What are Agile practices? I will explain the list and how to write in detail!

Agile development doesn’t create a sense of unity in the team. In such a case, practice is effective. Proper implementation of practices can help you better understand the significance of your project and increase team autonomy.
Therefore, in this article, we will explain a wide range of topics, from questions such as “What are practices for agile development in the first place?” To a list of practices and their methods. Even if you are in charge of the team, why not start here first?

” Practices ” in agile development are the efforts and means to achieve agile. In particular, it provides a direction for “team building” before proceeding with concrete development and product backlog creation, and is useful for assembling the initial phase.

In the first place, “agile development” is one idea / model for product development, and there is no detailed agreement that every team should follow in itself. Sure, there is a basic development process called iteration, but even that is formal.

That’s the practice. In other words, practice is required to make ideological and formal agile development concrete and practical .

Furthermore, it must be understood that practices are a “ means ” for achieving goals and should be tailored to individual cases. Ignoring the complexity of the nature of the project, the characteristics of the team, and the purpose of each practice can rather lead to agile development failure.

1.1 Typical practices

Here are three typical practices that I will introduce in this article. The three practices are as follows.

Each has its own purpose and can be expected to have different effects. Imagine what your team needs to read. There may be various issues for each team, such as “the significance of the project cannot be shared” and “the acceptance of new members cannot be done smoothly”.

1.1.1 Inception deck

The inception deck was invented by Robin Gibson of ThoughtWorks and later made widely known by the author of The Agile Samurai, Jonathan Rasmusson. Nowadays, it is used not only in agile development but also in various project sites.

An inception deck is a practice that gives you a clear picture of your project . We will answer 10 specific questions while discussing with the team. Therefore, it is possible for teams to share the direction of the project during the process of creating the inception deck. The specific questions will be explained later.

1.1.2 Drucker-style exercise

Drucker-style exercise is a good practice for team building. It became widely known by Jonathan Rasmusson’s introduction in his book The Agile Samurai.

As team members answer each of the four questions, they can deepen their awareness of each other’s strengths and weaknesses and mutual understanding of what each member expects . It is also effective as a means to seamlessly understand each other when joining a new member.
More details on how to use it will be explained in detail later.

1.1.3 Star chart (skill map)

The star chart (skill map) is a practice for visualizing the skills of each team member. Visualizing skills allows you to develop potential crisis projects and action guidelines to stabilize your skill balance.

Furthermore, by sharing the skill content that you have, you can use it as a criterion for determining who to consult when an error occurs.

I will explain how to write and use this as well while looking at the image in the second half.

1.2 When to adopt practices and grow your team

As mentioned earlier, practices are not essential in agile development. However, practice is an effective “means” for “team building.” Introduce practices to stagnant teams for further growth.

1.2.1 Incorporated agile development / scrum development, but it doesn’t work

If agile development / scrum development does not work, problems such as rough task division and too large particle size may occur. As a result, undigested tasks will accumulate and members will burn out.

Practices are also effective in avoiding this situation. By introducing the practice, the direction of the product backlog will be clear and the task setting will be less rough.

1.2.2 The team does not have a sense of unity and cannot communicate

Practices work well even when the team doesn’t have a sense of unity with the project. The sense of unity and communication of the team is created by each member’s understanding of the project and the trust that other members understand the project.

It can be said that practices should be utilized for the autonomy of each individual and the establishment of trust in other members. In addition, the practice workshop itself promotes communication activation . Introducing practices is also meaningful as a means of creating a place of communication.　

2. Let’s actually incorporate agile development practices

The three practices presented in this article are easy to implement and have short-term and long-term benefits. In addition, although the method is fixed to some extent, it can be customized at any time according to the issues of the team and the purpose of introduction.

2.1 How to write an inception deck

Once confirmed, the inception deck is a practice that clarifies the big picture of the project. To that end, we will answer the following 10 questions “as a team” . The answers to one question are put together on one slide.

When creating an inception deck, it is important to dig deeper into ” Why “. For example, by answering Why we are here, the significance and direction of the project will become clear .

2.2 How to write Drucker-style exercises

In Drucker-style exercises, you will answer four questions “on your own” . The four questions are:

After each person finishes answering these questions, share the answers with the members. Then, the discrepancy between self-evaluation and evaluation by others will be reduced, and the position and role of each member in the “team” will become clearer.

It is possible to deepen mutual understanding not only when launching a project but also when new members join. Also, in the case of long-term projects, self-evaluation and others’ evaluations may change due to the acquisition of skills during the project. Therefore, it is also necessary to perform Drucker-like exercises at the turning points.

2.3 How to write a star chart (skill map)

The star chart (skill map) allows you to intuitively share how much skill each member has for a particular technique . The image below is an example of a star chart.

Source: Recommendation for creating skill maps ｜ Ryuzee.com

Choose any number of items and symbols. It can be anything that you can intuitively understand.

By creating a star chart (skill map), it is possible to streamline team management related to technical aspects . Why not use it as a criterion for deciding who should study what and what kind of skills should be hired?

3. Agile development practices are also useful in traditional development

From here, I will explain the relationship between agile development practices and conventional development (waterfall development). If you are feeling stuck in the current waterfall development, or if you want to give your team a sense of unity and flexibility to change, please take a look.

3.1 [Premise] The number of agile models that partially incorporate waterfall is increasing.

In recent years, ” hybrid development ” that combines conventional waterfall development and agile development has become widespread.

In hybrid development, the upstream and downstream processes are waterfall type, and the middle process is agile development. By doing this, the waterfall type compensates for the weaknesses of agile development such as “it is difficult to see the completed image”, and the agile development compensates for the weaknesses of the waterfall type such as weakness to specification changes and little feedback.

In addition, even if it is not a complete hybrid as described above, a sufficient effect can be expected by incorporating agile elements from a partially possible range.

What is the difference between agile development and waterfall development? Can they be used together?

3.2 Examples of practices that are useful in traditional development

Let’s take a look at some examples of practices that are useful for traditional development. Rather than introducing everything at once, it’s a good idea to gradually incorporate it according to the issues of the team. It’s important to understand that a brute force introduction that doesn’t come to terms with the whole can be dangerous .

3.2.1 Task subdivision

Task subdivision makes it easier to manage progress, even in traditional development . The Scrum Guide stipulates that the unit of work is one day or less, and if it is assumed that the task you are setting will span days, reconsider whether it can be divided.

Also, if you set tasks on a daily basis but management is not successful, it is a good idea to subdivide the tasks that are likely to fluctuate in working hours into less than half a day.

3.2.2 Introduction and operational improvement of Kanban

With the introduction of Kanban, it will be possible for teams to share their work status. By sharing the work situation, you can expect the effect of making it easier for the team to have a sense of unity.

In Kanban, we will move the separation of “TODO”, “DOING”, and “DONE” to the card on which the work contents are described. However, regardless of the format, it is necessary to provide a separation that matches the workflow of the actual development site. For example, put “REVIEW” before “DONE”.

3.2.3 Daily scrum improvements

It’s also a good idea to look for improvements in Daily Scrum. In agile development, we place great value on team autonomy and autonomy. So why not add leverage to your daily Scrum to inspire autonomy and independence ?

For example, you can look back on your daily routine and make the meeting facilitator on duty. By being appointed as a facilitator, you will become aware of the significance of your daily activities through mediation of opinions. As a result, the autonomy and independence of the team will increase.

Development of a team that divides roles! What is the difference between Scrum and Agile development?

3.2.4 Hold refinement meetings properly

By refining the product backlog about once a week, it will lead to development that is conscious of the user story .

Product Backlog Refinement is, according to the Scrum Guide, “adding, estimating, and sorting details for the items contained in the Product Backlog.”

During the development process, specification changes and priority changes often occur. That’s why regular refinement meetings keep your product backlog up-to-date with your user story.

4. Frequently Asked Questions about Agile Development Practices

From here, we’ll answer some frequently asked questions about agile development practices. If you have a question that you couldn’t cover, you may find an answer somewhere in this article, so be sure to look for it.

4.1 Will you be working on agile development if you implement practices?

Introducing practices does not necessarily mean that the site is agile development. As mentioned earlier, practices in agile development are the “means” for achieving agile development.

However, in agile development, it is essential for the team to have a common understanding of “products,” “people,” “technology / quality,” and “management.” There is no doubt that practices are effective in forming that common understanding.

However, it should be remembered that treating a practice as a “means” as a “purpose” can ruin the practice .

4.2 What should I do specifically before the start of the sprint?

Before you start the sprint, it’s a good idea to do some work to find out what you need to know about your project. Creating the “inception deck” introduced in this article is a good example.

By holding an inception deck creation workshop before the start of the sprint, the team can form a common awareness about the purpose and significance of the project. This common consciousness promotes autonomy and independence and enables effective agile development.

4.3 Corporate culture does not match agile development. What should I do?

It’s a good idea to start with small things that don’t conflict with corporate culture. We recommend introducing Kanban and improving daily meetings.

On the contrary, forcible changes in development methods can lead to project failure. For example, in a company where a top-down culture persists, there is a possibility of major conflicts by introducing development methods that strongly push the autonomy and independence of the team. Therefore, it is a good idea to start new things little by little as long as you can expect the effect .

5. Summary

As I repeated in this article, keep in mind that agile development practices are a “means”. Practices that are understood and utilized as “means” give the team a sense of unity and improve development performance. Keep an eye on your team’s challenges and implement practices appropriately and proactively.