This PRINCE2 Agile glossary forms a comprehensive set of definitions for PRINCE2 Agile.
A B C D E F G I K L M P R S T V W
- agile behaviours
- The core attributes characteristic of the agile methodology, including cooperation, autonomous working practices, focusing on customer needs, enabling team members, and cultivating an atmosphere where trust is favoured over assigning blame. Read more: PRINCE2 Agile behaviours.
- agile plans
- Plans in an agile context, which display a prioritised list of features or groupings of features along with their interdependencies, are often devised collectively by the development team, and may exist in a more informal format such as to-do lists or product backlogs, yet serve as effective tools for guiding product delivery.
- Agilometer
- The Agilometer is a tool designed to measure the potential risks involved when integrating Agile techniques with PRINCE2 projects, providing insights on how to tailor PRINCE2 to address these risks effectively.
- backlog
- An inventory of future enhancements to a product, typically composed of user stories that elaborate on the necessity and rationale for each feature. The term ‘backlog’ can also refer more broadly to a list of items for upcoming releases, sprints, or products.
- backlog item
- An individual component of a backlog, which could manifest in various forms such as a user story or a task and may be documented in multiple formats like spreadsheets or physically on a whiteboard.
- baseline
- A set of reference points used for the purpose of monitoring and managing various entities.
- brainstorming
- A creative method facilitating the generation of ideas within a team, where suggestions are not immediately evaluated but are instead reviewed subsequently, commonly used in problem management to highlight potential causes.
- burn chart
- A graphical representation of progress within a specific period, typically a timebox, where completed and remaining work are depicted through one or more lines that are regularly updated, potentially on a daily basis.
- burn-down chart
- A graph that illustrates the remaining work yet to be completed.
- burn-up chart
- A graph portraying the cumulative work completed over time.
- business ambassador
- A role from the DSDM framework, this individual provides the principal business perspective for a project, alternatively known as a requirements engineer or business analyst.
- centre of excellence
- An organisational unit devoted to ensuring uniformity in methods, management of processes, knowledge sharing, assurance, and training spread across various portfolios, programmes, and projects.
- class of service
- A classification for different types of work that guides prioritisation, each class varying in risk profiles, particularly in terms of schedule risk and cost of delay. Recognised classes typically include ‘standard’, ‘fixed date’, ‘expedite’, and ‘intangible’.
- customer subject matter expert
- A role within the project delivery team that represents the customer stakeholders, assuring that the product and its components are correctly understood at a detailed level, also known as the customer SME.
- definition of ‘done’
- A set of predefined criteria that determine if a task or set of tasks has been fully completed, categorising them as ‘done’ or ‘not done’.
- definition of ‘ready’
- The established criteria that assess whether a task is suitably prepared to commence work.
- demo
- An abbreviation for ‘demonstration’, this event showcases a product or a component thereof to stakeholders in order to gather feedback and demonstrate progress, regardless of the product’s stage of completion.
- discovery (phase)
- A reference to sprint zero.
- disruptive
- This term refers to scenarios fraught with significant uncertainty, such as in product innovation, where the outcome is expected to cause substantial change to the status quo or market landscape.
- Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
- An agile project delivery framework developed by the DSDM consortium.
- early adopter
- Refers to a customer who readily embraces and starts using new products early on, often willing to pay a premium despite potential initial quality shortcomings, and is essential for garnering preliminary product feedback.
- emergent
- Describes a development process where decisions and solutions evolve organically with progress, as opposed to extensive preliminary planning and forecasting.
- empirical/empiricism
- A decision-making process that relies on observation and evidence rather than on theory or intuition.
- epic
- A high-level description of a requirement that is yet to be fully analysed or understood, which is later decomposed into smaller, more detailed user stories or requirements.
- experiment
- A structured exploration of a hypothesis through a series of specific actions aimed at verifying or falsifying the hypothesis, which may be used for idea validation or to improve aspects such as team performance.
- feature
- A term frequently used to describe an aspect of a product’s functionality or behaviour, varying widely in detail and often linked to specific requirements, user stories, or epics. Synonymous with ‘function’.
- flow-based
- An approach that avoids the segmentation of work into timeboxes and instead manages work items through a continual process, where tasks are initiated as required and proceed through various stages until finished.
- gap analysis
- A tool for comparing differing sets of data to identify discrepancies, often utilised for contrasting stated requirements against actual outcomes.
- Glad! Sad! Mad!
- A simple feedback approach used during retrospectives, where team members use sticky notes to convey their feelings about aspects of the last timebox, classified into ‘glad’, ‘sad’, or ‘mad’.
- information radiator
- A display, often located within the workspace, which presents readily accessible information about the project, typically showing tasks to be completed and tracking their progression.
KaizenThe Japanese concept of continuous improvement through incremental changes, involving all team members for the sustained betterment of a team or organisation’s operations.KanbanA strategy for improving workflow and fostering systemic enhancements through the visualisation and management of work in progress. Kanban utilises visual tools to help monitor and control workflow.Kanban boardA visual management tool used in Kanban, displaying work items within the workflow, arranged in columns (and sometimes rows) that represent various stages the work passes through from commencement to completion.Kanban methodA change management methodology pioneered by David J. Anderson, characterised by Six Core Practices and Four Foundational Principles.Kanban systemA pull-based system to manage workflow, regulated by the quantity of physical or virtual Kanban cards in circulation.KanoA model devised by Professor Noriaki Kano that assists in understanding customer satisfaction based on different facets of product or service attributes, categorised into basic, excitement, and performance factors.
- lead time/cycle time
- Terms that are often interpreted in various ways within the Kanban community but ultimately measure the time taken for a work item to traverse the system or timebox, effectively depicting the same underlying concept.
- Lean
- An approach centred on enhancing process efficiency by maximising value delivery and reducing waste, such as eliminating unnecessary time or effort.
- Lean Startup
- A strategy originally formulated for guiding startup companies, now widely adopted across all business types to expedite the delivery of products to customers in a learning-focused manner.
- level of quality
- The aggregate quality of a product as detailed by the project’s product description, encompassing the customer’s quality expectations and acceptance criteria.
- minimum viable product (MVP)
- An MVP connotes the most basic iteration of a product that facilitates maximum learning with the least amount of effort. The focus is on learning, and the MVP might take the form of a simple test or prototype, rather than being used operationally.
- MoSCoW
- A prioritisation method applied to elements such as tasks or requirements, categorising them based on their urgency relative to a deadline, with the categories being ‘Must have’, ‘Should have’, ‘Could have’, and ‘Won’t have for now’.
- Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
- A cyclical process for continuous improvement initiated by W. Edwards Deming, encapsulating the stages of planning, implementation, evaluation, and action for enhancing processes that support IT services.
- product owner
- A role charged with managing the product backlog, including ordering and prioritising backlogged items to maximise value extraction.
- product roadmap
- A strategic document or visual representation outlining the developmental trajectory of a product, generally extending over several months or years, and serving as a potential catalyst for project work.
- project kick-off
- A foundational meeting where team members coalesce for the first time to engage in vision creation, requiring substantial preparation to ensure efficient use of time, often encompassing one or more workshops.
- prototype
- An initial, functional model created to explore or validate concepts, assist in understanding user needs, and which may evolve into the final product or be discarded after its purpose is served.
- pull system
- A work management approach where tasks are initiated based on the availability of capacity, with work being ‘pulled’ from preceding stages as needed, as observed in Kanban systems.
- push system
- An operational approach that assigns work to a process or activity without due consideration for its current capacity.
- release
- A collection of products or features that are formally tested, managed, and deployed collectively as a single unit.
- requirement
- An articulation of a product’s intended functions or characteristics, also expressible in the form of a user story.
- retrospective
- A scheduled meeting aimed at critiquing and improving the work process, fostering ongoing enhancement in line with agile principles.
- SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
- An extensive framework that enables the application of agile practices on an enterprise scale.
- safe-to-fail
- An experiment structured in such a way that even if it fails, its repercussions on the wider system or project remain limited.
- Scrum
- A flexible, iterative strategy for delivering products, providing a structure to solve complex, adaptive challenges while productively generating highly valuable outcomes.
- Scrum master
- A role within the Scrum framework invested with the responsibility of ensuring that the team correctly understands and implements the principles, practices, and rules of Scrum.
- Scrumban
- An approach that integrates Kanban practices within a Scrum environment.
- spike (or spiking)
- A focused effort to gain knowledge or resolve uncertainty about a particular aspect, often technical or customer-related, to inform future work.
- sprint
- A predetermined time frame, commonly spanning two to four weeks, dedicated to the development of select features from the product backlog.
- sprint zero
- An initial developmental sprint encompassing preparatory activities such as team formation, project visioning, and architectural planning.
- stand-up meeting
- A concise meeting designed to quickly share progress updates, typically lasting no more than 15 minutes, where participants discuss completed work, forthcoming tasks, and any obstacles encountered.
- supplier subject matter expert
- An individual within the delivery team who supplies specialist technical skills for the creation and initial quality assurance of the project product, also deemed the supplier SME.
- team dynamics
- The behavioural interactions and relationships among team members, which significantly influence team performance and culture, necessitating mindful oversight as they can either accelerate progress or hinder it when unhealthy.
- test-driven
- A strategy that involves formulating tests or establishing quality criteria before developing the product or its constituent parts, as opposed to after their creation.
- timebox
- A delimited period during which specific objectives are pursued, with a focus on prioritising work accordingly. Timeboxes can vary in duration, with some being as brief as days or weeks and others encompassing several of these shorter intervals.
- trading (or swapping)
- The process of managing change by exchanging one or more existing requirements with alternative ones that are of comparable size and effort.
- transparency
- A fundamental agile principle that prioritises openness by ensuring that information, including the status of projects and progress towards goals, is as visible as possible to facilitate effective collaboration.
- validated learning
- The knowledge gained through methodical experimentation that tests whether an assumption is valid.
- value
- The advantage or benefit derived relative to the resources invested in achieving it.
- velocity
- The measure of a team’s productivity over time, gauged by the amount of work completed in a given period and useful for predicting future performance under consistent conditions.
- vision
- A depiction of an aspirational future state for a project or initiative.
- visioning
- The process or phase of establishing a project’s overarching objectives and justifications, addressing fundamental questions concerning the project’s purpose, audience, and potential outcomes.
- waterfall method
- A structured project management approach that progresses linearly and sequentially through predetermined stages, with each phase reaching completion before the next begins.
- work in progress (WIP)
- Tasks that have been initiated but are not yet completed within a system or timebox, also applicable to the status of ongoing issues.
- work-in-progress (WIP) limit
- A restriction on the quantity of concurrent tasks within a particular segment of the workflow at any given time, integral to the functioning of a pull system and typically represented numerically.
- workshop
- A collaborative session where participants converge with the objective of accomplishing a specific goal, such as generating a list of requirements or devising solutions to an issue, typically characterised by interactive and inventive engagement for efficient and precise outcomes.