This Agile class is one of our most popular courses, covering key concepts from nTier’s Scrum Master, product owner and Lean/Kanban practitioner courses. This course takes a deeper dive into project management tactics and allows for extended hands-on lab time. After a one-day overview of Scrum and a brief synopsis of Lean, students will have an opportunity to practice what they’ve learned with two days of intensive lab work.
Course Duration:
3 to 4 days
Audience:
This course is appropriate for anyone who is inexperienced working on or with agile teams. It is equally suited for individuals, teams and whole organizations exploring how to use Agile, those beginning their Agile journey or those currently struggling with Agile implementation. This course helps ensure students are prepared to begin using Agile more effectively and professionally.
Prerequisites:
No prerequisites are required for this course.
Course Objectives:
- Provide a refresher on the origins and basics of Scrum and Agile
- Present a detailed explanation of the key Scrum “artifacts”
- Grasp the Scrum Master’s role in-depth
- Understand Lean principles and how to apply them with Scrum
- In-depth understanding of Scrum practices through experiential exercise
Course Outline:
- Agile Overview
- The Agile Potential
- The Agile Manifesto
- Agile Alone is NOT Enough
- Can Agile Fail?
- The Best Agile
- SCRUM Overview
- Roles and Responsibilities
- How It Works
- Artifacts
- Rules of Scrum
- Definition of Done
- Lean Practices Specific to Software Projects
- Lean Principles
- Value Stream Mapping
- Set Management – Backlog, Throughput, Expenses
- Kanbans and Queues
- Smaller Batches Penny Lab
- WIP Limits – Airplane Lab
- Goals and Measurements
- Leveraging Lean Principles in Scrum Lab
- Product Owner Roles and Responsibilities
- Will the Real Product Owner Please Stand Up?
- Product Backlog and Requirements
- Roles and Personas
- Spikes and Special Stories
- Guiding the Self-Managing Team
- Leadership versus Management
- Agile Leader’s Role
- Leadership Lab
- Servant Leadership
- Changing Culture and Behavior
- Motivating Knowledge Workers
- Small Changes, Knowing When to Act
- Force Field Analysis Lab
- Encouraging Agile behavior versus slowing adoption
- Agile Planning
- Agile Planning Concept and Terms
- Business Case and Value Analysis
- The Project Charter
- Customer Value Prioritization
- Minimally Marketable Feature/Minimal Viable Product
- Product Backlog
- Defining the Product Backlog
- User Stories – Business Functionality
- Prioritizing the Backlog
- Creating a Product Backlog Lab
- Class will intermittently revisit this lab
- Agile Estimation
- Stories and Sizing
- Relative Sizing
- Wideband Delphi
- Planning Poker
- Affinity Estimating
- Team Estimation Method
- Agile Estimation Lab
- Release Planning
- Release Planning Inputs and Outputs
- Velocity-Driven Release Planning
- Fixed Schedule Release Planning
- Release Planning for Course Project Lab
- Metrics and Measuring Progress
- Planning as You Go
- Reviewing Information Radiators
- Velocity and Measuring Progress
- Scrum Metrics
- Lean Metrics
- Even Easier Metrics
- Metrics Lab
- Watching The Horizon
- Sprints
- Sprint Planning
- Sprint Activities
- Sprint Review
- Sprint Retrospective
- Sprint Planning and Execution Lab
- Sprint Review Lab
- Sprint Retrospective Lab
- Final Review and Next Steps
- Optional Fourth Day
- Selected Topics
- Discussion and Coaching
