Agile Manifesto Principles Quiz

Course Information

• Course title: MGMT8085: Agile Principles
• Course overview: The course dives into Agile principles for continuous delivery and improvement in IT projects. It examines Agile values, principles from the Agile manifesto, and communication with cross-functional teams. Popular Agile frameworks will be explored.
• Week 1 class 1: Introduction to Agile

Course Overview

• The course introduces Agile principles that support continuous delivery and improvement in IT projects.
• Students will learn about Agile values and principles in the Agile manifesto.
• Agile communication with user stories and cross-functional teams will be explored.
• How to respond to change using Agile methods will be covered, including popular Agile frameworks.

Ice-Breaker

• Students will participate in an ice-breaker activity with the following questions:
  • Name
  • Academic Background
  • Reasoning for choosing Conestoga, the relevant program, or a specific topic they want to learn.

Course Format & Evaluations

• The course schedule includes weeks 1-15, with different assessments during these weeks.
• Assessments include Quizzes for weeks 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, and 12.
• An assignment is due in week 6.
• A midterm exam is held in week 7.
• Group projects (part 1 due in week 10, and part 2 due in week 14)
• The final exam is in week 15.

Resources

• eConestoga: Course materials are available on eConestoga.
• Week-to-week content
• PowerPoint Slides
• E-text resource: Agile Practice Guide (190 pages) from the Project Management Institute (September 2017)

This Class

• The class includes:
  • Lecture: 35 minutes
  • Break: 10 minutes
  • Lecture & Exercise: 50 minutes
  • Break: 10 minutes
  • Practice Exercise/Discussion: 25 minutes
  • Asynchronous Hour: 5 minutes
  • Summary: 10 minutes
  • Q&A: 5 minutes

What is Agile?

• Agile focuses on thinking and interacting to achieve agility.

Learning Objectives

• Discuss the origin and development of Agile.
• Contrast traditional and Agile project management.
• Identify Agile methodologies that preceded Agile.
• Introduce the Agile Manifesto, its four values, and 12 principles.
• Examine Agile principles in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Connect Agile values and principles to customer value and project risk.
• Understanding Agile Mindset

Week 1: Agile Words

• Students are asked to use a website, menti.com, to answer questions about Agile words.

History of Agile

• Early traditional project management (popularized in the 1950s, like Waterfall) is addressed
• Different agile methodologies from 1980s to 1990s are mentioned.
• Formation of the Agile Alliance.
• The importance of the Agile Manifesto.
• Agile terms and concepts.

Traditional Project Management

• Works well for projects with clearly defined tasks (like construction).
• Not well-suited for projects with high uncertainty.
• Challenges in adapting to changing requirements and high uncertainty lead to risks.
• Products are delivered at the project end in a single batch

Agile Methodologies

• Rapid Application Development (1980s)
• Adaptive Software Development (1990s)
• Crystal Agile Methodology (1991)
• Scrum Framework (1993)
• Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) (1994)
• Extreme Programming (XP) (1996)
• Feature Driven Development (FDD) (1997)

Agile Alliance

• Formed in 2001.
• 17 software developers agreed to the Agile Manifesto’s 4 values.
• Agile frameworks already existed, forming the foundation of Agile project management.
• Connection to Lean and Toyota Production.

The Agile Manifesto

• Aims to uncover better ways of developing software.
• Values individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
• Prioritizes working software over comprehensive documentation.
• Favors collaboration over contract negotiation.
• Prioritizes responding to change over following a plan.

Agile Terms & Concepts

• Backlog, Backlog Refinement, Burndown Chart, Continuous Integration, Daily Stand-up, Definition of Done, Epic, etc.

Agile Explained

• Introduction to the Agile mindset.

Agile Values

• Understand the Agile Values
• Value #1: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Value #2: Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Value #3: Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Value #4: Responding to change over following a plan

Exercise Instructions (Page 26)

• Students are divided into small groups (4-5).
• They discuss their values, activities that relate to their values, and practices that disagree with their values.
• Example: Value spending time with family, take time to facetime each week, dislike people throwing recycling in the garbage.

Agile Principles (Page 29, 48)

• Our highest priority to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
• Welcome changing requirements even late in development.
• Deliver working software frequently.
• Business people and developers work together daily.
• Build projects around motivated individuals.
• The most efficient and effective method is face to face communication.
• Working software is the primary measure of progress.
• Agile promotes sustainable development.
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
• Simplicity is essential to maximize the amount of work not done.
• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
• The team reflects regularly.

Principle #1

• Waiting to deliver software at the end puts customer satisfaction at risk

Principle #2

• Small-batch sizes and iterative development yield higher customer satisfaction

Principle #3

• Smaller batch sizes minimize potential for waste and rework.

Principle #4

• Collaboration and diverse teams, involving end users, yield better software

Principle #5

• Micromanagement is ineffective
• Teams should be empowered to deliver projects.

Principle #6

• Face-to-face communication is ideal for confirming mutual understanding.

Principle #7

• Difficult for end users to visualize software functionality without testing

Principle #8

• Sustainable development allows teams to maintain a constant pace.

Principle #9

• Building quality reduces waste and improves software quality. Self-forming teams have pride of product ownership.

Principle #10

• Asking if tasks add value to the end user is crucial.

Principle #11

• Self-organizing teams leverage combined skillsets to improve efficiency.

Principle #12

• Reflecting on effectiveness helps teams adjust their behavior and improve.

Agile Mindset (p 43)

• Understanding different frameworks and their implementations.
• Adapting the current project process incrementally, focusing on agile principles and values..

How it all connects (p 44)

• Agile mindset is defined by values, guided by principles, and manifested through practices.

In-Class Exercise (p 47)

• Students discuss the 12 principles of Agile in groups of 4-5.
  • Which agile principle is most closely related to their work practices and why?
  • Which agile principle are they looking forward to applying in this course/their career and why?

Asynchronous Activity for Week 1 (p 49,50)

• Review a video on Introduction to Agile by James Newkirk.
  • What agile framework is James Newkirk most familiar with?
  • What are James Newkirk's suggestions when implementing Agile?

Test Your Knowledge (p 51,52)

• Take a quiz using menti.com to test comprehension.

Summary (p. 53, 54)

• Agile Alliance introduced the Agile Manifesto in 2001 aiming for better software development.
• Agile is a mindset, not a methodology, to adapt to high uncertainty.
• The Agile Manifesto contains 4 values and 12 principles guiding agile practitioners.
• Agile, similar to Lean, prioritizes increasing customer value and minimizing waste.

Next Class (p 55)

• Discuss how Agile principles relate to agile project management practices.
• Explain the relationship between lean and agile.
• Identify common lean and agile practices in project management.
• Explain how Agile principles are derived from the Agile Manifesto's 4 values.

Test your knowledge of the Agile Manifesto principles and values with this engaging quiz. Cover topics such as collaboration, flexible approaches, and the history of Agile methodologies. Ideal for software developers and project managers looking to reinforce their understanding of Agile practices.