Agile project management glossary
Iterative or agile terminology can be confusing. We have compiled a list of the most common agile terminology you may come across, and their definitions:
- Agile– a project management approach based on delivering requirements iteratively and incrementally throughout the life cycle.
- Agile development– an umbrella term specifically for iterative softwaredevelopment methodologies. Popularmethods include Scrum, Lean, DSDM and eXtreme Programming (XP).
- Agile Manifesto– describes the four principles of agile development: 1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools. 2. Working software over comprehensive documentation. 3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation. 4. Responding to change over following a plan.
- Backlog– prioritised work still to be completed (see Requirements).
- Burn down chart– used to monitor progress; shows work still to complete (the Backlog) versus total time.
- Cadence– the number of days or weeks in a Sprint or release; the length of the team’s development cycle.
- Ceremonies– meetings, often a daily planning meeting, that identify what has been done, what is to be done and the barriers to success.
- DAD(disciplined agile delivery) – a process-decision framework.
- Daily Scrum– stand-up team meeting. A plan, do, review daily session.
- DevOps(development/operations) – bridges the gap between agile teams and operational delivery to production.
- DSDM (dynamic systems development method)– agile development methodology, now changed to the ‘DSDM project management framework’.
- Kanban– a method for managing work, with an emphasis on just-in-time delivery.
- Kanban board– a work and workflow visualisation tool which summarises the status, progress, and issues related to the work.
- Lean– a method of working focused on ‘eliminating waste’ by avoiding anything that does not produce value for the customer.
- LeSS (large-scale Scrum)– agile development method.
- RAD(rapid application development) – agile development method; enables developers to build solutions quickly by talking directly to end users to meet business requirement.
- Requirements– are written as ‘stories’ that are collated into a prioritised list called the ‘Backlog’.
- SAFe(scaled agile framework enterprise) – agile methodology used for software development.
- Scaled agile– agile scaled up to large projects or programmes, for example by having multiple sub-projects, creating tranches of projects, etc.
- Scrum– agile methodology commonly used in software development, where regular team meetings review progress of a single development phase (or Sprint).
- Scrum of scrums– a technique to operate Scrum at scale, for multiple teams working on the same product.
- Scrum master– the person who oversees the development process and who makes sure everyone adheres to an agreed way of working.
- Sprints– a short development phase within a larger project defined by available time (‘timeboxes’) and resources.
- Sprint retrospective– a review of a Sprint providing lessons learned with the aim of promoting continuous improvement.
- Stories– see Requirements.
- Timeboxes– see Sprints.
- Velocity– a measure of work completed during a single development phase or Sprint.
- Waterfall– a sequential project management approach that seeks to capture detailed requirements upfront; the opposite to agile.
- XP(eXtreme Programming) – agile development methodology used in software development; allows programmers to decide the scope of deliveries.
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