Getting Started With Kanban


Paul Klipp - 2014
    While Lean methodologies were developed in manufacturing environments, many Lean principles can be applied to any kind of business or activity; from software development to accounting systems to household chores.This short book introduces the core concepts of kanban and offers a step by step guide to getting started with kanban.

Scrum Narrative and PSM™ Exam Guide: Comprehensive Guide for Professional Scrum Master™ (PSM™ 1) Assessment


Mohammed Musthafa Soukath Ali - 2015
    Authentic knowledge body of Scrum is Scrum Guide. It is too dense to absorb without context and correlations. This book reveals Scrum as defined in 'The Scrum Guide 2016' with context and correlations using Active Learning technique. It is all-in-one guide for Professional Scrum Master (PSM 1) aspirants, with comprehensive Scrum material, tips, and 250+ practice questions.

Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System Is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It


Michael N. Kennedy - 2003
    But most don't realize that Toyota's new product development system is every bit as important to Toyota's ongoing success. This book is suitable for those whose livelihood depends on new products.

Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban


Andrew Stellman - 2013
    This book demystifies agile methodologies: why they’re designed the way they are, what problems they address, and the values, principles, and ideas they embody.Learning Agile helps you recognize the principles that apply to development problems specific to your team, company, and projects. You’ll discover how to use that information to guide your choice of methodologies and practices.With this book you’ll learn:Values that effective software teams possessThe methodologies that embody those valuesThe practices that make up those methodologiesAnd principles that help you bring those values, methodologies, and practices to your team and your company

Introduction to Disciplined Agile Delivery: A Small Agile Team’s Journey from Scrum to Continuous Delivery


Mark Lines - 2015
    It describes the Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) process decision framework and then works through a case study describing a typical agile team’s experiences adopting a disciplined agile approach. The book describes how the team develops the first release of a mission-critical application while working in a legacy enterprise environment. It describes their experiences from beginning-to-end, starting with their initial team initiation efforts through construction and finally to deploying the solution into production. It also describes how the team stays together for future releases, overviewing their process improvement efforts from their Scrum-based beginnings through to a lean continuous delivery approach that fits in with their organization’s evolving DevOps strategy. The DAD framework is a hybrid of existing methods such as Scrum, Kanban, Agile Modeling, SAFe, Extreme Programming, Agile Data, Unified Process and many others. DAD provides the flexibility to use various approaches and plugs the gaps not addressed by mainstream agile methods. In a nutshell, DAD is “pragmatic agile.” DAD describes proven strategies to adapt and scale your agile initiatives to suit the unique realities of your enterprise without having to figure it all out by yourself. Here’s an overview of what each chapter covers: * Chapter 1: Introduction. This chapter provides a quick overview of the book and a brief history of Disciplined Agile. * Chapter 2: Reality over Rhetoric. This chapter explores several common myths about DAD and more importantly disproves them. * Chapter 3: Disciplined Agile Delivery in a Nutshell. This chapter provides a brief yet comprehensive overview of the DAD framework. * Chapter 4: Introduction to the Case Study. This chapter introduces us to the team, describes the market opportunity that they hope to address, and describes the environment in which they’re working. * Chapter 5: Inception. The team’s initiation effort includes initial requirements modeling and planning with their stakeholders in a streamlined manner, initial architecture modeling, setting up their physical work environment, setting up the start of their tooling infrastructure, initial risk identification, and finally securing stakeholder support and funding for the rest of the first release. * Chapters 6 through 10: Construction. These chapters each describe a single Construction iteration, sharing the team’s experiences during each of those two-week timeboxes. * Chapter 11: Transition. The two-week transition phase focuses on final testing and fixing, training the support/help-desk staff, finishing a few short end-user “how to” videos, and deploying the solution into production. * Chapter 12: Future Releases. This chapter overviews the team’s improvement efforts over the next few releases, describing how they evolve from the agile Scrum-based lifecycle to a leaner approach and eventually to continuous delivery. * Chapter 13: Closing Thoughts. This chapter overviews the disciplined agile resources that are available to you. * Appendix: The Disciplined Agile IT Department. This short appendix overviews our ongoing work on the Disciplined Agile framework to address the full scope of an IT department. At 102 pages, you should find this book to be a quick, informative read.

Lean from the Trenches


Henrik Kniberg - 2011
    Find out how the Swedish police combined XP, Scrum, and Kanban in a 60-person project. From start to finish, you'll see how to deliver a successful product using Lean principles. We start with an organization in desperate need of a new way of doing things and finish with a group of sixty, all working in sync to develop a scalable, complex system. You'll walk through the project step by step, from customer engagement, to the daily "cocktail party," version control, bug tracking, and release. In this honest look at what works--and what doesn't--you'll find out how to: Make quality everyone's business, not just the testers. Keep everyone moving in the same direction without micromanagement. Use simple and powerful metrics to aid in planning and process improvement. Balance between low-level feature focus and high-level system focus. You'll be ready to jump into the trenches and streamline your own development process.ContentsForewordPrefacePART I: HOW WE WORK1. About the Project1.1 Timeline 51.2 How We Sliced the Elephant 61.3 How We Involved the Customer 72. Structuring the Teams3. Attending the Daily Cocktail Party3.1 First Tier: Feature Team Daily Stand-up3.2 Second Tier: Sync Meetings per Specialty3.3 Third Tier: Project Sync Meeting4. The Project Board4.1 Our Cadences4.2 How We Handle Urgent Issues and Impediments5. Scaling the Kanban Boards6. Tracking the High-Level Goal7. Defining Ready and Done7.1 Ready for Development7.2 Ready for System Test7.3 How This Improved Collaboration 8. Handling Tech Stories8.1 Example 1: System Test Bottleneck8.2 Example 2: Day Before the Release8.3 Example 3: The 7-Meter Class9. Handling Bugs9.1 Continuous System Test9.2 Fix the Bugs Immediately9.3 Why We Limit the Number of Bugs in the Bug Tracker9.4 Visualizing Bugs9.5 Preventing Recurring Bugs10. Continuously Improving the Process10.1 Team Retrospectives10.2 Process Improvement Workshops10.3 Managing the Rate of Change11. Managing Work in Progress11.1 Using WIP Limits11.2 Why WIP Limits Apply Only to Features12. Capturing and Using Process Metrics12.1 Velocity (Features per Week)12.2 Why We Don’t Use Story Points12.3 Cycle Time (Weeks per Feature)12.4 Cumulative Flow12.5 Process Cycle Efficiency13. Planning the Sprint and Release13.1 Backlog Grooming13.2 Selecting the Top Ten Features13.3 Why We Moved Backlog Grooming Out of the Sprint Planning Meeting13.4 Planning the Release14. How We Do Version Control14.1 No Junk on the Trunk14.2 Team Branches14.3 System Test Branch15. Why We Use Only Physical Kanban Boards16. What We Learned16.1 Know Your Goal16.2 Experiment16.3 Embrace Failure16.4 Solve Real Problems16.5 Have Dedicated Change Agents16.6 Involve PeoplePART II: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TECHNIQUES 17. Agile and Lean in a Nutshell17.1 Agile in a Nutshell17.2 Lean in a Nutshell17.3 Scrum in a Nutshell17.4 XP in a Nutshell17.5 Kanban in a Nutshell18. Reducing the Test Automation Backlog18.1 What to Do About It18.2 How to Improve Test Coverage a Little Bit Each Iteration18.3 Step 1: List Your Test Cases18.4 Step 2: Classify Each Test18.5 Step 3: Sort the List in Priority Order18.6 Step 4: Automate a Few Tests Each Iteration18.7 Does This Solve the Problem?19. Sizing the Backlog with Planning Poker19.1 Estimating Without Planning Poker19.2 Estimating with Planning Poker19.3 Special Cards20. Cause-Effect Diagrams20.1 Solve Problems, Not Symptoms20.2 The Lean Problem-Solving Approach: A3 Thinking20.3 How to Use Cause-Effect Diagrams20.4 Example 1: Long Release Cycle20.5 Example 2: Defects Released to Production20.6 Example 3: Lack of Pair Programming20.7 Example 4: Lots of Problems20.8 Practical Issues: How to Create and Maintain the Diagrams20.9 Pitfalls20.10 Why Use Cause-Effect Diagrams?21. Final WordsA1. Glossary: How We Avoid Buzzword BingoIndex

Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability: An Introduction


Daniel S. Vacanti - 2015
    Think about how many times you have been asked that question. How many times have you ever actually been right?We can debate all we want whether this is a fair question to ask given the tremendous amount of uncertainty in knowledge work, but the truth of the matter is that our customers are going to inquire about completion time whether we like it or not. Which means we need to come up with an accurate way to answer them. The problem is that the forecasting tools that we currently utilize have made us ill-equipped to provide accurate answers to reasonable customer questions. Until now.

Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business


David J. Anderson - 2010
    It will allow you to avoid some likely pitfalls and it will guide you to asking, yourself and your clients, the right questions. Though many people focus on the visualization techniques in Kanban the true value only emerges when you, as a kanban system manager, are apt at noticing the anti-patterns that occur on the kanban board and are able to take appropriate actions. David generously shares his vast experience in this field, with plenty real case scenarios, to the benefit of the reader. After reading this book I toyed with the idea: Would I've changed my approach to coaching my previous clients, in their adoption of agile values and practices, had I read this at the time? Well, I certainly would have, for all of them, and I'm sure it would have meant a smoother change process for the agilely challenged organizations. David provides a comprehensive guide to implementing Kanban in a software development/maintenance environment. Covering the mechanics, dynamics, principles and rationale behind why Kanban is a so promising framework for managing the work of a variety of teams and groups and being an evolutionary-based change management driver. Kanban is the practical approach to implement Lean Software Development, and this book is the practical guide for how to start using Kanban, and how to adapt the system for advanced needs. The book is clear and flowing, even though it covers some quite technical material. I would recommend it to Development managers, Project/Program managers, Agile Coaches/Consultants. It addresses concerns/needs of Novice as well as those already familiar with Kanban and looking for advanced answers. Even if you don't intend to implement a kanban system, there are a lot of techniques and ideas that are easily applicable to any product development/maintenance environment, agile or not. Bottom line, highly recommended.

The Lean Enterprise: How Corporations Can Innovate Like Startups


Trevor Owens - 2014
    So why should larger, more established companies take notice? Because they have everything to gain when they examine and adopt the strategies, tools, and attitudes of these smaller competitors. The Lean Enterprise presents a groundbreaking design for revolutionizing larger organizations, one that draws on the ingenious tenets and practices espoused by the startup community. The guidelines in this book will help companies shake the lethargy, bureaucracy, and power struggles that plague large organizations and hold them back from true innovation.At the heart of this resource is a comprehensive, practical approach based on methods, timetables, compensation, financial investment, and case studies that reveal the startup mentality. Respected thought leaders in lean startup methodologies, the authors cover successful enterprise development, development innovation labs, corporate venture arms, and acquisition and integration of startups.- Essential reading for entrepreneurs, product managers, executives and directors in Forbes 2000 organizations, and board members- Presents the tools and methodologies large businesses need to compete with a new generation of highly-empowered entrepreneurs- Covers lean startup culture and principles and identifies the behaviors that arestunting growth at large enterprises- Offers a comprehensive, practical approach for developing exciting products and services and opening vast new marketsDon't be mystified by the success of startups. Master the methods of this new generation of entrepreneurs and compete on a level playing field.

The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development


Donald G. Reinertsen - 2009
    He explains why invisible and unmanaged queues are the underlying root cause of poor product development performance. He shows why these queues form and how they undermine the speed, quality, and efficiency in product development.

The Scrum Master Training Manual: A Guide to the Professional Scrum Master (PSM) Exam


Nader K. Rad - 2015
    It’s helpful for learning Agile and Scrum, and also for a basic preparation for the PSM I exam (Professional Scrum Master level 1). It can also act as a simple reference for Scrum practitioners.

Agile Excellence for Product Managers: A Guide to Creating Winning Products with Agile Development Teams


Greg Cohen - 2010
    For this reason, more and more software companies are rapidly turning to Agile development to cope with fast changing markets, unknown or changing product requirements, borderless competition, and to solve complex problems. Yet little has been written to guide product managers through the transition in working with Agile teams and the numerous benefits that it affords. "'Agile Excellence for Product Managers'" is a plain speaking guide on how to work with Agile development teams to achieve phenomenal product success. It covers the why and how of agile development (including Scrum, XP, and Lean, ) the role of product management, release planning, release management, road mapping, creating and prioritizing a product backlog, documentation, product launches, organizational implications and more. It is a must read for product managers making the switch to Agile development as well as product owners and project managers looking for better ways to organize and lead in their companies.

Scrum Product Ownership: Balancing Value from the Inside Out


Robert Galen - 2009
    It was a breakthrough guide in how to drive high quality and customer value, while maintaining a singular focus on agile delivery principles. Fast forward to 2013 and much has changed.Scrum and the other agile methods are dominating the mainstream and new success stories seem to be forthcoming daily. However, there are still challenges and many surround the Product Owner role: scaling Scrum, sustaining quality, delivering and measuring value, providing team leadership, being a part of organizational transformation, and simple survival are all still in play. In other words, the role is still just plain HARD. The Second Edition of Scrum Product Ownership is being delivered to help with today’s challenges. It has more practical advice, real-world tactics, and more stories. It provides a framework of ideas to help today's Product Owners and their teams to better “Deliver the Goods”. However, it remains true to its heritage of guiding you towards becoming a GREAT Product Owner…from the Inside Out.

Scrumban: Essays on Kanban Systems for Lean Software Development


Corey Ladas - 2008
    Scrum and agile methodologies have helped software development teams organize and become more efficient. Lean methods like kanban can extend these benefits. Kanban also provides a powerful mechanism to identify process improvement opportunities. This book covers some of the metrics and day-to-day management techniques that make continuous improvement an achievable outcome in the real world. ScrumBan the book provides a series of essays that give practitioners the background needed to create more robust practices combining the best of agile and lean.

Rolling Rocks Downhill: Accelerate Agile using Goldratt's TOC


Clarke Ching - 2012
    What if your software-intensive projects delivered on time - or early - without sacrificing quality? 2. What if your IT department's job was to deliver profits, through software, rather than just software? 3. What if your software developers worked in a way they loved - that didn't feel as if they spent their days ROLLING ROCKS UPHILL? ROLLING ROCKS DOWNHILL is a business novel in the tradition of Eli Goldratt's "The Goal". It introduces Throughput-Driven Development - the combination of Lean, Agile and Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) thinking to corporate software development.