Insights

Scrum is a framework for managing and completing complex projects. It is based on the Agile methodology and emphasizes collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement. In Scrum, a project is broken down into small, manageable pieces called sprints, each of which is typically one to four weeks long. The team works together to complete the sprint, delivering a potentially shippable product increment at the end of each iteration.

Estimation is used in product delivery to help understand when a work item, project or feature will be ready to use. It’s all about creating a shared understanding of the requirements and solution.

Strategy is simply the interplay between decision making and timing. A data strategy limits the scope to just decisions regarding value-creation from data.

Epics are a way of organising large items of work and are applicable to all industries, sectors and agile teams. This materialises as an item or tool in an organisation’s hierarchy structure for visualising and delivering upon its goals.

Developing deep knowledge in a utilisable field is one of the most practical hedges against uncertainty. We live in the information age, where the only constant is change.

A user story is a simple description used to understand a feature to be made, typically used in Agile work environments; the story of a user. They are meant to be told from the end user's perspective to contrive the most business value.

“Discovery” is a term used to describe an introductory phase of a project focused on aligning expectations, exploring assumptions and agreeing on goals and scope. Those in the know often shorten this term to “Disco”, but rest assured they're not dancing to multicoloured swirling lights - rather, they are collaboratively agreeing on the desired outcomes of the project and then defining the work and delivery plan to achieve those outcomes. Harnessing the power of an Agile approach, discovery is a fundamental element of any project that, crucially, takes everyone’s assumptions, which are often quite different, and aligns them to a shared vision and understanding. 

Big data refers to large, complex data sets often contrived from multiple and new sources. The reason that “big data” has received its own term (after all, it really just means larger datasets) is due to the added complexity that comes with simply adding more data, particularly from multiple sources. 

If you’re familiar with maturity assessments, you may have heard a few criticisms about their value and effectiveness. In Felix Kiefer's experience, what has been evident is that assessments that are owned by the team produce more value.

Aginic worked with Monde Nissin Australia in partnership with Microsoft to develop an automated analytics and reporting solution that enables Monde Nissin to manage its operations with greater insight, efficiency and precision. 

Late last year, the Aginic Team shared tips, tricks, articles and other content we discovered during 2021. So, in case you missed it, here’s a roundup of all that #DecemberGoodness! Enjoy!

Kanban is an Agile framework that focuses on flow and eliminating waste. It relies on complete transparency, not only in terms of communication, but work as well. Kanban is probably the biggest reason Post-it Notes are so tightly associated with Agile approaches. This is because at the core of the framework is the Kanban Board, a highly visible and accurate representation of work items and their current state. In the early days, these boards were created using sticky notes and markers, however, these days there are a significant number of digital tools to choose from.

Agile can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It's an overarching set of values that guides certain practices. In short, Agile should be considered as a set of guiding principles and values and not a framework, it does not provide a series of steps to follow.