The AgileDS framework was developed by Agile Business Consortium with a primary focus on the building and delivery of digital services. Agile Digital Services (AgileDS) is a certification designed to assist project managers working in a digital services environment.
Aspect
Explanation
Definition
Agile Digital Services is an approach to delivering digital products and services that prioritizes flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement. It is rooted in the principles of Agile methodology and is tailored to the digital landscape. Agile Digital Services emphasize iterative development, customer-centricity, and the ability to adapt rapidly to changing market conditions and user needs. This approach is widely used in software development, web services, mobile apps, and other digital product domains to enhance responsiveness, reduce development risks, and deliver value to customers more efficiently.
Key Elements
– Iterative Development: Agile Digital Services rely on iterative development cycles, with frequent releases and updates to continually improve the product or service. – Cross-Functional Teams: Cross-functional teams, including developers, designers, testers, and product owners, collaborate closely to deliver a holistic solution. – Customer-Centricity: Customer feedback and user needs drive the development process, ensuring that the product meets customer expectations. – Adaptability: Agile Digital Services are designed to adapt quickly to changing market dynamics, emerging technologies, and evolving user preferences. – Continuous Improvement: Teams focus on continuous improvement through retrospectives and feedback loops to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
Characteristics
– Flexibility: Agile Digital Services prioritize adaptability, enabling teams to pivot and respond to new opportunities or challenges promptly. – Rapid Iterations: Short development cycles result in frequent releases, allowing for quick feedback and adjustments. – Transparency: Agile teams maintain transparency in their work, sharing progress, challenges, and plans openly. – Customer Involvement: Customers or end-users are actively engaged throughout the development process to ensure alignment with their needs. – Collaboration: Cross-functional collaboration fosters innovation and problem-solving.
Implications
– Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Agile Digital Services align closely with customer needs, leading to higher customer satisfaction. – Reduced Risk: Frequent testing and adaptation reduce the risk of costly errors and misaligned product development. – Faster Time to Market: Agile processes enable quicker product releases and faster responses to market demands. – Innovation: Continuous improvement and collaboration foster innovation within development teams. – Resource Optimization: Teams can optimize resources by focusing on features or enhancements that deliver the most value.
Advantages
– Customer-Centric Development: Agile Digital Services ensure that development efforts are guided by customer feedback and preferences, resulting in products that meet user needs effectively. – Reduced Development Risk: Frequent iterations and testing reduce the risk of major errors or misalignment with user expectations. – Rapid Responsiveness: Agile teams can respond quickly to market changes, competitive pressures, or emerging technologies. – High-Quality Products: Iterative development and continuous improvement lead to higher-quality products or services. – Effective Collaboration: Cross-functional collaboration enhances problem-solving and drives innovation within the team.
Drawbacks
– Resource Intensive: Agile Digital Services can be resource-intensive, requiring close collaboration and frequent iterations. – Complexity: Managing multiple iterations and rapidly changing priorities can introduce complexity to project management. – Documentation Challenges: Agile processes may prioritize working software over comprehensive documentation, which can pose challenges in some contexts. – Resistance to Change: Teams or organizations accustomed to traditional development methods may face resistance when transitioning to Agile practices. – Uncertainty: Rapid changes and adaptation can introduce uncertainty into project timelines and outcomes.
Applications
– Software Development: Agile Digital Services are commonly used in software development to create and maintain web applications, mobile apps, and software products. – Web Services: Web service providers use Agile approaches to deliver and improve online services, including websites and e-commerce platforms. – Mobile App Development: Mobile app development teams often adopt Agile practices for quick app releases and updates. – Digital Marketing: Agile methodologies are applied to digital marketing campaigns to optimize content and advertising strategies based on real-time performance data. – E-commerce: Agile practices help e-commerce businesses stay responsive to customer demands and market trends.
Use Cases
– Agile Software Development: Software development teams employ Agile Digital Services to create, test, and release software applications with iterative development cycles. – Website Development: Web developers use Agile methods to build and maintain websites, continuously improving user experiences. – Mobile App Optimization: Agile is applied to mobile app development, allowing teams to adapt to changing user preferences and device capabilities. – Digital Marketing Campaigns: Digital marketers use Agile principles to adjust campaigns based on performance data, ensuring optimal results. – E-commerce Enhancement: Agile practices are used to enhance online shopping experiences, improve site functionality, and respond to customer feedback quickly.
AgileDS is based on the GDS lifecycle of the Government Digital Service, an internal department of the UK government responsible for supporting the implementation of digital strategy. Like other Agile frameworks, AgileDS is driven by data with a focus on the user to meet business outcomes.
AgileDS certification is useful for any role that requires a sound working knowledge of AgileDS principles.
This may encompass a variety of roles or scenarios within an organization, including:
Senior stakeholders – responsible for implementing digital transformation strategies or adapting the organization’s services for a digital world.
Change management professionals – responsible for motivating digital change teams in the context of project, program, and portfolio (PPM) management.
Events staff – who create, deliver, and manage digital events.
Aspiring or practicing digital project managers.
AgileDS principles
AgileDS is underpinned by 10 generic principles that govern all agile processes. Each principle applies to the nuances of digital service delivery, but the first, sixth and eighth principles are particularly pertinent.
Start with needs. A clear understanding of the needs of digital users is a vital component of discovering the right solution.
Do less. Code must be reused where possible and should never exceed requirements. Other information and resources should also be reused to minimize waste.
Design with data. Use data that can be verified and not data based on assumptions.
Do the hard work to make it simple. By simplifying the difficult initial work, there is a higher likelihood that excellent outcomes will manifest.
Iterate. Then iterate again. Value comes from continuous improvement.
This is for everyone. Digital services need to be accessible to different groups of people. An elderly individual that is vision-impaired will be less suited to visually stunning websites. A gaming app suitable for children will need to use simpler language and a slower pace during content delivery.
Understand the context. Digital services should be built around people, not systems and tools. Instead of delivering a digital product that requires a fast internet connection, a business should first consider whether its target audience has access to such a connection.
Build digital services, not websites. While the end-user undoubtedly visits websites, they do so to access valuable information. Development teams need to make valuable information accessible by removing barriers or distracting elements.
Be consistent, not uniform. Consistency means using the same language and design wherever possible across a suite of digital services. This increases brand recognition and loyalty.
Make things open. Digital service development should be shared with as many key stakeholders as possible. With more eyes on a service, there is a better chance that faults or errors are pointed out and better alternatives are devised.
Key takeaways
Agile Digital Services certification was designed to guide and incorporate Agile principles into digital services delivery.
Agile Digital Services guidelines are based on the GDS lifecycle created by the UK Government. The guidelines are relevant to a broad range of roles within an organization.
AgileDS is underpinned by ten agile principles. Understanding and then addressing the needs of digital users is fundamental. Needs are addressed when businesses avoid the temptation to deliver digital services that are based on systems, tools, or websites.
Key Highlights
Introduction to AgileDS: AgileDS is a framework developed by Agile Business Consortium, focused on building and delivering digital services. It offers certification for project managers in digital services environments.
Basis and Focus: AgileDS is based on the GDS (Government Digital Service) lifecycle, which is used by the UK government to implement digital strategy. It emphasizes data-driven and user-centric approaches to achieve business outcomes.
Relevance of AgileDS Certification: AgileDS certification is valuable for various roles within organizations:
Senior stakeholders involved in digital transformation strategies.
Change management professionals for motivating digital change teams.
Event staff managing digital events.
Aspiring or practicing digital project managers.
AgileDS Principles: The framework is guided by 10 principles, with particular emphasis on the first, sixth, and eighth principles:
Start with needs: Understand user needs for the right solution.
Do less: Minimize waste by reusing code, resources, and information.
Design with data: Base decisions on verified data, not assumptions.
Iterate: Continuously improve to deliver value.
Build digital services, not websites: Focus on accessibility and valuable information.
This is for everyone: Make digital services accessible to diverse user groups.
Understand the context: Prioritize user context over systems or tools.
Do the hard work to make it simple: Simplify initial work for better outcomes.
Be consistent, not uniform: Maintain consistency in language and design for brand recognition.
Make things open: Share development with stakeholders for better solutions.
Key Takeaways:
Agile Digital Services certification incorporates Agile principles into digital service delivery.
The framework is based on the GDS lifecycle and is applicable to a wide range of organizational roles.
AgileDS principles emphasize user needs, iterative improvement, accessibility, simplicity, consistency, and openness. It’s a user-centric, data-driven approach for effective digital service delivery.
Related Frameworks, Models, or Concepts
Description
When to Apply
Agile Methodology
Agile Methodology is an iterative approach to software development that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and customer feedback. It involves breaking down projects into small, manageable tasks called user stories and delivering working software in short iterations known as sprints. By adopting Agile, organizations can respond quickly to changing requirements, improve project visibility, and deliver value to customers more frequently.
Consider Agile Methodology when seeking to develop digital services or software applications in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment. Use it to prioritize customer requirements, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and deliver incremental value through iterative development cycles. Implement Agile as a framework for fostering flexibility, adaptability, and customer-centricity in digital service delivery within your organization.
Scrum Framework
Scrum Framework is a popular Agile framework for managing software development projects. It defines roles, events, and artifacts to facilitate collaboration and iterative delivery. Scrum teams work in short, time-boxed iterations called sprints, with each sprint culminating in a potentially shippable product increment. By embracing Scrum, organizations can improve team productivity, transparency, and alignment towards common goals.
Consider Scrum Framework when seeking to organize and manage digital service development projects in an Agile manner. Use it to establish cross-functional Scrum teams, plan and execute sprints, and inspect and adapt product increments through regular sprint reviews and retrospectives. Implement Scrum as a framework for enabling collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement in digital service delivery within your organization.
Kanban Method
Kanban Method is an Agile framework for visualizing work, limiting work in progress (WIP), and optimizing flow. It involves visualizing work items on a Kanban board, setting WIP limits for each stage of the workflow, and continuously improving the flow of work. By adopting Kanban, organizations can increase transparency, reduce bottlenecks, and deliver value more predictably.
Consider Kanban Method when seeking to manage and optimize the flow of work in digital service delivery processes. Use it to visualize work items, identify and address bottlenecks, and limit work in progress to improve efficiency and throughput. Implement Kanban as a framework for promoting continuous improvement, agility, and customer focus in digital service delivery within your organization.
DevOps Practices
DevOps Practices is a set of principles, practices, and tools that foster collaboration between development and operations teams to automate software delivery and infrastructure changes. It emphasizes cultural norms, automation, and feedback loops to enable faster and more reliable software releases. By embracing DevOps, organizations can accelerate delivery, improve quality, and enhance collaboration across the software development lifecycle.
Consider DevOps Practices when seeking to streamline and automate digital service delivery processes from development to operations. Use it to establish cross-functional DevOps teams, automate deployment pipelines, and implement infrastructure as code (IaC) practices to achieve faster and more reliable software releases. Implement DevOps as a framework for fostering collaboration, efficiency, and continuous delivery in digital service delivery within your organization.
Lean Startup Methodology
Lean Startup Methodology is an approach to developing and launching new products or services quickly and efficiently by testing assumptions, gathering feedback, and iterating based on customer insights. It involves building minimum viable products (MVPs) to validate business hypotheses and pivot or persevere based on customer feedback. By applying Lean Startup principles, organizations can reduce time to market, minimize waste, and increase the likelihood of product-market fit.
Consider Lean Startup Methodology when seeking to launch new digital services or features in a lean and iterative manner. Use it to identify and test key assumptions, build MVPs to validate hypotheses, and iterate based on customer feedback to achieve product-market fit. Implement Lean Startup as a framework for fostering innovation, agility, and customer-centricity in digital service development within your organization.
Design Thinking
Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that focuses on understanding user needs, generating creative solutions, and prototyping and testing ideas iteratively. It involves empathizing with users, defining problem statements, ideating potential solutions, and testing prototypes with real users to gather feedback. By applying Design Thinking principles, organizations can create user-centric digital services that address real user needs and preferences.
Consider Design Thinking when seeking to design and develop user-friendly and intuitive digital services. Use it to gain deep insights into user needs and behaviors, generate innovative solutions, and prototype and test ideas iteratively to ensure usability and desirability. Implement Design Thinking as a framework for fostering empathy, creativity, and user-centricity in digital service design and development within your organization.
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is a framework for scaling Agile practices across large organizations to enable enterprise-wide agility. It provides roles, events, and artifacts for coordinating and aligning Agile teams at scale, including portfolio, program, and team levels. By adopting SAFe, organizations can synchronize delivery, improve collaboration, and accelerate value delivery across the enterprise.
Consider Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) when seeking to scale Agile practices and principles across large and complex digital service delivery initiatives. Use it to align strategy with execution, coordinate delivery across multiple teams, and foster alignment and transparency at scale. Implement SAFe as a framework for enabling enterprise agility, accelerating value delivery, and achieving business outcomes in digital service delivery within your organization.
Agile Product Management
Agile Product Management is an approach to managing digital products or services in an Agile manner, focusing on value delivery, customer feedback, and iterative development. It involves prioritizing and managing product backlogs, defining minimum viable products (MVPs), and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver value incrementally. By applying Agile Product Management practices, organizations can respond quickly to changing market needs and deliver products that meet customer expectations.
Consider Agile Product Management when seeking to manage and deliver digital products or services in an Agile and customer-centric manner. Use it to prioritize features, define MVPs, and iterate based on customer feedback to maximize value delivery and achieve product-market fit. Implement Agile Product Management as a framework for fostering collaboration, transparency, and value-driven decision-making in digital product development within your organization.
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) is a set of practices for automating the build, test, and deployment processes to deliver software changes more frequently and reliably. It involves integrating code changes into a shared repository, running automated tests, and deploying changes to production environments automatically. By implementing CI/CD pipelines, organizations can reduce manual errors, accelerate delivery, and increase the reliability of software releases.
Consider Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) when seeking to automate and streamline the software delivery pipeline for digital services. Use it to automate code integration, testing, and deployment processes to achieve faster and more reliable releases. Implement CI/CD as a framework for improving productivity, quality, and agility in digital service delivery within your organization.
Agile Portfolio Management
Agile Portfolio Management is an approach to managing portfolios of projects or initiatives in an Agile manner, focusing on value delivery, alignment with strategic objectives, and adaptability to changing market conditions. It involves prioritizing and selecting initiatives based on strategic goals, allocating resources dynamically, and measuring progress against key performance indicators (KPIs). By adopting Agile Portfolio Management, organizations can optimize resource allocation, mitigate risks, and maximize the value of their project investments.
Consider Agile Portfolio Management when seeking to manage and prioritize portfolios of digital service delivery initiatives in alignment with strategic objectives. Use it to prioritize initiatives based on value, allocate resources dynamically, and adapt plans based on changing market conditions and feedback. Implement Agile Portfolio Management as a framework for fostering agility, transparency, and value-driven decision-making in digital service delivery within your organization.
AIOps is the application of artificial intelligence to IT operations. It has become particularly useful for modern IT management in hybridized, distributed, and dynamic environments. AIOps has become a key operational component of modern digital-based organizations, built around software and algorithms.
Agile started as a lightweight development method compared to heavyweight software development, which is the core paradigm of the previous decades of software development. By 2001 the Manifesto for Agile Software Development was born as a set of principles that defined the new paradigm for software development as a continuous iteration. This would also influence the way of doing business.
Agile Program Management is a means of managing, planning, and coordinating interrelated work in such a way that value delivery is emphasized for all key stakeholders. Agile Program Management (AgilePgM) is a disciplined yet flexible agile approach to managing transformational change within an organization.
Agile project management (APM) is a strategy that breaks large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. In the APM methodology, each project is completed in small sections – often referred to as iterations. Each iteration is completed according to its project life cycle, beginning with the initial design and progressing to testing and then quality assurance.
Agile Modeling (AM) is a methodology for modeling and documenting software-based systems. Agile Modeling is critical to the rapid and continuous delivery of software. It is a collection of values, principles, and practices that guide effective, lightweight software modeling.
Agile Business Analysis (AgileBA) is certification in the form of guidance and training for business analysts seeking to work in agile environments. To support this shift, AgileBA also helps the business analyst relate Agile projects to a wider organizational mission or strategy. To ensure that analysts have the necessary skills and expertise, AgileBA certification was developed.
Agile leadership is the embodiment of agile manifesto principles by a manager or management team. Agile leadership impacts two important levels of a business. The structural level defines the roles, responsibilities, and key performance indicators. The behavioral level describes the actions leaders exhibit to others based on agile principles.
The andon system alerts managerial, maintenance, or other staff of a production process problem. The alert itself can be activated manually with a button or pull cord, but it can also be activated automatically by production equipment. Most Andon boards utilize three colored lights similar to a traffic signal: green (no errors), yellow or amber (problem identified, or quality check needed), and red (production stopped due to unidentified issue).
Bimodal Portfolio Management (BimodalPfM) helps an organization manage both agile and traditional portfolios concurrently. Bimodal Portfolio Management – sometimes referred to as bimodal development – was coined by research and advisory company Gartner. The firm argued that many agile organizations still needed to run some aspects of their operations using traditional delivery models.
Business innovation is about creating new opportunities for an organization to reinvent its core offerings, revenue streams, and enhance the value proposition for existing or new customers, thus renewing its whole business model. Business innovation springs by understanding the structure of the market, thus adapting or anticipating those changes.
Business modelinnovation is about increasing the success of an organization with existing products and technologies by crafting a compelling value proposition able to propel a new business model to scale up customers and create a lasting competitive advantage. And it all starts by mastering the key customers.
A consumer brand company like Procter & Gamble (P&G) defines “Constructive Disruption” as: a willingness to change, adapt, and create new trends and technologies that will shape our industry for the future. According to P&G, it moves around four pillars: lean innovation, brand building, supply chain, and digitalization & data analytics.
That is a process that requires a continuous feedback loop to develop a valuable product and build a viable business model. Continuous innovation is a mindset where products and services are designed and delivered to tune them around the customers’ problem and not the technical solution of its founders.
A design sprint is a proven five-day process where critical business questions are answered through speedy design and prototyping, focusing on the end-user. A design sprint starts with a weekly challenge that should finish with a prototype, test at the end, and therefore a lesson learned to be iterated.
Tim Brown, Executive Chair of IDEO, defined design thinking as “a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.” Therefore, desirability, feasibility, and viability are balanced to solve critical problems.
DevOps refers to a series of practices performed to perform automated software development processes. It is a conjugation of the term “development” and “operations” to emphasize how functions integrate across IT teams. DevOps strategies promote seamless building, testing, and deployment of products. It aims to bridge a gap between development and operations teams to streamline the development altogether.
Product discovery is a critical part of agile methodologies, as its aim is to ensure that products customers love are built. Product discovery involves learning through a raft of methods, including design thinking, lean start-up, and A/B testing to name a few. Dual Track Agile is an agile methodology containing two separate tracks: the “discovery” track and the “delivery” track.
eXtreme Programming was developed in the late 1990s by Ken Beck, Ron Jeffries, and Ward Cunningham. During this time, the trio was working on the Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System (C3) to help manage the company payroll system. eXtreme Programming (XP) is a software development methodology. It is designed to improve software quality and the ability of software to adapt to changing customer needs.
Feature-Driven Development is a pragmatic software process that is client and architecture-centric. Feature-Driven Development (FDD) is an agile software development model that organizes workflow according to which features need to be developed next.
A Gemba Walk is a fundamental component of lean management. It describes the personal observation of work to learn more about it. Gemba is a Japanese word that loosely translates as “the real place”, or in business, “the place where value is created”. The Gemba Walk as a concept was created by Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System of lean manufacturing. Ohno wanted to encourage management executives to leave their offices and see where the real work happened. This, he hoped, would build relationships between employees with vastly different skillsets and build trust.
GIST Planning is a relatively easy and lightweight agile approach to product planning that favors autonomous working. GIST Planning is a lean and agile methodology that was created by former Google product manager Itamar Gilad. GIST Planning seeks to address this situation by creating lightweight plans that are responsive and adaptable to change. GIST Planning also improves team velocity, autonomy, and alignment by reducing the pervasive influence of management. It consists of four blocks: goals, ideas, step-projects, and tasks.
The ICE Scoring Model is an agile methodology that prioritizes features using data according to three components: impact, confidence, and ease of implementation. The ICE Scoring Model was initially created by author and growth expert Sean Ellis to help companies expand. Today, the model is broadly used to prioritize projects, features, initiatives, and rollouts. It is ideally suited for early-stage product development where there is a continuous flow of ideas and momentum must be maintained.
An innovation funnel is a tool or process ensuring only the best ideas are executed. In a metaphorical sense, the funnel screens innovative ideas for viability so that only the best products, processes, or business models are launched to the market. An innovation funnel provides a framework for the screening and testing of innovative ideas for viability.
According to how well defined is the problem and how well defined the domain, we have four main types of innovations: basic research (problem and domain or not well defined); breakthrough innovation (domain is not well defined, the problem is well defined); sustaining innovation (both problem and domain are well defined); and disruptive innovation (domain is well defined, the problem is not well defined).
The innovation loop is a methodology/framework derived from the Bell Labs, which produced innovation at scale throughout the 20th century. They learned how to leverage a hybrid innovation management model based on science, invention, engineering, and manufacturing at scale. By leveraging individual genius, creativity, and small/large groups.
The Agile methodology has been primarily thought of for software development (and other business disciplines have also adopted it). Lean thinking is a process improvement technique where teams prioritize the value streams to improve it continuously. Both methodologies look at the customer as the key driver to improvement and waste reduction. Both methodologies look at improvement as something continuous.
A startup company is a high-tech business that tries to build a scalable business model in tech-driven industries. A startup company usually follows a lean methodology, where continuous innovation, driven by built-in viral loops is the rule. Thus, driving growth and building network effects as a consequence of this strategy.
As pointed out by Eric Ries, a minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort through a cycle of build, measure, learn; that is the foundation of the lean startup methodology.
Kanban is a lean manufacturing framework first developed by Toyota in the late 1940s. The Kanban framework is a means of visualizing work as it moves through identifying potential bottlenecks. It does that through a process called just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing to optimize engineering processes, speed up manufacturing products, and improve the go-to-market strategy.
Jidoka was first used in 1896 by Sakichi Toyoda, who invented a textile loom that would stop automatically when it encountered a defective thread. Jidoka is a Japanese term used in lean manufacturing. The term describes a scenario where machines cease operating without human intervention when a problem or defect is discovered.
The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle was first proposed by American physicist and engineer Walter A. Shewhart in the 1920s. The PDCA cycle is a continuous process and product improvement method and an essential component of the lean manufacturing philosophy.
RAD was first introduced by author and consultant James Martin in 1991. Martin recognized and then took advantage of the endless malleability of software in designing development models. Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a methodology focusing on delivering rapidly through continuous feedback and frequent iterations.
Retrospective analyses are held after a project to determine what worked well and what did not. They are also conducted at the end of an iteration in Agile project management. Agile practitioners call these meetings retrospectives or retros. They are an effective way to check the pulse of a project team, reflect on the work performed to date, and reach a consensus on how to tackle the next sprint cycle. These are the five stages of a retrospective analysis for effective Agile project management: set the stage, gather the data, generate insights, decide on the next steps, and close the retrospective.
Scaled Agile Lean Development (ScALeD) helps businesses discover a balanced approach to agile transition and scaling questions. The ScALed approach helps businesses successfully respond to change. Inspired by a combination of lean and agile values, ScALed is practitioner-based and can be completed through various agile frameworks and practices.
The SMED (single minute exchange of die) method is a lean production framework to reduce waste and increase production efficiency. The SMED method is a framework for reducing the time associated with completing an equipment changeover.
The Spotify Model is an autonomous approach to scaling agile, focusing on culture communication, accountability, and quality. The Spotify model was first recognized in 2012 after Henrik Kniberg, and Anders Ivarsson released a white paper detailing how streaming company Spotify approached agility. Therefore, the Spotify model represents an evolution of agile.
As the name suggests, TDD is a test-driven technique for delivering high-quality software rapidly and sustainably. It is an iterative approach based on the idea that a failing test should be written before any code for a feature or function is written. Test-Driven Development (TDD) is an approach to software development that relies on very short development cycles.
Timeboxing is a simple yet powerful time-management technique for improving productivity. Timeboxing describes the process of proactively scheduling a block of time to spend on a task in the future. It was first described by author James Martin in a book about agile software development.
Scrum is a methodology co-created by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland for effective team collaboration on complex products. Scrum was primarily thought for software development projects to deliver new software capability every 2-4 weeks. It is a sub-group of agile also used in project management to improve startups’ productivity.
Scrumban is a project management framework that is a hybrid of two popular agile methodologies: Scrum and Kanban. Scrumban is a popular approach to helping businesses focus on the right strategic tasks while simultaneously strengthening their processes.
Scrum anti-patterns describe any attractive, easy-to-implement solution that ultimately makes a problem worse. Therefore, these are the practice not to follow to prevent issues from emerging. Some classic examples of scrum anti-patterns comprise absent product owners, pre-assigned tickets (making individuals work in isolation), and discounting retrospectives (where review meetings are not useful to really make improvements).
Scrum at Scale (Scrum@Scale) is a framework that Scrum teams use to address complex problems and deliver high-value products. Scrum at Scale was created through a joint venture between the Scrum Alliance and Scrum Inc. The joint venture was overseen by Jeff Sutherland, a co-creator of Scrum and one of the principal authors of the Agile Manifesto.
Six Sigma is a data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating errors or defects in a product, service, or process. Six Sigma was developed by Motorola as a management approach based on quality fundamentals in the early 1980s. A decade later, it was popularized by General Electric who estimated that the methodology saved them $12 billion in the first five years of operation.
Stretch objectives describe any task an agile team plans to complete without expressly committing to do so. Teams incorporate stretch objectives during a Sprint or Program Increment (PI) as part of Scaled Agile. They are used when the agile team is unsure of its capacity to attain an objective. Therefore, stretch objectives are instead outcomes that, while extremely desirable, are not the difference between the success or failure of each sprint.
The Toyota Production System (TPS) is an early form of lean manufacturing created by auto-manufacturer Toyota. Created by the Toyota Motor Corporation in the 1940s and 50s, the Toyota Production System seeks to manufacture vehicles ordered by customers most quickly and efficiently possible.
The Total Quality Management (TQM) framework is a technique based on the premise that employees continuously work on their ability to provide value to customers. Importantly, the word “total” means that all employees are involved in the process – regardless of whether they work in development, production, or fulfillment.
The waterfall model was first described by Herbert D. Benington in 1956 during a presentation about the software used in radar imaging during the Cold War. Since there were no knowledge-based, creative software development strategies at the time, the waterfall method became standard practice. The waterfall model is a linear and sequential project management framework.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
