Course Outline
Understanding Agile: Shifting the Mindset
- The Agile Manifesto: four values and twelve principles.
- Transitioning from plan-driven to value-driven working methods.
- Why Agile is valuable for teams beyond software development.
- Exercise: Mapping current work challenges to agile principles.
Scrum Overview: The Big Picture
- An overview of the Scrum framework: roles, events, and artifacts.
- The three pillars: transparency, inspection, and adaptation.
- How an empirical approach minimizes risk and waste.
- Activity: Identifying opportunities for transparency in your work.
Scrum Roles: Responsibilities Defined
- Product Owner: owning the vision and prioritizing value.
- Scrum Master: facilitating the process and removing obstacles.
- Developers: self-managing to deliver completed increments.
- Exercise: Role-play clarifying accountability boundaries.
The Sprint Cycle: Scrum Events in Practice
- Sprint as the container for all other events.
- Sprint Planning: setting a goal and selecting work.
- Daily Scrum: inspecting progress toward the Sprint Goal.
- Sprint Review: inspecting the increment with stakeholders.
- Sprint Retrospective: planning improvements for the next Sprint.
Scrum Artifacts: Ensuring Work Transparency
- Product Backlog: the single source of upcoming work.
- Sprint Backlog: the plan for the current Sprint.
- Increment: a stepping stone toward the Product Goal.
- Workshop: Building a sample Product Backlog from a real scenario.
Kanban Foundations: Visualizing Work
- The origins of Kanban and the flow-based mindset.
- Designing a Kanban board: columns, cards, and workflow stages.
- Making invisible work visible across a team.
- Hands-on: Mapping your actual workflow onto a Kanban board.
WIP Limits and Flow: Focus on Completion
- Understanding WIP and the importance of limiting it.
- Pull systems versus push systems.
- Identifying and resolving bottlenecks.
- Exercise: Setting and testing WIP limits on a team board.
Kanban Metrics: Measuring What Matters
- Understanding cycle time, throughput, and work item age.
- Reading a Cumulative Flow Diagram.
- Using metrics to drive constructive conversations, not to judge individuals.
- Activity: Analyzing sample flow data and proposing improvements.
Feedback Loops and Continuous Improvement
- Kanban cadences: replenishment, delivery planning, and service review.
- Making policies explicit and evolving them over time.
- The evolutionary change approach: start where you are.
- Practice: Defining explicit policies for a sample workflow.
Combining Scrum and Kanban: The Scrumban Approach
- How the two frameworks complement and reinforce each other.
- Using a Kanban board to visualize the Sprint Backlog.
- Applying WIP limits within Sprints for smoother delivery.
- Discussion: Choosing the right practices for your specific context.
Hands-On Simulation: Running a Sprint with a Kanban Board
- Multi-round simulation: planning a Sprint, building a board, and setting WIP limits.
- Executing work items through the board and tracking flow metrics.
- Conducting a Sprint Review and Retrospective using real data.
- Debrief: Insights from the simulation regarding real-world teamwork.
Integrating Agile into Daily Work
- Identifying low-risk starting points in your own environment.
- Practical techniques you can apply starting next week.
- Avoiding common pitfalls when introducing agile practices.
- Action planning: One concrete change to try after the course.
Requirements
- No prior experience with agile methodologies is necessary.
- Basic familiarity with teamwork environments is beneficial.
Target Audience
- Professionals from any department interested in understanding agile fundamentals.
- Team members aiming to enhance project management and workflow visibility.
- Individuals seeking practical tools for organizing daily work.
Testimonials (4)
workshops, practical cases
Joanna Nowak - LKQ Polska Sp. z o. o.
Course - Introduction to Agile Testing
team exercises
Dan
Course - SAFe® for Teams
Friendly, plenty of breaks to think about what we have learnt and lovely guy.
Leanne - Welsh Revenue Authority
Course - Agile Business Analysis
I really enjoyed the mix of practical with theory. The trainer was also exteremly knowledgable and answered all our questions perfectly
