Introduction to Agile

Part 1: Why Agile

• What are the factors driving business turbulence and need for agility.
• Understanding the changing mindset
• What a Burning Platform is and how it ties to the need for change.
• Why change may be needed.
• The difference between traditional delivery and Agile delivery.
• Why implementing Agile provides benefits beyond traditional delivery.
• Benefits of adopting Agile.

Part 2: Agile Foundations

• The 4 Agile Values in the Agile Manifesto.
• The 12 Agile Principles that guide how we do our work.
• The Agile Mindset.

Part 3: Agile Teams

• That an Agile team is a system.
• Scrum Team Roles.
• Levels of Team Maturity

Part 4: Agile Methodologies

• The value of Lean and the relationship to Agile.
• Differences between iterative and continuous flow work.
• The work drives the method.
• How Agile teams embrace Continuous Planning.
• Products, Product visions and users
• Key Scrum events for planning and execution.
• Review User Stories
• Understanding Minimum Viable Product
• The 3 core Scrum artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Product Increment.
• The importance of adapting and continuous improvement.
• The benefits of conducting a Review at the end of each Sprint.
• The Retrospective, your most powerful agile tool.
• Differences between Scrum and Kanban, and complimentary capabilities.
• The benefits of limiting the Work in Progress.
• Stop starting and start finishing!

Part 5: Agile Adoption

• Barriers to agile adoption.
• Thinking about knowledge growth using Shu Ha Ri.
• Realizing a suitable agile culture
• Kotter Framework for organization change.
• Ways to scale agile across large projects and portfolios.

This Introduction to Agile training course is designed for anyone who is considering the use of Agile Methods for software development or any other kind of work, including:

• Project Managers
• Program Managers
• Analysts
• Developers
• Programmers
• Testers
• IT Manager/Directors
• Software Engineers
• Software Architects
• Customers/Stakeholders
• Product Managers
• Or any business professional

• Understand Agile values and principles, and how to build the discipline to support those principles in your everyday practice
• Appreciate the history of Agile and how the collection of principles and practices came together to enable customer success
• Examine Agile methods, including Scrum, Extreme Programming, Lean Software Development, Kanban
• Draw best practices from the various methodologies that will contribute to your team success
• Talk the talk: learning the Agile terminology, roles and forums with their context
• Walk through the processes that support Agile principles to enable the delivery of great products
• Discover the power of Agile teams through communication, collaboration and cadence
• Lay the foundation upon which you can build