceremonies & Meetings

• Daily Stand-ups: Focus on what was done, what will be done, blockers.
• Sprint Demos: Showcasing working software to stakeholders.
• Retrospectives: Inspect and adapt process, people, and tools.
• Backlog Grooming: Regularly refine the backlog to ensure items are clear and prioritized.

Advanced Agile Topics

Scaled Agile

• SAFe: Combines Lean and Agile for large enterprises with multiple teams.
• LeSS: Simplified scaling using multiple Scrum teams.
• Nexus: Coordination of 3–9 Scrum teams with integration roles/events.
• Spotify Model: Squad-based model emphasizing autonomy and alignment.

Metrics & KPIs

• Lead Time: Time taken from request to delivery.
• Cycle Time: Time taken to complete a task once started.
• Sprint Velocity: Measure of team output per sprint.
• Burnup/Burndown Charts: Visual indicators of progress.
• Team Happiness Index: Indicator of team morale.

Agile Testing & QA

• QA Role: Shift-left mindset, involved early in story refinement and test planning.
• Test Automation: Run automated tests as part of CI/CD pipeline.
• BDD/TDD/ATDD: Practices to ensure code correctness and collaboration.
• Agile Test Pyramid: Base of unit tests, middle of integration, top of UI tests.

Agile Tools

• JIRA: Manage backlogs, sprints, boards, epics, reports.
• Confluence: Centralized documentation and collaboration tool.
• Azure DevOps / Rally / Trello: Other tools to plan, track, and manage Agile work.

Agile Mindset & Culture

• Servant Leadership: Leaders who support and empower their teams.
• Continuous Improvement (Kaizen): Small, incremental changes for better outcomes.
• Psychological Safety: Team members feel safe to speak up and take risks.
• Agile Anti-Patterns: Common practices that undermine Agile principles (e.g., micromanagement).

Certifications & Career

• Certified Scrum Master (CSM): Credential from Scrum Alliance for Scrum leaders.
• PMI-ACP: PMI’s Agile Certified Practitioner credential.
• SAFe Agilist: Certification for leading scaled Agile.
• Scrum.org PSM: Professional Scrum Master I, II, III certifications.
• ICP-ACC: Agile Coaching certification from ICAgile.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is an Agile framework using short iterations (sprints) to deliver working software. It defines clear roles, ceremonies, and artifacts to help teams stay organized and collaborative.

Scrum Roles

• Scrum Master: Facilitates the process, removes blockers, and mentors the team on Scrum practices.
• Product Owner: Defines priorities and manages the product backlog.
• Development Team: Builds and tests the product increment.

Scrum Ceremonies Explained with Examples

• Daily Stand-Up: 15-minute daily meeting where team members answer:
  • What did I do yesterday?
  • What will I do today?
  • Are there any blockers?
  Example: “Yesterday I fixed login issue; today I’ll work on checkout tests; no blockers.”
• Sprint Planning: Define what stories will be delivered in the next sprint.
  Example: Selecting 5 user stories from the backlog and breaking them into tasks.
• Backlog Refinement: Ongoing session to clarify and estimate backlog items.
  Example: Splitting a big story about “Payment Gateway” into 3 smaller stories.
• Sprint Review: Demonstrate completed work to stakeholders.
  Example: Showing a working demo of the new checkout flow to the product owner.
• Sprint Retrospective: Discuss what went well, what didn’t, and how to improve.
  Example: Team agrees that code review delays should be improved next sprint.

Scrum Master Daily Role in Detail

• Facilitate the daily stand-up and keep it focused
• Support sprint planning and help clarify priorities
• Coordinate backlog refinement meetings with the Product Owner
• Protect the team from outside interruptions
• Track sprint metrics and help remove blockers
• Coach team members on Agile practices
• Organize sprint reviews and retrospectives

Other Agile Frameworks

• Kanban: Continuous flow, WIP limits, visual boards
• SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework): Scaling Agile to enterprise teams
• Extreme Programming (XP): Technical best practices for rapid software delivery

Pro Tips for Beginners

• Participate fully in all ceremonies
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions
• Keep user stories small, testable, and clear
• Remember: Scrum is about teamwork, not just a checklist
• Make retrospectives honest and constructive

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using Scrum as a status update rather than collaboration
• Ignoring the product backlog until sprint planning day
• Having unclear acceptance criteria for stories
• Skipping retrospectives and reviews
• Letting daily stand-ups run too long