Agile Fundamentals: Including Scrum and Kanban
Make yourself a more valuable member of the team by learning how to help organizations make changes faster and with less expense by using Agile approaches.
In nature, as in business – you adapt, or you die…
And with over 70% of companies using Agile for their projects, not knowing the fundamental concepts, principles, and values just isn’t an option anymore.
This course will not only teach you the fundamentals of Agile to help you develop the adaptive mindset, but it will also break down the most popular Agile frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, and Scrumban.
That includes:
– Agile Values
– Agile Principles
– Benefits of Agile
– Challenges
– Roles in Agile
– User Stories
– Scrum Framework
– Sprints
– Scrum Ceremonies
– Product Backlog
– Sprint Backlog
– Estimation Techniques
– Team Velocity
– Burndown Charts
– Burn Up Charts
– Kanban Principles
– Setting Work in Progress (WIP) Limits
– Kanban Boards …and more!
Taught with practicality and authenticity in mind, this to-the-point course brings you real-life work examples (both failures and successes) to make your learning stick.
Course enrollment grants you lifetime access, with no expiration, to all the course lectures, activities, handouts, and quizzes. In addition, you’ll also receive 1-on-1 support for any questions or uncertainties that come up. And this all comes with a money-back guarantee. You have nothing to lose and so much knowledge to gain.
Just ask the students who’ve already taken this course:
“This course is awesome! I am a beginner, I just started exploring Agile and Scrum, and after this course I feel like I’m ready to implement things. Thank you so much. Great work!” – Dubravka
“The course structure is a lot more than I was expecting regarding features. I can also make notes during the video without pausing or falling behind. I’m […] impressed with how the sections are broken down and have been placed into chronological order to help with understanding.” – Laura
“Through my Agile journey, this is one of the top courses I have taken. Why? I enjoy this course because it goes over a large scheme of topics that are specific and useful, but also given to the learner in bite sized pieces.. This course is especially helpful if you are working in an Agile Team or looking to implement Agile into a team. I have a much clearer understanding on the ceremonies, structure of a team, team responsibilities and reasoning behind different pieces of software, such as Jira. I have gained a lot of knowledge from the course, quizzes, and activities that Jeremy and Vivek put together. I can absolutely see myself implementing what I have gained from this course into my team and future teams. Thanks for creating an easy to follow course!!” – Meghann
Learn how Agile works as well as how it fits into the world of Business Analysis
This course is taught by two instructors, to ensure you get total coverage of the subject.
Jeremy Aschenbrenner (The BA Guide) is an expert in the Business Analysis field who will help you understand the part Agile plays in the Business Analyst role…
Vivek Khattri (The Agile Coach) is a highly experienced Agile practitioner and trainer whose expertise will give you a comprehensive understanding of Agile, Agile Mindset, and different Agile frameworks and practices…
And together, not only will our varying perspectives give you a 360-degree understanding of Agile fundamentals, our varied content formats will enhance your learning experience and help you retain the concepts you learn.
Let’s hear from some more students:
“I was certified as a Scrum Master over a decade ago and had been away from using scrum in a product management role for several years. This course helped me quickly regain an overview of the key principles and remind me of all of the artifacts and other key practices to put scrum to use again. I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to understand Scrum or Kanban.” – John
“Training by Jeremy and Vivek was awesome. They were able to explain in detail about all the concepts which will help anyone to understand and try to implement these practices. The good thing about Jeremy is his technique to break into pieces and explaining to avoid confusion. Look forward to learning more from you guys in the future lectures.” – Venkatesh
What’s included in the course?
– High-Quality Video Lectures break down the complex terms and confusing Agile jargon to ensure you get a concrete understanding of the items being discussed
– Downloadable Handouts help you to enhance your understanding and retention of the key concepts
– Quizzes and Activities validate your learning and help to point out areas that should be reviewed for full comprehension
– 1-on-1 Support means that any confusion or questions you have can be addressed and cleared up easily (no more frantically googling trying to figure out what your course instructor means).
– Lifetime Access with NO Expiration so you can learn at your own pace, and come back at any time you feel unsure or are in need of a refresher
“Not only the theoretical part associated to the Scrum Framework is good, but Jeremy and Vivek’s experience, that is invaluable, thanks for that guys! […] Jeremy and Vivek explained the terms and concepts in a logical and simple order way so it was much much easy to me to catch on all these concepts once and for all. Congrats to both!” – Silvia
“While not 100% new to Agile, it had been some time since I worked in the environment so as a refresher this course is perfect. I also feel this would be a great course for beginners. The videos are clear and easy to listen to, with a good pace. I like the inclusion of printable material as it is true, when you write something down, you remember it easier. Well done Vivek and Jeremy.” – Shelly
What ELSE is included in the course?
And of course, anyone who has studied one of Jeremy’s courses before will know, it simply wouldn’t be a course by The BA Guide if I didn’t include some value-packed bonus material!
Here’s what you get as complimentary extras with the Agile Fundamentals course:
– The Agile Principles Handout and Infographic
– Sample User Stories
– Scrum Terms Worksheet
– Scrum Terms Retention Worksheet
– Checklist for starting Kanban with your team
– Digital Kanban board setup instructions
– Agile Word Search
– Agile Terms Crossword Puzzle
Still not convinced?
And if you’re still not sure – here’s my promise to you:
This course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee! That means, if you aren’t completely satisfied with your purchase, I’ll give you a refund – no questions asked!
By the end of this course, you’ll have a working understanding of the fundamentals of Agile as well as its most popular frameworks, setting you up to be the agile, adaptive Business Analyst every modern organization needs.
As one of my favorite ancient Chinese proverbs says, “when the winds of change blow, some build walls, others build windmills”.
With disruptive technology evolving at a faster rate than ever before, the winds of change are blowing.
Hard.
So, if you’re ready to build windmills, enroll today and get started learning the fundamentals of Agile.
Welcome to the Course!
It is great to virtually meet you!
In this lecture, we provide you links to several critical items including a tour of Udemy's features, frequently asked questions, and more.
In this lecture, we provide you a ZIP file that contains all of the downloadable resources for the course. While those downloads are still available on appropriate lectures throughout the course, we're providing this ZIP file for convenience and to avoid some of the nuances and issues with downloading the files individually. It is our recommendation that you download this file now and then pull up the files as they are referenced within the course. Happy learning!
Understanding Agile
To start off the course, we explain the origins of Agile and gain an understanding of what Agile is all about.
Terms: Agile, Agile Manifesto, agile mindset
As some students like to learn at a faster pace, while others prefer slower, this lecture includes some simple instructions to adjust the playback rate of the course.
In this lecture, we discuss the four main Agile Values as described in the Agile Manifesto.
Terms: Agile Manifesto, agile values, stakeholder, agile mindset
This is a fun activity to get you familiar with some of the Agile terms that you will hear repeatedly throughout the course.
In this lecture, we break down the twelve Agile Principles as described in the Agile Manifesto and we provide our insight as to what makes the principles so important and how they can be applied to your projects.
Terms: Agile principles, self-organizing
Here we introduce you to some resources that you can download and print off to use a reference or study guide on the twelve Agile principles.
In this activity, we challenge you to come up with your top 5 Agile principles are and share them and your reasoning with Jeremy, Vivek, and the other students of the course.
Here Jeremy works through his top 5 Agile principles and gives you his thoughts.
Here Vivek works through his top 5 Agile principles and gives you his thoughts.
Now that we've covered some of the important aspects of the Agile Manifesto, it is time we take a step back and talk about some of the benefits of using Agile over other more traditional project approaches.
Terms: Waterfall, agile
As with any project approach, there are challenges that come out of using it. In this lecture, we explore some of those challenges so we can understand why not all companies have switched over to using Agile.
Terms: Agile, agile mindset
This lecture helps us transition from talking about Agile in general to talking about various project frameworks that have Agile at their center.
Terms: Agile, scrum, kanban, scrumban
Scrum Methodology: Overview, Values, and Roles
Scrum is the most popular Agile framework, so that is where we will start. In this lecture, you will learn about Scrum's terminology, ceremonies, and artifacts.
Terms: Scrum, product backlog, sprint backlog, sprint planning, retrospective, sprint review, daily standup, sprint, cross-functional, self-organizing, inspection, adaption, transparency
Scrum is built around five core values. In this lecture, we will explore and explain those values and why they are important.
Terms: Scrum values, openness, focus, courage, commitment, respect
The Sprint is at the heart of the Scrum framework, so it is important you have a clear understanding of what it is and how it is utilized.
Terms: Scrum, product backlog, sprint backlog, sprint planning, retrospective, sprint review, daily standup, sprint
Within Scrum, there are three main prescribed roles - Scrum Master, Product Owner, Development team. In this lecture, we explore these roles and discuss their core responsibilities.
Terms: Product owner, scrum master, development team, user story, product increment
In this lecture, we further explore the responsibilities of a Scrum Master, and Vivek discusses his recent experience in the Scrum Master role.
Terms: Scrum master, sprint, daily standup, sprint review, sprint retrospective
The role of the Product Owner is very important to explore and understand the vision of the business and then deliver that vision to the strategists (the Development Team) who can make it come to reality.
Terms: Product owner, user story, MVP, scrum master
The Development Team is a cluster of all of the other folks on the project team besides the Scrum Master and Product Owner. This includes Business Analysts, Quality Analysts, Developers, Architects, etc.
Terms: Development team, business analyst, developer, product owner
Scrum Methodology: Scrum Ceremonies and Events
The Daily Standup comprises of three key questions that are asked to each member of the Development Team. Come learn about the questions that are asked and why they are so important to be discussed on a daily basis.
Terms: Daily standup, scrum master
In this lecture, we explore the Scrum ceremony of Sprint Planning. Here is where we plan for our upcoming Sprint and commit to the work units (usually user stories) that can be completed within the set time-box.
Terms: Sprint, sprint planning, product owner
The Sprint Review is used to discuss the work items that were both completed and those that weren't completed. This allows the team to demo what they were able to get completed and gain valuable feedback from the key stakeholders and Product Owner.
Terms: Sprint review, product owner, scrum master, product backlog, product increment
In this lecture, we will explore the Sprint Retrospective. This is where the team gets together and discusses things that went well in that Sprint and things that didn't go so well. This allows the team to learn from those activities and improve their processes and procedures as they move into future Sprints.
Terms: Sprint retrospective, sprint
Backlog Grooming (aka Backlog Refinement) is where the team ensures the user stories in the Product Backlog are accurate and contain enough details for them to be worked. When they find high-priority stories that don't have enough details, the team works to get those details identified and added to the story.
Terms: Backlog grooming, backlog refinement, sprint, sprint backlog, product backlog
All of these ceremonies are great, but sometimes they can be confusing until they are put into context. In this lecture, we walk through some examples of what your calendar could look like if your project had a one-week Sprint versus the two-week variety.
Terms: Sprint, sprint planning, daily standup, backlog refinement, backlog grooming, sprint review, sprint retrospective, user story
Scrum Methodology: Scrum Terms and Artifacts
This lecture kicks off our section on Scrum Terms and Artifacts and where better to start, User Stories. Come explore what User Stories are and why they are used.
Terms: user story, product increment
One important aspect to gain more details about the User Story is Acceptance Criteria. In this lecture, we will explore what Acceptance Criteria are and how they can be used to bring additional value to your requirements.
Terms: acceptance criteria, user story
Great User Stories follow the INVEST principle. In this lecture, we will break down the acronym INVEST and teach you what it is important.
Terms: INVEST, user story
Attached to this lecture is a downloadable resource to give you some examples of how User Stories and their Acceptance Criteria could appear in projects.
Terms: user story, acceptance criteria, wireframe
The Product Backlog and the Sprint Backlog are two key artifacts within Agile Scrum. In this lecture, we explain how they are used to help understand the work yet to be done, as well as the stories that are committed to within this iteration.
Terms: product backlog, sprint backlog, sprint planning, priority, sprint
Projects are multiplayer games, so it is important to have an agreement on rules, expectations, and procedures that govern the team. And those are handled by Working Agreements, which we will discuss within this lecture.
Terms: working agreement
In this lecture, you will learn about how the Definition of Ready (DoR) helps the team to understand when a User Story contains enough details to be worked.
Terms: Definition of ready, working agreement, user story
The Definition of Done (DoD) is an agreement that ensures the team has a clear understanding of when a User Story can be considered done or complete. In this lecture, we explore the document and understand what having a common understanding of done is so important.
Terms: Definition of Done, user story, acceptance criteria
In this lecture, Vivek and Jeremy sit down and discuss the Definition of Ready and the Definition of Done to help bring some context to the artifacts.
Terms: definition of ready, definition of done
In this lecture, you'll learn about how Product Increments are used in Agile Scrum to help deliver value after each iteration.
Terms: Product increment, Scrum, Waterfall
Estimating in Agile
In this lecture, we explain the concept of estimating and how teams come up with their estimates.
Terms: agile, estimate
Now that you understand what estimating is, let's compare the difference between estimating in a Traditional project versus those done in Agile.
Terms: agile, estimate, agile, waterfall
This lecture explores why estimating is important, regardless of the project approach that you are using.
Terms: agile, estimate
While there are quite a few different estimation techniques that can be used within projects, we explore three of the most popular. (part 1 of 2)
Terms: estimate, BUS, t-shirt sizes
While there are quite a few different estimation techniques that can be used within projects, we explore three of the most popular. (part 2 of 2)
Terms: estimate, fibonacci
Other Agile Roles
Even though Agile only really recognizes three main roles, there are other roles that are equally as important to understand. In this lecture, we will explore those roles at a high level and then dig further into them throughout the remainder of the section.
Terms: Product owner, development team, scrum master, project sponsor, SME, technology leaders, business leaders, business users
The Project Sponsor is the person who has approved the project and is often putting forth the funding/budget to be used to pay for it. In this lecture, we dig more into the Project Sponsor role.
Terms: Project sponsor, sprint review
Business Leaders also play an important role in every Agile project. In this lecture, we will dig into how they provide value and how value is provided back to them.
Terms: Business leaders, sprint review
While the Technology Leaders aren't often engaged directly in projects, they are important in driving the project's success. In this lecture, we will dig more into the Technology Leaders role.
Terms: Technology leaders, sprint review, organizational standards
While effective leadership can bring significant value to projects, ineffective leadership can unravel even the most successful teams. In this lecture, we will explore some of the most common leadership detractors that often hinder and derail otherwise successful projects.
Terms: Agile mindset
Those senior users that are the go-to people when there are questions with that process or software are often called Subject Matter Experts. Come learn more about their role and how they provide value to your projects.
Terms: SME, sprint review
As most projects are created to drive value and efficiencies to the Business Users, let's dig into their project roles a bit deeper.
Terms: Business user
Often times, when organizations are trying to implement Agile, they use an Agile Coach. In this lecture, we explore the reasons how an Agile Coach can bring value to the project and the company.
Terms; Agile coach, agile values
In this lecture, we discuss how these other Agile roles can be utilized in all Agile approaches, not just those that follow Scrum.
Terms: Agile, Project Sponsor, Product Owner, Scrum
Scrum Methodology: Digging Deeper
Team Velocity is an important element in Agile projects as it gives an idea of how much work a team can complete in each iteration. In this lecture, we will explore Team Velocity in more detail.
Terms: Team velocity, story point, product backlog, sprint backlog, sprint, estimate, Fibonacci, scrum
Burndown charts visually show work being completed in comparison to work that still needs to be done. By creating this visual diagram, you can more easily see how the team's work is trending and if they are on target with goals that may have been set for an expected number of sprints or an MVP launch.
Terms: Burndown chart, sprint, scrum, estimate, story point
A Burn Up chart is similar to a burndown chart, but instead of counting down to the end of the project, it counts up to complete the number of story points. This allows it to better show the amount of work added or removed from the full project. In this lecture, we will further explain the Burn Up chart and show you a real-world example comparison to the Burndown chart.
Terms: burn up chart, burndown chart, sprint, user story, estimate, story point
While our examples in the Burndown and Burn Up charts are being shown with the Fibonacci estimations, this lecture will help explain how they can also be used if you are using a different estimation technique.
Terms: Fibonacci, burndown charts, burn up charts, story point, user story
Now that you understand what the burndown and burn up charts are and how they are used, it is time to understand who usually creates them.
Terms: Scrum master, burndown charts, burn up charts, user story
In this lecture, we will review the Scrum Terms Worksheet you completed in the previous lecture.
