Workshop On Assessing Agility

Assessing Agility : Call for workshop participation at XP2004 Tuesday June 8, 2004, 14:00-17:30

If we agree that being 'Agile' is good then being more agile must be better. So how do we know whether some action we have taken has increased our agility? It would seem that some 'measure' of agility would be required. So how do we measure agility? This is the question that we will be discussing in the 'Assessing Agility Workshop at XP2004'.

First, we will discuss a technique to define and assess agility in terms of net added value, that is, expected benefit minus the cost http://www.xp2004.de/xp2004/workshops/w06.pdf. Then we will attempt to define a set of agility tests for an agile software development team. The agility tests should be external rather than internal metrics like code complexity and they should be related to the business value they provide. We will aim to conclude the afternoon with a working set we can take away and apply in practice.

The agility tests can be based on the Agile Alliance Values and Principles http://www.agilemanifesto.org/, or there may be other directions to approach the problem such as our definition of agility - to move from one position to another with speed, accuracy and stability, or perhaps from an evolutionary development direction where requirements are uncertain. You will of course have a different ideas.

Participants are invited to sign up below and are requested to prepare a short 10 minute presentation on what they consider to be suitable agility tests worthy of measurement.

We are expecting a lot of lively debate and a satisfying afternoon's work.

PeterLappo and HenryAndrew

Please add your name here if you intend to participate or if you have any questions.