cPrime Introduction to Agile Training

Next, we see how changes to the Product Backlog are handled

1. Role-Play: Changes to the Product Backlog – After brief instruction about key concepts, you will participate or watch as an Agile team incorporates new User Stories into their Product Backlog, then engage in a class-wide discussion of these topics:
   1. Product Backlog changes come from many sources
   2. Product Owner acting as the gatekeeper to the Product Backlog
      1. Deciding what’s in or out
      2. Prioritizing against existing User Stories
   3. Team members estimate new User Stories in Story Points
2. Role-Play: Changes to the Release Plan – After brief instruction about key concepts, you will participate or watch as an Agile team updates their Release Plan to accommodate additions to the Product Backlog, then engage in a class-wide discussion of these topics:
   1. Determining if changes impact Release Dates
      1. Using the Team Velocity and Story Point estimates
   2. Product Owner deciding if the Release Plan change is OK
      1. Based on knowledge of project constraints
      2. Communicating the change to project stakeholders
3. Role-Play: Product Discovery – After brief instruction about key concepts, you will participate or watch as an Agile team updates their product concept and Product Backlog as a result of feedback from users, then engage in a class-wide discussion of these topics:
   1. The value of an early first release is to get early feedback from users
   2. Evolving the product concept in response to user feedback
   3. Using experimentation to validate understanding of users’ needs & preferences

Now we extend the Release Plan further into the future

1. Role-Play: Elaborate Stories in the Product Backlog – After brief instruction about key concepts, you will participate or watch as an Agile team adds key information to the User Stories in their Product Backlog, then engage in a class-wide discussion of these topics:
   1. Product Owner adjusting prioritization of the Product Backlog
   2. Product Owner articulating Acceptance Criteria for User Stories
      1. Team asking clarifying questions about Acceptance Criteria
2. Role-Play: Story Point Estimation – After brief instruction about key concepts, you will participate or watch as an Agile team uses Planning Poker to estimate User Stories in Story Points, then engage in a class-wide discussion of these topics:
   1. Estimating in Story Points
      1. What Story Points mean and don’t mean
      2. How to play Planning Poker
      3. Resolving differences in estimates
      4. The role of discussion in coming to a consensus on estimates
      5. The Product Owner’s role in clarifying User Stories during estimation
3. Role-Play: Release Planning – After brief instruction about key concepts, you will participate or watch as an Agile team plans a release, then engage in a class-wide discussion of these topics:
   1. Using Team Velocity
      1. What is Velocity
      2. When does a team’s Velocity change?
   2. Mapping User Stories into Sprints
      1. Using Priorities to guide order
      2. Using Story Point estimates and team Velocity to limit capacity
      3. Determining release date using number of Sprints and Sprint length

Having role-played or discussed all of the key Agile activities, we will now turn to how Agile projects are kicked off.

1. Collaborating with the Product Owner on a Product Vision
   1. Identifying all user roles
   2. Writing a Persona
      1. Choosing user roles that need a Persona
   3. Visualizing the Customer Journey
      1. Normal journey for a user
      2. Alternative journeys
      3. Breaking large customer activities into smaller steps
   4. Translating Journey Steps into Epics
      1. Using the “As a {} I need {} so that {}” format
   5. Breaking Epics down into User Stories
      1. Using the “As a {} I need {} so that {}” format
   6. Prioritizing releasing early and often
      1. Value delivered to Customer
      2. Feedback from users
   7. Defining Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – First Release
      1. Minimum time and effort for maximum value
   8. Defining other releases
      1. Deliver in Priority Order
2. Discussion: Beginning an Agile Project

Now that we have experienced all of the Agile practices, we will turn our attention to the team that makes it all happen.

1. Discussion: Team Roles
   1. Scrum Master
   2. Product Owner
   3. Small, cross-functional team
2. Discussion: Self-Organizing Team Dynamics – After brief instruction and a video about key concepts, you will engage in a class-wide discussion of these topics:
   1. What it means to be a Self-Organizing team
      1. Collaborating to establish team rules and norms
      2. Collaborating to plan and manage the project
   2. Interpersonal dynamics on a high-performance team