Managing Agile Projects Using VSTS Training in Norfolk

Enroll in or hire us to teach our Managing Agile Projects Using VSTS class in Norfolk, Virginia by calling us @303.377.6176. Like all HSG classes, Managing Agile Projects Using VSTS may be offered either onsite or via instructor led virtual training. Consider looking at our public training schedule to see if it is scheduled: Public Training Classes
Provided there are enough attendees, Managing Agile Projects Using VSTS may be taught at one of our local training facilities.
We offer private customized training for groups of 3 or more attendees.

Course Description

 
This 3-day course provides project managers, scrum masters, and team leads with the essential skills required to effectively manage a software development project using Microsoft Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS). The course focuses on Agile methodologies, and includes discussions and content focused on both Scrum and Kanban practices. We look at how VSTS supports the team during the sprint planning and daily Scrum events, as well as how to create and manage the product backlog and sprint backlog artifacts. Attendees will plan a new software development project and go through the steps to initiate the project using VSTS. This includes recording requirements, creating a product backlog, and estimating effort for backlog items. We will cover planning and running a sprint as well as using the task board and burn-down chart to track progress. The class also covers using storyboards to prototype experiences, requesting stakeholder feedback, team collaboration, and reporting.
Course Length: 3 Days
Course Tuition: $2060 (US)

Prerequisites

Attendees should have some familiarity with leading a software development team.

Course Outline

 
Module 1: Introducing the Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Family
 
What’s new in Visual Studio 2017
Overview of the Visual Studio 2017 family
Overview of product features
Project workflow across the Visual Studio 2017 suite of products
 
 
Module 2: Initiating a New Project
 
Organizing projects in VSTS
Understanding process templates
Creating a new team project
Setting team project properties
 
 
Module 3: Getting Our Team Started
 
Configuring teams in our team project
Setting team properties
Configuring iterations for VSTS teams
 
 
Module 4: Creating our Product Backlog
 
Understanding requirement types
A review of user stories
Creating backlog items in TFS
Traceability between work items
Creating requirement hierarchies using features
The importance of acceptance criteria
 
 
Module 5: Enhancing Requirements
 
Creating and recording personas
Overview of storyboarding capabilities
Creating a storyboard to illustrate a requirement
Linking a storyboard to a work item
Module 6: Agile Estimation
Introduction to Agile estimation
Using story points
Planning Poker and other popular estimation techniques
Adding your estimates to VSTS work items
 
 
Module 7: Working in Sprints (Planning)
 
Our Sprint planning meeting
Specifying your sprint schedule and your team capacity
Selecting items for the sprint backlog using forecasting
Decomposing requirements into tasks
Using burndown charts to track progress
Monitoring work using the task board
Working with unparented work items
 
 
Module 8: Working in Sprints (Execution)
 
Overview of Agile testing
A lap around web-based test management
Creating a test plan
Creating manual test cases from requirements
Overview of Agile development
Using My Work to select tasks from the sprint backlog
Understanding the value of linking changesets to work items
 
 
Module 9: Working in Sprints (Delivery)
 
Understanding potentially shippable increments
Ensuring you’re ready for the review meeting
Continuous integration
Release Management
 
 
Module 10: Retrospectives
 
The importance of retrospectives
Conducting an efficient sprint retrospective
What you should avoid in your retrospective
 
 
Module 11: Working from the Product Backlog
 
Introducing the Kanban board
Entering and editing details on the Kanban board
Customizing columns, including using split columns and limiting WIP
Recording our Definition of Done (DoD)
Understanding the Cumulative Flow Diagram
 
 
Module 12: A Closer Look at Work Items
 
Overview of work items
Searching and creating custom queries
Work item tagging
Configuring project notifications
 
 
Module 13: Tracking Progress with Dashboards and Reports
 
Searching and creating custom queries
Work item charting and pinning charts
Creating dashboards
Introduction to PowerBI
Using the PowerBI content pack
 
 
Module 14: Getting Stakeholder Feedback
 
Introducing the Microsoft Feedback Client
Using the Microsoft Feedback Client to provide rich feedback to the team
Adding continuous feedback into your workflow

Course Directory [training on all levels]

Upcoming Classes
Gain insight and ideas from students with different perspectives and experiences.

Scrum Uses & Stats

Scrum is Used For:
Project Management Processes Maintenance Iteration
Difficulty
Popularity
Year Created
2001
Pros

Faster Deployment of Solutions
Because there is a continuous collaboration between stakeholders and teams, the focus on the essentials speed up the delivery process.

Gives Every Team Member a Purpose
People own and are expected to deliver on their responsibilities.

Keeps the End Goal in Mind at Every Level
With the end-goal in mind, teams stay focused and unite in their efforts

Promotes Flexibility in Order to Adapt
Close team and customer contact prompts acceptance of change, and frequent deliverables.

Faster Detection of Issues and Defects
Scrum methodology incorporates daily meetings, which helps to identify problems and resolving them in time.
 

Cons

Can Act As a Band-Aid to Bigger Problems
Agile has been the go to cure-method for larger issues that most of the time organizations are not able to deal with because they don’t have a neutral party to facilitate their corporate patterns, practices, policies and culture.

Can Create a Micro-Managed Environment
Practiced incorrectly, a project manager may not want to give up control and neutralize any real decision making from the team.

Not Everyone Is On Board
Although project teams may be ready for agile development, the rest of the company may not always be easily absorbed within larger more traditional organizations where there are significant amounts of rigidity or flexibility within processes, policies, or teams.

Push for Higher Performance
The push for a higher performance is even more relentless than in traditional, procedural organizations that have rigid processes or operating methods.

Not Well-Suited for Every Project
Agile may not work as intended if a customer is not clear on goals, the project manager or team is inexperienced, or if they do not function well under significant pressure.

Scrum Job Market
Average Salary
$89,553
Job Count
n/a
Top Job Locations

Agile and SCRUM methodologies are practiced mostly in larger organizations that have cross-platform teams that need to be on the same page. Adoption rates vary in different industries. 

 

Industry                       Agile Adoption Rate

Software (ISV)               23 percent

Financial services          14 percent

Professional services     12 percent

Insurance                        6 percent

Healthcare                      6 percent

Government                    5 percent

Telecoms                         4 percent

Transportation                 4 percent

Manufacturing                 4 percent

Complimentary Skills to have along with Scrum

Agile Methodologies and Frameworks include:

ASD - DevOps - DAD - DSDM - FDD - IID - Kanban - Lean - SD - LeSS - MDD - MSF - PSP - RAD - RUP - SAFe - Scrum SEMAT TSP UP XP

The Standards and Bodies of Knowledge Include:

BABOK - CMMI - IEEE standards - ISO 9001 - ISO/IEC standards - PMBOK - SWEBOK - ITIL

Interesting Reads Take a class with us and receive a book of your choosing for 50% off MSRP.