Course description

New to agile, or about to join a team that works in sprints? This course explains agile and Scrum in plain English and shows you, step by step, how to use them on real work: from writing a Product Backlog to running a retrospective people actually find useful.

It's a full course, not a few quick tips. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with a practical exercise. You follow a fictional team at a group of veterinary practices in Devon as they build an online booking service, sprint by sprint, and you see what went well and what didn't. Every section has a worksheet, reusable templates, model answers and a cheat sheet.

What you'll learn

• Why agile: what agile really means, the Agile Manifesto, and when an agile approach fits.
• Scrum foundations: the Product Owner, Scrum Master and Developers, and the Sprint and its events.
• The Product Backlog: a Product Goal, user stories, acceptance criteria, splitting and ordering.
• Estimating and planning: story points, Planning Poker, velocity and Sprint Planning.
• Running a sprint: Daily Scrums, task boards, the Definition of Done and burndown charts.
• Review and retrospective: getting real feedback and turning ideas into improvements.
• Kanban: visual boards, work-in-progress limits, lead time and cycle time.
• People and stakeholders: facilitation, remote teams, conflict and honest roadmaps.
• The wider organisation: agile outside software, useful measures, common problems and budgets.

The final project

You'll plan a real piece of your own work the agile way, with a goal, a backlog, estimates, a first sprint, a Definition of Done and a board, using a ready-made workbook. A practice scenario is included if you'd rather start with that.

Who this course is for

• People joining an agile or Scrum team for the first time.
• New Scrum Masters, Product Owners and team leaders.
• Project, operations and office staff in any kind of team who want to deliver in smaller steps.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then use the worksheet and templates on your own work. No special software is needed. This is a practical course, not an accredited certification; the last lesson explains the main certifications so you can choose one later if you want to. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever you need a reminder.

What will I learn?

• Explain what agile means, the Agile Manifesto's values and principles, and when agile fits
• Describe Scrum's accountabilities, events, artifacts and commitments as the Scrum Guide sets them out
• Write a Product Goal, user stories and clear acceptance criteria, and order a Product Backlog
• Estimate with story points and Planning Poker, and forecast honestly with velocity
• Run Sprint Planning, Daily Scrums, Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives that people value
• Use a Definition of Done, task boards and burndown charts to keep work visible
• Set up a Kanban board with work-in-progress limits and measure lead time and cycle time
• Work with stakeholders, remote teams and budgets, and avoid common agile problems

Frequently asked questions