Delve into Agile methodologies, compare them with Waterfall, explore planning techniques, and discover tools like SCRUM and Kanban. Gain insights into solving common problems with Agile.

This course is designed to help learners build an understanding of Agile’s process model and its different approaches and techniques.

To understand the advantages of implementing Agile techniques, the course begins with a comparison of Agile methods and the traditional Waterfall model. Then, you’ll get to know about different planning approaches to help users effectively adjust deadlines. Next, there’s a discussion on backlogs and different visual techniques, such as burn-down charts and burn-up charts, that help increase the efficiency of projects.

You will also learn Agile methodologies including SCRUM, eXtreme Programming, DSDM, Smart and Kanban, as well as the differences and similarities between these approaches. Finally, you’ll look at some common problems and learn ways to solve them using Agile methodologies.

Learn Agile Methodologies from Scratch

An Agile project can make timely adjustments based on the burn-down and burn-up charts. When extrapolating that the burn-down doesn’t result in the desired date, one can decide to adjust the method used in the project. This usually happens during iteration evaluation. Either the deadline of the project is shifted, or the scope is adjusted. Sometimes the composition of the team changes. Many projects choose to expand the team.

>After two iterations of a project, it had already become clear that
the speed achieved was insufficient to meet the deadline. The team
produced an average of 25 points per iteration, while 35 were
needed. Extrapolation of the burn-down told us that the project
needed three more iterations than was initially planned. Because
Brooks Law does not apply this early in the project, the team was
expanded with a tester and a middle-ware developer. This upscaling
had a good result. The productivity of the team increased and the
proposed deadline was achieved, albeit with higher costs.

# Adjusting with the Theory of Constraints

More isn’t always better, though. Before upscaling a team, it’s wise to evaluate the method and improve wherever possible. Productivity can often be increased without higher costs. An interesting model is the Theory of Constraints, developed by the economist Eliyahu Goldratt to improve business processes. This model is applied in Kanban and other methods.

Translated into Agile terms, the Theory of Constraints describes that any method consists of a number of steps. Each step can only start when the previous one has ended. For the execution of each step, people and resources are needed, so there’s a ceiling on the number of work items that the team can achieve per iteration. Per definition, one of the steps is the bottleneck. Eliminate the bottleneck and the ceiling of the whole process increases immediately. With this, the number of work items that can be realized per iteration also increases.


Although more people can be added to a team to eliminate a bottleneck, this isn’t always possible. For example, the cost of the project might increase, or simply because more people might not be available. Fortunately, a bottleneck can frequently be eliminated by other simple means. A small change in one step is often enough to improve the overall method. Goldratt says that “An hour won on a bottleneck is an hour gained for the overall process. An hour recovered on a non-bottleneck is wasted energy.”

To eliminate bottlenecks, the Theory of Constraints defines the following five action:


+ **Bottleneck identification:** Identify the most restrictive step in the method. Simply visualize the steps together with the number of work items that will be realized.
+ **Bottleneck optimization:** What’s the most efficient way to perform this step? Don’t lose any time during this step. For example, on activities that aren’t explicitly necessary for this step or that can be carried out in other steps.
+ **Adjust surrounding steps:** All other steps should follow from the bottleneck. Execute the remaining steps so that the bottleneck can be carried out optimally.
+ **Scaling the bottleneck:** Only add people and resources to the bottleneck if the previous actions are executed and the bottleneck isn’t sufficiently removed.
+ **Repeat actions:** As a result of the foregoing actions, another step has probably become the new bottleneck. The method in a project is further optimized by repeating the above actions for the new bottleneck.

Learn how to adjust the project deadlines, if you don't get results on the desired dates. 

Adjusting Project Deadlines

Learn how to adjust the project deadlines, if you don't get results on the desired dates.

Getting Started

Why does the Waterfall Process model not work?

What is Agile?

Short Iterations in Agile

Collaboration in Teams

Collaborating Roles

Agile Requirements

Estimating

Planning

Implementing Agile

Issues in Using Agile

Choosing the Most Appropriate Process Model

Conclusion

Adjusting Project Deadlines