A PRACTICAL GUIDE
How to Get Started with Agile?
Learn how to do it right and what mistakes to avoid when getting started with Agile
As agile is getting more and more popular, many non-development teams want to give it a try. This article will guide you step by step how to get started.
One of the mistakes I often see teams doing is assuming they need to start with Scrum and sprints.
Another mistake I see is that teams take their existing way of working and simply add a daily meeting and a planning in the best case.
But the real power of Agile is in rethinking the work in way that put business value first and manage to deliver usable benefits early and frequently. The real power of Agile is when you get the highest value first.
Here’s are the 5 practical steps you should take to get started with Agile:
- Select the project and the team
- Prepare your Agile backlog
- Select your Agile methodology
- Track the progress
- Learn and adjust
Before you get started, you need to know that:
Agile is based on predictability.
For a team to be predictable it needs a stable environment and team members that are committed to a fixed number of hours each week. For example: John is dedicated part time all along the project. If John is 2 hours this week, 20 next week, then 10 again, the Agile implementation will not work in your team because there is no consistency.
Step 1: Select a project and the team
Team
- You can assign a team that can commit a fixed amount of time during a certain period
- Should all the team members commit the same amount of time? No. You can have a core Agile team and a support team. Each Agile team member from the core team will commit to the same amount of time every week and the support team will commit to deliver certain tasks by certain deadlines.
- The team can deliver the…
