Implementing Agile Practices

This five-day service is designed to accelerate team adoption of Agile and is delivered through a combination of coaching, mentoring and hands-on workshops. This offering is perfect for teams new to Agile development, but can also be adapted for teams who have already started with Agile development and want to “tune” their performance. Initially, a Rally coach will work with your teams via phone and web-conference to assess their current level of agility and tailor the on-site portion of the offering to fit your organizational needs. Once on-site, your coach will introduce your teams to Agile and Rally, help charter your project, and kick off your first facilitated planning sessions and workshops.

Advantages

Upon completion of this program, software teams and project managers will be able to:

• Effectively plan and execute two fully tested, two-week iterations on a critical path project
• Continually adapt Agile principles and practices within their unique environments
• Scale iterative development practices to larger or distributed organizations
• Respond faster to changing customer requirements

Approach

The Implementing Agile Practices service is divided into four parts, each designed to help software teams and managers effectively accelerate their adoption of Agile.

Preparation (4 hours of phone and web-based coaching)

Rally coaches work with your team to gather context and customize the on-site training for your needs, selecting and tailoring the appropriate workshops for your teams. We'll review your product backlog and make suggestions and discuss team structure and logistics.

Agile Kickoff Workshop (2-day onsite workshop)

This workshop starts with a one-day introduction for teams new to Agile, followed release or iteration planning sessions. For established teams, we'll conduct retrospective and further customize the workshop based on your needs.

Inspect and Adapt Workshop (2-day onsite workshop)

Rally coaches will facilitate a demo, review, and retrospective, and guide you through planning your second iteration while inspecting and adapting your existing release plan.

Tuning and Coaching (4 hours of phone and web-based coaching)

Managers and development team members will have access to a Rally coach via phone, web, and email, to support the team as you inspect, adapt and tune your Agile processes. Your coach can help you with specific problems or provide web-based coaching and training as needed.

Workshop Details

Agile Kickoff Workshop

This customized workshop is designed to give your team the foundation they need to get started with Agile development. We'll introduce the concepts of Agile, establish team working agreements and kickoff an iteration. This workshop may include the following modules:

Part I: Preparing for Agile Development

This session provides your entire team with an overview of the benefits of Agile by exploring the underlying principles of Agile and the fundamental practices of iterative and incremental development. At the end of the workshop your team will have a shared context for applying Agile practices within your environment and a roadmap for getting started with Agile development.

Workshop Outline:

• The benefits of Agile
• Introduction to Agile principles and practices
• Agile roles
• How to apply Agile planning practices
• Next steps for Agile adoption

Part II: Release Planning

For teams who have successfully completed at least three iterations, this facilitated release planning session helps you determine overall capacity and then review the prioritized backlog. Upon completion of this session, your team will have a complete view and schedule for the upcoming release.

Release Planning Outline:

• Determining high-level team capacity
• Reviewing prioritized backlog
• Estimating story cards
• Planning release
• Scheduling iterations

Part III: Iteration Planning

This facilitated session provides a structured approach to help your team determine its velocity, prioritize its work and define and estimate the tasks for the upcoming iteration. Additionally your team will conduct a review of its resources against its priorities, document issues and risks for the iteration, and ultimately create a team commitment to the iteration.

Iteration Planning Includes:

• Determining team velocity and work priority
• Estimating story cards
• Review of resources and priorities
• Document issues/risks
• Committing to an iteration

Inspect and Adapt Workshop

This 2-day workshop focuses on assessing your team's progress after the first iteration. Your team will demonstrate working software, and review its success in meeting commitments during the iteration. Your Rally coach will then facilitate a retrospective, help plan the next iteration and adjust your release plan.

Part I: Demo, Review and Retrospective

This facilitated session is the venue for your team to demo their latest iteration stories. The Review provides a structured approach for collecting feedback, reviewing metrics and establishing new priorities. Upon completion of this retrospective your team will have a complete view of the success of the iteration, a list of new priorities for the next iteration, and an updated set of team practices.

Workshop Outline:

• Demonstrating finished stories
• Collecting feedback
• Reviewing iteration metrics
• Assessing new priorities

Part II: Second Iteration Planning

Based on the results from your Demo, Review, and Retrospective, your coach will guide your team through planning the next iteration, including adjusting commitments.

Part III: Adapting the Release Plan

We'll use empirical data from your completed iterations to re-calibrate the release plan, adjust expectations, and negotiate scope for the upcoming release.

Price

$12,000 plus travel and expenses. Additional consulting days are available from Rally’s expert coaches for $2,500 per day.

Availability

The Implementing Agile Practices offering is available as a five-day engagement typically delivered over 60 days. Portions are delivered on-site, via phone and Web conference. Contact your Rally account representative at sales@rallydev.com to schedule.