Comparing Agile Development Sprints and Release Sprints
During a project using agile management methodologies, most work is done during the development sprints. The release sprint — often the last sprint before the project is released — can be very different [more…]
How to Assess and Integrate Product Changes in an Agile Project
Welcoming change in an agile project helps you create the best product possible. However, integrating new requirements or suggestions means evaluating and prioritizing those requirements and updating the [more…]
How to Use Agile Artifacts for Scope Management
From the vision statement through the sprint plan, all the artifacts in agile project management support you in your scope management efforts. Decompose requirements progressively as features rise to the [more…]
Agile Management and Procurement Practices
The Agile Manifesto values customer collaboration over contract negotiation which sets an important tone for procurement relationships on agile projects. The Agile Manifesto sets forth the idea that a [more…]
How to Use Agile Velocity in Project Time Management
Agile methodologies support both strategic and tactical schedules and time management. Velocity, the measure of a development team's work speed, is a key factor in time management for any project. [more…]
Agile Management and Cost Management
On agile projects, cost is mostly a direct expression of project time. Because scrum teams consist of full-time, dedicated team members, they have a set team cost — generally expressed as an hourly or [more…]
Agile Management Communication Methods
To manage communication on agile projects, you need to understand how different agile communication methods work and how to use them together. You also need to know why status on an agile project is different [more…]
Using the Agile Roadmap to Value to Manage Project Scope
The agile Roadmap to Value provides a good way to look at scope management throughout an agile project. The scrum team manages product scope — all the features and requirements a product includes and [more…]
How to Manage Risk within Agile Management
Agile methodologies, when implemented correctly, inherently reduce risk in product development. Developing in sprints ensures a short time between project investment and proof that the product works. Sprints [more…]
How to Manage Quality with Agile Management Methodologies
In a project using agile methodologies, development teams have the primary responsibility for managing quality. Other members of the scrum team help control quality — product owners provide clarification [more…]
How to Get Commitment to a Transition to Agile Methodologies
Commitment at both an individual and organizational level is critical to a successful transition to agile methods. Without organizational support, even the most enthusiastic agile project team may find [more…]
How to Choose Agile Management Team Members
Choosing the right people to work on an agile management team is important to an agile project's success, especially for your first agile project. Desirable characteristics for team members overlap a bit [more…]
Questions and Concerns about Transitioning to Agile Methodologies
Transitioning to agile project management means making an active, conscious effort to work with new methods and to abandon old habits. Questions and concerns naturally arise. Anticipating and addressing [more…]
The Agile Management Definition of Done
In an agile project, a requirement that meets the scrum team's (and the agile) definition of done is: complete and ready to demonstrate at the end of a sprint. The definition of done drastically changes [more…]
How to Plan an Agile Sprint Meeting
When you’re working within an agile management framework, you accomplish discrete tasks within the framework of a sprint. On the first day of each sprint — often a Monday morning — the scrum team holds [more…]
What Is an Agile Sprint?
Within an agile project management framework, a sprint is a consistent period of time in which the development team creates a specific group of product capabilities from start to finish. The development [more…]
What Is an Agile Sprint Backlog?
Within an agile development project, a sprint backlog is a list of the tasks and requirements to be completed within the sprint. The sprint backlog includes [more…]
The Cycle of Feedback and the Agile Sprint Review
Along with demonstrating the scrum team’s finished work, an agile sprint review meeting enables stakeholders to provide feedback on that work. This cycle of feedback repeats throughout the agile project [more…]
The Function of the Scrum and Sprint within an Agile Project
Scrum, the most popular agile framework in software development, is an iterative approach that has at its core the sprint — the scrum term for iteration. Scrum teams use inspection throughout an agile [more…]
How to Track Progress with Agile Management: The Sprint Backlog
One tool of an agile management system is the sprint backlog, which is a list of requirements and tasks in a given sprint. The sprint backlog is updated every day of the sprint. Make the sprint backlog [more…]
How to Track Progress with Agile Management: The Task Board
In an agile management context, a task board — in conjunction with the sprint backlog — gives a quick, easy view of the items within the sprint that the development team is working on and has completed [more…]
The Agile Management Sprint Review
During a project using agile management methodologies, you hold periodic sprint reviews — meetings to review and demonstrate the user stories that the development team completed during the sprint. The [more…]
How to Structure an Agile Sprint Retrospective Meeting
Agile sprint retrospectives are an important component of moving an agile project forward, so it helps to have these meetings in a structured format. Esther Derby and Diana Larsen, authors of [more…]
How to Divide Up the Work in a Business Efficiency Project
This portion of your business efficiency project's execution plan involves identifying individual milestones and assigning them to the right team members. Here is a sample plan from a real-life scenario [more…]
How to Plan a Successful Efficiency Project
To increase productivity or decrease waste in your business or organization, you need to plan carefully for an efficiency project. In order to progress efficiently and eventually arrive at the project’s [more…]
