https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn daily 0.75 2023-07-20 https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/what-is-agile monthly 0.5 2023-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/d49e37c0-77e4-4bad-b08a-a5d0cd724ffc/iStock-1349688745.jpg Learn - What is Agile? - Many people believe that Agile is a methodology for project management. But the idea that there are specific practices and processes you can follow to guarantee success is a common and unfortunate misconception. Although there are methods, frameworks and practices you can experiment with to promote agility, in reality, there are no specific processes you can follow to ‘be agile’. It’s more helpful to think of agility as a mindset or a set of principles that empower you to improve the way you work. If you and the people you work with understand the theories that underpin so-called agile practices, you’re on the path to figuring out your own better ways of working. https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/mbfjmmim30jahvnw7m13nqw6fihdk2 monthly 0.5 2023-06-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/1667514791735-QS980MPA0GSOO0M6Q4E0/agile.jpg Learn - What are Agile Frameworks? - An agile framework is a set of very basic rules you can follow to shape the way you work. They’re meant to be ‘lightweight’, which means that a framework doesn’t tell you exactly how to run a project, instead it gives you a structure - designed with agility in mind - to work from and build upon. Frameworks can be useful if they are implemented while also gaining an understanding of the fundamental principles of agility. The danger is that sometimes frameworks can be put in place without that additional learning. When this happens, the rules of the framework can become an unhelpful set of processes. https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/5vcpn0glnft6pqas2735g61oz3qwin monthly 0.5 2023-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/1667515081562-TV7XJGB5VNZN7WZZY11C/iStock-1287297561.jpg Learn - What is Scrum? - Scrum is essentially a method for structuring the way a team communicates with each other while they incrementally build a product. It was developed by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber in the early 1990s as a framework for software development teams to simplify the process of building complex systems. Its influence has since spread beyond software development, and it is now used by teams across a broad range of industries. A good way to learn about Scrum is by reading The Scrum Guide, and Jeff Sutherland’s excellent book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time. https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/what-is-kanban monthly 0.5 2023-06-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/1667515180820-03Z5Q1F2SRTMC6CY71MB/iStock-1399027167.jpg Learn - What is Kanban? - Each column on the board represents a step in a system that your work needs to flow through in order to be completed. The titles of these columns should be specific to your particular system of working, but in a very simplified system you could label the columns as ‘To Do’, ‘Doing’ and ‘Done’. Work is represented by cards which flow through the board as they enter the different steps in the process. Each Kanban card represents a single item of work. https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/what-is-the-agile-manifesto monthly 0.5 2023-06-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/ecdd4c97-d2e6-4f4f-82b8-d675b6197433/agile+manifesto+screenshot.png Learn - What is the Agile Manifesto? - In 2001, 17 of the creators of these new, more efficient ways of working got together to discuss the themes that were shared between their various practices. They agreed on a set of values and principles that aligned with these common themes, wrote them down and called it the Agile Manifesto. Reading the Manifesto and the accompanying Twelve Principles of Agile Software can be a good way to learn about agility, but it can feel a bit abstract, especially if you aren’t a software developer. https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/what-is-a-user-story monthly 0.5 2023-07-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/1688564638020-ZUHHDSKNZASYFVG5YSKR/iStock-1349681232.jpg Learn - What is a User Story? - In my experience as a consultant, user stories are one of the most misunderstood, misused, time-wasting methods of all. User stories can be a really powerful method for putting people at the heart of what you’re building, working collaboratively, and for getting software into the hands of users as quickly as possible for testing and feedback - all core principles of agility. But so often, the application of the method goes wonky and the focus gets skewed on writing things down in a particular format, essentially recreating requirements documentation in a slightly different format. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/ede56033-9f86-418e-8737-894ae5efe704/tasks.png Learn - What is a User Story? - Make it stand out A selection of tasks on the second row of a story map. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/013105fe-a032-4e12-aaa5-3f98fa908002/iStock-1418839955.jpg Learn - What is a User Story? - Even our simplified slice of functionality is complex and could take weeks or months to build as we dig further into the details. We shouldn’t have to wait until all of it is built before we consult with users to check we’re heading in the right direction. If we treat each of our individual stories as something that could be released and tested on its own, we can start getting preliminary user feedback at every stage of development. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/15437664-4fc0-4395-bd81-6dedbfc118cb/Screenshot+2023-07-05+at+15.32.21.png Learn - What is a User Story? - Let’s take ‘search for a specific product using keywords’ from our online marketplace example. You could argue that this story is dependent on sellers uploading products, but those products could simply be added to the database using a spreadsheet. We don’t necessarily need to build an all-bells-and-whistles product upload system to then create a search function. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/13a20d1f-598f-47cb-ab58-512018f17318/iStock-1460138928.jpg Learn - What is a User Story? - Let’s say someone asked you to clean a table for them, and they simply said “I have a table, please clean it for me”. Seems straightforward enough, we can get some basic cleaning products and give that table a good ol’ wipe. But actually, who’s asking us to clean this table? Why do they need it to be clean? Could the reason impact the way we do the job? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/36344b8a-157c-4a00-8bae-40684b071d96/activities.png Learn - What is a User Story? - Make it stand out Activities at the top of a story map. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/7b92bc2d-0c77-407c-8c14-2b3fdedde207/iStock-1399027212.jpg Learn - What is a User Story? - In the traditional ‘waterfall’ method of project management, you would write a big technical requirements document listing all the features the software needs to have, then plan to build the whole thing in phases. You might build the entire front-end user interface first, then build the back end, connect them together, test it all for bugs, fix the bugs, then release the finished product. But for a complex piece of software, that process might take years to complete, and by the time you’ve finished it you might discover that what you’d originally planned to build wasn’t fit for purpose. Disaster! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/c818332b-8e60-483f-aa41-b879a0f7f2f5/iStock-1389427363.jpg Learn - What is a User Story? - User stories offer an alternative way to describe the requirements of a product that reduces this sort of risk. Instead of defining the features the product needs, we work collaboratively with users and stakeholders to understand and define the problems the product needs to solve. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/09b90314-f85f-4be7-abe5-fd11128ed652/story+map+template.png Learn - What is a User Story? - Make it stand out Example of a story map template created using the Miro user story mapping template. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/d41b77a0-fc93-4047-854b-ebac5a8c225c/Story+map+with+slice.png Learn - What is a User Story? - Make it stand out An example story map with a version slice. Click the image to view the full example in Miro. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/84d93a41-5017-485a-a1ba-59424472fd84/iStock-1369572644.jpg Learn - What is a User Story? - Writing things down is of course useful, and often essential as it’s very easy to forget what was agreed in conversation. But the concept of user stories isn’t meant to be about writing things down. It’s meant to be about having a conversation, learning about a problem from another person’s perspective, and then collaborating to solve it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/6d20dc2e-60f3-402c-931f-a07162214c5f/full+story+map.png Learn - What is a User Story? - Make it stand out An example story map. Click the image to view the full example in Miro. https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/category/Frameworks monthly 0.5 https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/category/Basics monthly 0.5 https://www.adaptive-agile.net/learn/category/Methods monthly 0.5 https://www.adaptive-agile.net/home daily 1.0 2023-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/9b850985-82ff-4e06-ac48-a4c72e877f3a/iStock-1250795609.jpg https://www.adaptive-agile.net/contact daily 0.75 2023-07-25 https://www.adaptive-agile.net/agile-in-a-nutshell daily 0.75 2022-11-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6334aedf2f231e533c7ab481/f9ed730b-d323-4b39-98e4-b1dfc2071d4d/Agility+in+a+Nutshell.png