Agile Basics

Warm-up: Explain it like a teammate

2 warm-up questions

• How does your team (or your class, or your family!) organise work — lists, boards, plans in someone's head?
• First try: a new colleague joins tomorrow and asks, "I heard you work in an Agile way — what does that mean?" Answer with whatever you know — 30 seconds, go.

Reading: What is Agile?

Read a 115-word text about What is Agile?

What is Agile? Agile is a way of working on projects, especially in software development. It focuses on flexibility and working closely with customers. Traditional vs. Agile: Traditional (Waterfall): Plan everything at the start Build the whole product Test at the end Deliver once Agile: Plan in short cycles Build small pieces Test continuously Deliver frequently Key Agile concepts: Sprint: A short work period (usually 2 weeks) Iteration: Repeating the process to improve Increment: A working piece of the product User story: A feature described from the user's point of view Agile values: 1. People over processes 2. Working software over documentation 3. Customer collaboration over contracts 4. Responding to change over following a plan

Vocabulary: Agile Vocabulary

6 items

Reading: Two model explanations of Agile

Read a 278-word text about Two model explanations of Agile

Two model explanations of Agile Knowing Agile words is one thing. Using them in a clear, friendly explanation is the real skill. Here are two complete ones — both under a minute. To a new teammate (their first day) "Welcome! So, Agile is how we manage our work. Instead of planning everything months ahead, we work in two-week cycles called sprints. All the work waiting to be done lives in a list called the backlog. At the start of each sprint we pick the most important items, build them, and deliver something working at the end of every sprint — so the customer sees progress every two weeks, not once a year. Each piece of work is written as a user story — for example, 'As a customer, I want to save items for later.' Don't worry, after two sprints it will feel completely normal." To your boss (who knows the old way) "You asked what's different about the Agile approach. The traditional way plans everything at the start, builds for months, and tests at the end — and if the plan was wrong, we find out at the worst possible time. Agile turns that around: we build a small piece, show it to you, and adjust. The big advantage for you: every two weeks you see working results and you can change direction — without throwing away months of work. The cost is honesty: we can't promise the exact final product a year ahead, because we'll learn things on the way." Notice both explanations do the same three things: name the cycle (sprint), name the list (backlog), and give the listener the benefit — not the theory.

Practice: Agile Terms

Gap-fill exercise, 5 items

• Our team works in two-week ____ to deliver features.
• The ____ contains all the work we need to do.
• ____ is about being flexible and delivering often.
• A ____ describes what the user wants to do.
• We improve the product with each ____.

Practice: Match Agile Concepts

Matching exercise, 5 items

• Sprint
• Backlog
• User story
• Scrum
• Iteration

Dialogue: Introducing Agile

Role-play: You're explaining Agile to a new team member (6 lines)

• New Member: I've heard we use Agile here. What exactly is that?
• You: Agile is how we manage our projects. Instead of planning everything at once, we work in short cycles called sprints.
• New Member: What happens during a sprint?
• You: We pick tasks from the backlog, work on them for two weeks, and deliver a working piece of the product.
• New Member: That sounds different from my last job where we planned months ahead.
• You: That's the traditional approach. Agile is more flexible - we can change direction based on feedback. It helps us deliver value faster.

Discussion: Your mission: the one-minute explanation

3 discussion questions

• Mission: your tutor plays a new teammate who's never worked Agile. Explain how an Agile team works — in ONE minute. Success = you use sprint, backlog and user story correctly, you compare it with the traditional way in one sentence, and your teammate can repeat the basics back to you. (Tutor: repeat it back wrong on purpose — see if the student corrects you.)
• Second take: now your tutor is a sceptical boss — "Why can't you just tell me what I'll get in a year?" Sell the benefit of short cycles honestly, without pretending Agile is magic.
• Replay the warm-up question: "What does Agile mean?" Compare your two answers — which special words can you now use with confidence?