Agile Manifesto Principles and Values

Course Information

• Course name: MGMT8085: Agile Principles
• Course delivery type: Week 1 Class 1
• Course overview: The course dives into Agile principles for continuous delivery and improvement in IT projects. Students will learn about agile values, principles, communication, and popular frameworks.

Course Overview

• Agile aims to support continuous delivery and improvement within IT projects.
• The course explores agile values and principles in the agile manifesto.
• The course will teach how to enhance communication with users and cross-functional teams.
• It covers responding to change in an agile way and introduces popular agile frameworks.
• The course will also examine common roles found in agile teams.

Ice-Breaker

• Students will take part in an ice-breaker activity.
• The activity includes questions like: name, academic background, and reasons for choosing the program.

Course Format & Evaluations

• The course will have weekly quizzes, an assignment, a midterm, a group project (two parts), and a final exam.
• The course includes a student success week.

Resources

• Required resources:
  • eConestoga
  • Week-to-week content
  • PowerPoint slides
  • E-text resource

Introduction to Agile

• This is a week 1 class introduction to Agile principles.

Class Structure

• The class includes a lecture segment (35 minutes).
• It also includes a break (10 minutes).
• Another lecture and exercise segment (50 minutes).
• An additional break (10 minutes).
• A practice exercise or discussion of assignments/evaluations (25 minutes).
• An asynchronous hour (5 minutes).
• A summary section (10 minutes).
• Q&A session (5 minutes).

What is Agile?

• The focus of Agile is "Think" and "Interact".
• This is done to achieve agility.

Learning Objectives

• The students will learn about the history of Agile, its origin, and the reasoning behind its development.
• Traditional project management and agile project management will be compared and contrasted.
• Various agile methodologies preceding the Agile Manifesto will be introduced.
• The Agile Manifesto, its four values, and twelve principles will be covered.
• Agile principles' application in the software development life cycle will be discussed.
• Real-world examples demonstrating agile values and principles in relation to customer value and project risk will be explored.
• Agile mindset will be discussed.

Week 1: Agile Words

• Students will use menti.com for a word quiz.

History of Agile

• Traditional project management techniques, particularly Waterfall, are prominent in the 1950s. Agile methodologies also existed prior. The Agile Alliance was formed in 2001. The Agile Manifesto was developed. Further discussion of agile terms and concepts will take place.

Traditional Project Management

• This methodology performs well for projects with well-defined work.
• Examples such as constructing buildings and equipment, or designing combustion engines, show projects with clear requirements.
• However, it is a less adequate approach when dealing with high uncertainties and poorly defined or changing requirements.

Agile Methodologies

• The methodologies including Rapid Application Development (1980s), Adaptive Software Development (1990s), and others (like Crystal, Scrum, Extreme Programming, DSDM, FDD).

Agile Alliance

• Established in 2001 at the Snowbird meeting.
• The 17 software developers developed the Agile Manifesto's four values.
• Agile frameworks existed before the formal adoption of project management.
• Lean and Toyota Production System are briefly related to Agile.

The Agile Manifesto

• Aims to provide better ways of developing software by doing so and helping others do so.
• Emphasizes individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
• Focuses on working software over detailed documentation.
• Encourages customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
• Prioritizes responding to change over strictly following a plan.

Agile Terms & Concepts

• This section includes a comprehensive list of key terms and concepts related to agile methodologies.

Agile Explained

• Discusses the agile mindset, which was covered previously.

Agile Values

• The presentation covers the 4 core values of the Agile Manifesto.

Value #1: Individuals and Interactions

• Agile values interactions and results over processes.
• Communication is crucial and processes should be adapted as needed rather than adhered to rigidly.

Value #2: Customer Collaboration

• The presentation emphasizes customer involvement in development teams. Problem-solving and collaboration with the customer take precedence over blame or rigid contract negotiation.

Value #3: Working Software

• This value highlights using working software as primary measure of progress over comprehensive documentation. Feedback is important, while documentation should not stifle creativity.

Value #4: Responding to Change

• The Agile process focuses on adapting to change over strictly adhering to a pre-defined plan. Iteration, feedback from users, and adaptable priorities are crucial components.

10 Min Exercise: Values Drive our Actions

• Students work in groups to discuss the values and how they relate to their routine actions (e.g., family time).
• This exercise demonstrates valuing personal practice and connection to the values.

Exercise Instructions

• Students are asked to identify practices they value or dislike.
• Give examples of activities, such as spending time with family or disposing of recycling appropriately.
• This exercise helps link agile values to everyday routines.

10 Minute Break

• Students have a break for 10 minutes.

Agile Principles

• A list of 12 principles guiding Agile methodologies, starting with working software as the primary measure of progress.

Principle #1: Customer Satisfaction

• Prioritizing early and continuous delivery of valuable software over late deliveries is emphasized.

Principle #2: Welcome Changing Requirements

• Adaptability to changing requirements, even late in development, is essential for a competitive advantage

Principle #3: Frequent Delivery

• Frequent delivery of working software is promoted. Emphasizes shorter timescales to adapt efficiently

Principle #4: Daily Collaboration

• Continuous interaction between business people and developers is discussed

Principle #5: Motivated Individuals

• The importance of building team members is highlighted. It's important to empower them and give them the necessary environment and support to succeed in the project.

Principle #6: Face-to-Face Communication

• Emphasizes the significance of face-to-face communication within the team over other communication methods.

Principle #7: Working Software

• The primary metric of progress in Agile is working software. Deliver quality and tested software.

Principle #8: Sustainable Development

• Agile techniques are aimed at sustainable progress at a consistent pace.

Principle #9: Technical Excellence

• Quality, waste reduction, and improvement are encouraged through attention to technical excellence and good design.

Principle #10: Simplicity

• The need to avoid unnecessary tasks is stressed for maximizing value to clients.

Principle #11: Self-Organizing Teams

• The importance of self-organizing teams for developing the best designs and architectures arises from collaborative expertise sharing

Principle #12: Reflective Teams

• Emphasizes the importance of reflective teams for growth and improvement. Regular feedback and adjustments enable the team to fine-tune the working process.

Agile Mindset

• This slide presents a general overview of agile mindset in relation to specific project management tasks.

Implementing an Agile Mindset in PM

• Emphasizes learning and understanding different frameworks in project management while adhering to the core values and principles. Incremental changes to existing project processes in order to align with agile practices is crucial for achieving effective utilization.

How it all connects

• Agile mindset is fundamental to adopting agility within project management.

10 Minute Break

• A 10-minute break is planned.

In-Class Exercise

• The exercise instructs students to form groups, discuss agile principles, and answer related questions.
  • Students review which principle most resonates with them. Course-related application and career relevance are explored.

Agile Principles (Again)

• Again, the 12 principles are summarized for review.

Asynchronous Activity Week 1

• Review a video on the Introduction to Agile.
• Questions are provided for analyzing the video content:
  • What agile framework is James Newkirk familiar with?
  • What recommendation does he make regarding agile framework implementation?

Test Your Knowledge

• A test-your-knowledge session using menti.com is planned.

Summary

• Agile involves embracing a mindset change in project management. Continuous improvement is paramount.

Key Take-Aways

• Agile is a philosophy, not a methodology.
• Agile prioritizes early customer satisfaction and continuous delivery.
• Agile enhances value and minimizes waste through adaptability to change, frequent deliveries, and collaboration.
• Agile's 4 values and 12 principles are crucial building blocks for improving project outcomes.
• Risk minimization for customers is a key consideration for value enhancement.

Next Class

• Future class topics include relationships between agile values, lean practices, and project management.
• This includes discussions of derived agile principles from existing values within the Agile Manifesto.

Test your knowledge of the Agile Manifesto with this quiz, which covers its four core values and key principles. Learn about the history of Agile practices and how they advocate for working software and sustainable development. Challenge yourself on various aspects of Agile methodologies.