Agile Design & Development Methodology

Although Agile is a framework for building software, it’s essentially about setting expectations, breaking big projects into bite-size pieces and making achievable, realistic commitments. This means the real hill to climb for most projects is increased, proactive communication. Setting expectations and educating our clients on how Agile works is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it makes everything run smoother; on the other, it means additional up-front work must be invested at the start of the project. But it’s all worth it when the project gets delivered on time and on budget.

The Basics of Agile Project Management

1. The Product Owner (normally the client) reviews the goals and summarizes the backlog of stories (or functional elements), demo location (if not being done online) and any timelines
2. Set time estimates and priorities for each story
3. Calculate the velocity and allocate task assignments
4. Setup a daily scrum meeting and breakdown the stories into bite-sized tasks

Fresh Tilled Soil’s Scrum Planning

Because we have customized the approach to use an “universal backlog,” we combine all backlogs for all projects into one checklist. This avoids overlap on projects that share resources or have similar deadlines.

1. Build tasks out based on each story
2. Decide which people cover which tasks
3. What threshold do FTS team members have capacity for?
4. Put new clients at the bottom of the list as they come in
5. Set expectations at the onset of the project

Product Backlog > Sprint Backlog > Tasks (To-do lists)

Summary of Overall Project Management Process

1. Initial meeting with client to discuss project
2. Initial estimate using the “triple check” method
3. Proposal with estimate
4. Agreement to move to Discovery phase
5. Discovery meeting to determine list of stories
6. Breakdown stories into tasks and responsibilities
7. Internal estimate of effort
8. Kick-off meeting to prioritize stories and associated tasks
9. Assign priorities and review estimates
10. Final estimate backlog
11. Individual To-do lists