Basic Agile Execution Template

I propose a starting point for teams to begin their Agile journey, I believe this is a good place to start from but absolutely not a good end-goal. Teams should use this template and iterate on it until they have their own agile process that enables them to execute with peak throughput.

The primary design principle for this template is to maximize the amount of value a team can deliver during a "cycle" (e.g. a sprint), in other words, it maximizes for throughput, with the understanding that once a team starts applying it they'll find improvement opportunities for their particular domain.

The most important thing to remember while using this approach is that every decision and action that the team does should maximize throughput (amount value delivered over time).

By value I mean working software that helps stakeholders achieve a goal. If the software is not already helping the stakeholder(s) achieve their goal, then the team has NOT delivered value. The degree by which the software helps the stakeholder(s) achieve their goal(s) and how important that goal(s) determines how valuable the software is.

Next article I'll discuss a process by which a team can improve their throughput.