Release: In this phase, the Accepted Deliverables are delivered to the customers, and the lessons which were learned during the project development are identified, documented and internalized. Of course, the organization needs to grow in terms of delivering quality products to their customers. This is why they have to determine what they have learned and then implement such lessons during the development of future projects as a show of improvement.
The difference in Agile’s phases is that they will all happen together throughout each sprint, to deliver a small part of the software and start working in the next part for the next sprint. After each sprint, the development team will plan the next job to be done, put back into the backlog any task that couldn’t be completed previously and apply any changes that may appear down the road.
The History Of Agile
Product owners are central to the successful transformation of companies using Agile methodologies. The product owner role evolved from the traditional waterfall business analyst with notable differences. The same analytical skills are required for both roles with a strong product owner being an entrepreneur who views features as assets with a high value in the organization.
Agile project delivery principles evolved because industry leaders recognized that the linear nature of waterfall delivery created long windows of time between gathering requirements and delivering working software. Long delivery cycles were ineffective since market changes and product vision updates could not be accounted for without losing time and productivity. The traditional waterfall project delivery methods are not designed to account for immediate changes in scope or features.
Agile principles were developed in 2001 by a group of software thought leaders in an attempt to address the need to deliver rapid software for immediate use by customers. These thought leaders believed that change should be embraced. Agile was developed to deliver features in smaller, working increments to the customer.
Agile Values and Principles
Agile is based on four foundational values and 12 principles for delivery. The four foundational values are:
Valuing individuals and interaction over processes and tools,
Delivering working software versus voluminous documentation,
Collaborating with customers versus intense contract negotiations and
Immediately responding to change versus strict adherence to the original plan.
Recommended Further Reading
The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course:
Course Contents
Section 1: Agile Project Management
Section 2: Using the Agile Manifesto to Deliver Change
Section 3: The 12 Agile Principles
Section 4: The Agile Fundamentals
Section 5: The Declaration of Interdependence
Section 6: Agile Development Frameworks
Section 7: Introduction to Scrum
Section 8: Scrum Projects
Section 9: Scrum Project Roles
Section 10: Meet the Scrum Team
Section 11: Building the Scrum Team
Section 12: Scrum in Projects, Programs & Portfolios
Section 13: How to Manage an Agile Project
Section 14: Leadership Styles
Section 15: The Agile Project Life-cycle
Section 16: Business Justification with Agile
Section 17: Calculating the Benefits With Agile
Section 18: Quality in Agile
Section 19: Acceptance Criteria and the Prioritised Product Backlog
Section 20: Quality Management in Scrum
Section 21: Change in Scrum
Section 22: Integrating Change in Scrum
Section 23: Managing Change in Scrum
Section 24: Risk in Scrum
Section 25: Risk Assessment Techniques
Section 26: Initiating an Agile Project
Section 27: Forming the Scrum Team
Section 28: Epics and Personas
Section 29: Creating the Prioritised Product Backlog
Section 30: Conduct Release Planning
Section 31: The Project Business Case
Section 32: Planning in Scrum
Section 33: Scrum Boards
Section 34: Sprint Planning
Section 35: User Stories
Section 36: User Stories and Tasks
Section 37: The Sprint Backlog
Section 38: Implementation of Scrum
Section 39: The Daily Scrum
Section 40: The Product Backlog
Section 41: Scrum Charts
Section 42: Review and Retrospective
Section 43: Scrum of Scrums
Section 44: Validating a Sprint
Section 45: Retrospective Sprint
Section 46: Releasing the Product
Section 47: Project Retrospective
Section 48: The Communication Plan
Section 49: Formal Business Sign-off
Section 50: Scaling Scrum
Section 51: Stakeholders
Section 52: Programs and Portfolios