Are You Agile?

[Hoffman, Keith]

As I understand it, being 'agile' is essentially breaking off small
chunks of an overall project goal into smaller, more digestible chunks.
The highest priority features are done first, followed by the 'nice to
haves'. 

Berbee's Robert Merrill:
"Agile methods tend to use short iteration lengths of a week to a month,
small teams, and very frequent and warm (conversational) communication
between business and technical team members."







-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-stcmgmtpic-l-343114 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stcmgmtpic-l-343114 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of
Thomerson, Beth
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 2:01 PM
To: STC Management SIG discussions
Subject: [stcmgmtpic-l] RE: Are You Agile?

Yes, we've had the Scrum implementation for one product line for a few
years now; it's spreading to other LOBs, and is proving to be much more
successful than waterfall.

What makes it truly "agile" is that in our pilot implementation,
everyone on the product team went through training on the Scrum
methodology.  Therefore, everyone started with the same understanding of
roles, terminology, Rally (the tool we use to track features, story
cards, tasks, blocks, etc).  We have short iterations/sprints, make sure
to do release and iteration planning, retrospectives, and demos at the
end of each iteration.  Everyone has gotten much more adept at
estimating velocity (time available for work) and tasks, so that we can,
in fact, have demo-able features (including online help).

Training, support from management and upper management, and dedication
to the methodology are what work.  I was initially skeptical, but am now
a strong Agile/Scrum proponent.   

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-stcmgmtpic-l-347795 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stcmgmtpic-l-347795 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Jack
DeLand
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 3:16 PM
To: STC Management SIG discussions
Subject: [stcmgmtpic-l] Are You Agile?

I tried to search the Lyris database, but it's hopeless at my local
connection.  Do you run an "agile" shop?  What makes it agile?  How do
you
define agile?
TIA
Jack

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