Learn About Agile

Agile is a term used to describe a general approach to product development. Scrum and other agile frameworks emphasize teamwork, frequent deliveries of working software, close customer collaboration, and the ability to respond quickly to change.

Scrum is an agile approach to product development, especially software development, that is applicable to any project with aggressive deadlines, complex requirements and a degree of uniqueness.

User stories are part of an agile approach that helps shift the focus from writing about requirements to talking about them. Every agile user story includes a written sentence or two and, more importantly, sparks a series of conversations about the features and functionality the user story represents.

User stories are a way to describe the desired functionality of product backlog items. High-priority user stories tend to be more detailed; low-priority user stories tend to be less detailed. Teams add details as stories rise in priority, either by creating acceptance criteria or by splitting big stories into smaller pieces (or both). Read on to discover more about user stories and the user story template, and to see some examples of user stories.

Planning Poker® is a consensus-based estimating technique. Agile teams around the world use Planning Poker to estimate their product backlogs. Planning Poker can be used with story points, ideal days, or any other estimating unit.

Successful agile teams can produce higher-quality software better meeting user needs quicker and at a lower cost. Transitioning to an agile process like Scrum, however, can be challenging but forethought and working with experienced coaches and trainers will help.

When it comes to agile project management roles, most agile processes - Scrum in particular - do not include a project manager. Agile “project manager” roles and responsibilities are shared among others on the project, namely the team, Scrum Master and product owner.