Agile for Beginners: No PhDs in Scrum Required!

This article is not for experienced PMs who really know their onions when it comes to Agile and its practical use. This article is for those who have just started with Agile and want to understand what it is about and when to use it.

For many product managers and owners, Agile already feels like an old and tired concept. You see it in almost every job description, people talk about it, but mostly in theoretical terms. Agile is a philosophy, and bla-bla-bla. When I studied at a college of music, I did exactly the same thing when I was going through the harmony exam. Let’s talk about practical use!

?? Scrum. Use it if the product has a well-defined goal, and you want frequent deliverables and feedback cycles.

- Sprint planning

- Daily standups

- Sprint review

- Retrospective

These are all about Scrum.

Best for:

- Projects where work can be divided into smaller, manageable tasks.

- Teams need regular coordination and updates.

- Feedback and adjustments are needed throughout the process.

Example: Developing a new feature for a digital platform with multiple stakeholders needing regular updates.

Tools: Jira, Trello, Asana.

?? Kanban. Good for ongoing flexible tasks with no strict deadlines or when you need to optimize an existing workflow.

Best for:

- Continuous delivery projects without fixed-length iterations.

- Teams needing to improve process efficiency.

- Managing and prioritizing a steady flow of work, such as support tickets.

Example: A Product Manager overseeing bug fixes and minor UI improvements to manage a steady flow of tickets.

Tools: Notion, Trello.

?? Lean. Use it when you need to minimize waste and maximize value. It’s about delivering only what is needed.

Best for:

- Projects requiring optimization and process improvement.

- Situations where cost or time efficiency is critical.

Example: Launching an MVP and testing a new feature for personalized recommendations. Feedback from early users helps iterate quickly, ensuring resources aren’t wasted on unnecessary functionality.

Tools: LeanKit.

?? XP (Extreme Programming). When quality is paramount, and requirements are constantly changing.

Best for:

- High-risk projects with frequently changing requirements.

- Teams needing to maintain high-quality code under tight deadlines.

Example: You’re working closely with developers to deliver robust features, such as AI-driven sentiment analysis and real-time feedback tools, while ensuring quality and adaptability through frequent releases.

Tools: GitHub, GitLab.

?? FDD (Feature-Driven Development). Use it for feature-centric projects with a strong design phase.

Best for:

- Large-scale projects requiring structure.

- Teams working on complex systems with well-defined features.

Example: Building a banking platform with distinct features like account management, transaction tracking, and reporting.

Tools: Jira, Confluence.

?? SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework). Use it when managing large, complex projects across multiple teams or departments.

Best for:

- Enterprises requiring coordination across multiple Agile teams.

- Projects involving complex dependencies and large-scale planning.

Example: A PM at Swedbank uses SAFe to prioritize and coordinate the development of a new digital banking feature, like a secure mobile payment option, aligning teams during Program Increment planning to ensure timely delivery and seamless integration across platforms.

Tools: Azure DevOps, SAFe Central, Miro.

Based in this information, it’s for you to decide what and when to use. More often, Agile looks like a smoothie mixed with different type of fruits.

#Agile #productmanager #productowner #scrum #SAFe