(A)
Acceptance Criteria
Used during Agile testing, the acceptance criteria are specific conditions that establish whether a user story, individual task or feature is complete.
Acceptance Test Driven Development
(ATDD) Specific to software development, ATDD relies on automation of testing and involves multiple stakeholders including developers, business stakeholders and testers. As with other acceptance testing, the paramters are set out before development, with testing occurring in an automated environment.
Acceptance Testing
See User Acceptance Testing
Adoption
A reference to a team’s usage of the Agile methodology, i.e adoption of Agile. There can be different stages of adoption, depending on the integration of Agile into current systems and processes. Also see Agile Transformation.
Agile
Agile is a framework and methodology that focuses on an incremental approach to project management. Agile is most famous for its use within software development (see Agile Manifesto) but has grown increasingly popular as a project management methodology across multiple sectors.
Agile Manifesto
The Agile Manifesto is a short document that outlines 4 principles and 12 Agile principles used for managing Agile software development
Agile Methodology
The framework(s) by which project teams manage deliverables, meetings, planning and other aspects of project management.
Agile Metrics
Agile metrics are quantitative measures that help assess the effectiveness of an agile team’s work process. These metrics can be used to measure velocity, quality, and predictability within an agile environment. The goal is to use these metrics to improve the overall efficiency and productivity of a team over time.
Agile Mindset
The Agile Mindset refers to adopting a way of thinking to best suit the Agile methodology, focussed on its value and principles.
Agile Principles
The 12 fundamental principles found within the Agile Manifesto that underpin the Agile metholodogy.
Agile Software Development
Often thought of as the first industry to truly adopt Agile, Agile Software Development is the development of software based on Agile principles and methodology.
Agile Transformation
Similar to Agile Adoption, but in reference to an entire organisation’s shift towards utilising Agile throughout.
Agility
See ‘Agile’
Applying Professional Scrum
A Scrum.org certification that teaches key implementation techniques and Scrum frameworks
Artifacts
A term used to describe essential components or information of a product. Artifacts are used by team members and stakeholders to describe a product. They can also be used during Scrum ceremonies to evaluate progress.
(B)
Backlog Unlike other methodologies where a backlog may be overdue items, a backlog in Scrum refers to a prioritised list of features or deliverables and their requirements that should be included in Sprints.
Backlog Refinement
Where stakeholders such as product owners will review the Product Backlog, subsequently prioritizing backlog items. Also known as backlog grooming, it is a regular process that ensures teams are working on high value items and incorporates lessons learned during retrospectives and reviews.
Bottleneck
A bottleneck can refer to items that experience delays. Most typically used to describe workload or capacity issues that are preventing progress on items. Also referred to as an impediment, though a bottleneck is usually process driven (workload) whereas an impediment refers to other types of hurdles.
Burndown Chart
A visual representation of a Scrum project’s progress. It shows the amount of work remaining of each sprint with the X axis displaying the number of sprints and the Y axis displaying the remaining work (usually story points).
Burnup Chart
Similar to a Burndown Chart, a Burnup chart is a visual representation of a project’s progress.
(C)
Ceremonies
These are key events or meetings that take place as part of the Agile methodology, allowing close collaboration, planning and review of progress.
Change Management
Not exclusively an Agile term, used to describe manging organisational change. Agile change management introduces additional flexibility to this process.
Collective Ownership
Most often used in relation to development, collective ownership is a term term used to describe how every team member is responsible and encouraged to check the work of other team members, alongside their own. Ultimately, that all team members are responsible for the delivery, quality and success of the project and has the autonomy to make changes to ensure this.
Continuous Deployment
Most often used in software development, it looks to reduce the amount of time between code being developed, tested and approved, to the code’s deployment to a live environment. Continuous deployment means that teams are able to integrate new code from a staging or development environment into the live environment on a regular basis, rather than having to wait until the project as a whole is complete.
Cycle Time
The time taken between a team member starting work on an item, and it being delivered. Note, this does not include lead time but instead refers to the amount of time that a team member is actively working on the item.
(D)
Daily Scrum
A short planning and synchronization event where a team will review actions the previous day, planned actions for the day and any impediments, all in relation to the Sprint goal. The Daily Scrum should be no longer than 15 minutes.
Definition of Done
Also called D.o.D or DoD is a fundamental aspect of Agile and serves to establish when a product backlog is complete. It sets out a specific set of criteria (typically SMART criteria) that must be met before a team considers it ready for customers.
Definition of Ready
An essential component of sprint planning, it allows project managers to define if a deliverable is ready to be worked on. These can be defined by the task, user story or goal and ensures that only well understood and estimated stories are brought into Sprint planning. Only items that pass the Definition of Ready should be allowed into the Product Backlog.
Decentralised Command
An Agile Leadership principle and one of the Agile Manifesto’s values and principles, where teams should be self-organizing as part of decentralised command. In order to achieve this, servant leadership is required and trust placed in team members to be decision makers in their area of influence.
Dependency
A term used to describe the link or relationship between elements of a project, from team members to backlog items. More commonly thought of as potential impediments, they also enable completion of tasks.
DORA Metrics
Most commonly used by DevOps, the DORA metrics are used to measure performance and success: Deployment Frequency, Lead Time for Changes, Change Failure Rate and Time to Restore Service. These metrics were developed by The DevOps Research And Assessment.
(E)
Empiricism
With its foundation in the scientific method, empiricism is the principle by which experience and observations should dictate work and decision making. It is used in Agile because it is closely aligned with constant, honest review and adaptation.
Epic
Used to describe a collection of user stories that aligned in their goal, also referred to as a ‘theme’. An epic can be shared across multiple teams and involve multiple sprints.
Estimation
A planning tool, an estimation is the amount of time required to complete a task.
(F)
Facilitation
An individual who guides a team during a meeting to achieve a goal. The facilitators role is to guide processes and discussions towards an effective outcome.
Flow metrics
Flow metrics measure the speed at which tasks move through the development process from start to finish. They focus on tracking throughput rather than individual activities or time spent working on a task. By measuring flow, teams can better understand their overall productivity and identify bottlenecks in their processes that may be slowing them down.
(G)
Gantt Chart
A chart that displays a timeline view of a project, showing the overall progress of items and sprints. The Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart with time on the x axis. It enables sprint planning, creating clear roadmap.
Given – When – Then
Used to create Acceptance Crtieria, Given-When-Then is a 3 part approach where Given represents the setting of context for the user story, When represents the action and Then represents the expected outcome. Often abbreviated to GWT.
(I)
Impediment
An obstacle that delays or prevents a team from delivering work, or achieving their goals.
Increment
Agile is often thought of as an incremental approach to value delivery. An increment therefore is a defined milestone towards the Product Goal. It refers to the sum of all the completed work from previous sprints, combined with the newly completed work from the current sprint. It is the product or outcome, meeting the Definition of Done (DoD).
Information Radiators
A physical or digital display of key information for teams. Information radiators need to be readily accessible and serve to provide transparency (and act as reminders) for mission critical information, such as burndown charts.
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)
A collaborative project delivery model that aligns all stakeholders’ efforts and shares risks and rewards to optimise efficiency and value, often incorporating Agile principles like transparency, flexibility, and iterative progress.
Iteration
A set amount of time (time-box) during which a team develops a elements of the Product, typically a 1-4 week period. It is different from a Sprint where a team delivers a pre-agreed amouunt of work, an iteration is a development cycle within a project.
(K)
Kanban
Kanban ultimately manifests itself in a Kanban board, a visual representation of deliverables and progress. However, Kanban itself is a framework that promotes continuous improvement and adaptability by breaking projects into individual elements or stages.
(L)
Lead Time
The total amount of time between when a task is created to the completion of the task.
Lean Change
Lean change requires structured collaboration and complete transparency between teams, to enable iterative delivery.
(M)
MMF Minimum Marketable Feature
A small, but key feature of a product that allows a user to understand the value of the feature. It is typically small and can be developed and released quickly.
MVP Minimum Viable Product
An early version of a product that has the smallest amount of features to be able to go to market and sell the product to customers.
(P)
Product Backlog
The Product Backlog is an organized and prioritized list of tasks, features or items that remain to be completed as part of the wider product roadmap. It is managed by the Product Manager.
Product Goal
A long-term objective that provides clear direction and focus for the development team, guiding the creation and evolution of the product towards delivering maximum value.
Product Manager
An individual responsible for defining the product vision, prioritising features, and ensuring alignment with business goals. The Product Manager will also collaborate closely with team to iteratively deliver value as part of the project.
Product Owner
The product owner is responsible for managing the development of products and services to maximise the value of the product. They set the vision and direction of the product, define requirements alongside stakeholders and manage the Product Backlog.
Professional Agile Leader
A Scrum.org certification that enables an individual to leads teams and implements core Agile frameworks that deliver real business benefits.
Professional Scrum Master (PSM)
A Scrum.org certification that teaches Scrum theory and frameworks. It enables Scrum Masters to empower their teams through servant leadership to deliver organisational value.
Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO)
A Scrum.org certification that allows individuals to master the fundamentals of Product Ownership, needed to drive value from their products.
Project Delivery Frameworks
The processes by which projects are managed. Within Agile, whilst individual project delivery frameworks will all take an iterative approach under Agile, they may use different tools and processes (for example, Scrum vs Kanban)
Project Delivery Capability Framework
A government framework that helps civil servants enhance their project management capabilities but also career paths, skillsets and development opportunities.
Project Manager
Project Managers oversee a project throughout it’s entire lifecycle, from intiation to completion. They are responsible for ensuring that the project is delivered on time, within budget and meets its goals. Their key responsibilities include: project planning, resource management, budget management, communication & stakeholder management as well as risk management.
Project Milestones
A significant point or event in a project, marking the compeltion of key deliverables and providing a checkpoint for progress towards a project’s goals.
Project Recovery
A resetting and replanning of a project that has experienced setbacks in order to get a project back on track and delivering value.
(Q)
Quality Assurance
An ongoing process integrated into each sprint, ensuring that the product meets defined quality standards through continuous testing, feedback, and collaboration with development teams.
(R)
Refinement
See backlog refinement
Release Plan
A timeline that outlines that delivery of key features or increments (often over several iterations).
Retrospective Prime Directive
The Retrospective Prime Directive is a statement by Norm Kerth that focuses on psychological safety, encouraging team members to create a safe and positive environment where team members can reflect on work, learn and plan for the future instead of dwelling on past mistakes or events during a retrospective meeting.
(S)
SAFe
Stands for Scaled Agile Framework, a set of workflows designed to help enterprises scale Agile practices across teams, departments and programs.
Scaled Agile
The practice of integrating Agile principles and methodologies across an entire organisation.
Scrum
A project delivery framework within Agile that enables teams to iteratively delivery products through sprints.
Scrum Board
A visual tool used to track and manage the progress of tasks during a sprint, typically organized into columns like “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done” for improved team visibility and collaboration.
Scrumban
An Agile methodology that combines elements of Scrum and Kanban, using Scrum’s structured approach to planning and roles while leveraging Kanban’s focus on continuous flow and limiting work in progress.
Scrum Master
The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring that the team follows Scrum principles and ensures that team’s success within the Scrum framework. They are a servant leader that plans and manages Sprints, foster communication, acts as a coach and works to remove impediments.
Scrum of Scrums
A scaled Agile meeting where stakeholders from multiple scrum teams meet to collaborate, coordinate and align their work, address issues and resolve impediments in larger projects or programs.
Servant Leadership
A leadership principle under Agile, where leaders deliver value through guiding and enabling their teams, rather than a command and control approach. Leaders are there to identify and remove impediments and to facilitate success for their teams.
Sprint
A time-boxed period of time during which a specific list of actions should be created by a Scrum team, executed and reviewed.
Sprint backlog
A defined list of tasks that a team will complete during a sprint, taken from the product backlog.
Sprint Goal
A concise objective on what the team will achieve during the sprint. It provides focus and aligns team members for the sprint, whilst also allowing a degree of flexibility and decentralised command.
Sprint Planning
An Agile ceremony held at the beginning of each Sprint, during which the team outline, discuss and generate the actions required for the completion of that Sprint.
Sprint Review
An Agile ceremony held at the end of each Sprint, during which the team demonstrate and discuss the items that have been delivered as part of the Sprint. Deliverables are assessed in line with the goals set out in the Sprint Planning and any outstanding actions are also discussed.
Sprint Retrospective
An Agile ceremony held at the end of each Sprint, after the Sprint Review, the Sprint Retrospective allows the team to reflect on performance, evaluate success and challenges, with the objective of generating ways of improvement.
Stakeholder
Any individual or group with a vested interest in the project’s outcome. Usually investors, business leaders, team leaders or individuals who provide input, feedback, and requirements throughout the development process.
Story Points
Similar to estimations, though instead of time based estimates, story points represent the effort (and time) required to complete a user story, produt backlog item or other deliverable.
(T)
Timebox
A term used to state a specific time limit for a task or activity, such as a meeting. It is used to plan and estimate individual tasks, alongside ensuring that teams are aligned to objectives.
(U)
Usability Testing
The process of evaluating how easily and effectively end users can interact with a product or feature during or after development, typically conducted at the end of a sprint, to gather feedback and ensure the product backlog item meets user needs and expectations.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
When end users or stakeholders test a product feature to ensure it meets requirements before being released.
User Story
Used to describe a feature or piece of functionality from the perspective of how an end user would expect it to function, an essential component in the Definition of Done and Usability Testing.
(V)
Velocity
A metric used to quantify the amount of work completed in each sprint, enabling better planning for future sprints based on observable metrics.
Version Control
The management and tracking of changes over time. This allows multiple teams to work on items simultaneously without overwriting/deleting work. It also enables teams to integrate new features whilst reducing conflicts.
(W)
Waterfall
A more traditional project management methodology that focuses on a linear approach where all items in each phase must be completed and deployed before a team can move on to the next. It is typically thought of as reducing flexibility and adaptability in comparison to Agile.
Work in Progress Used to describe the Product backlog items that a team are currently working on, but have not yet completed.
