FREE AGILE AND SCRUM LEARNING PATH

WikiFree original practice workbook

The sprint atelier

CASE STATUS: fictional/synthetic teaching material. Do not present the example as real research, employment experience or measured business performance.

OUTCOME
Plan and simulate a short Scrum delivery cycle with a coherent goal, ordered backlog, Definition of Done and evidence-led review.

BEFORE YOU START
Basic project vocabulary; no Scrum role or paid software is required.

CASE
Cedar Library wants patrons to reserve a study room without phoning the desk. Simulate one Sprint with three developers and 30 available team hours. The product goal is fewer failed reservations, not more screens. All user comments below are fictional case inputs.

INPUTS
Backlog item,Estimated hours,Case value
See available slots,8,Essential to reserve
Reserve a slot,12,Completes the core journey
Cancel a reservation,6,Releases unused capacity
Choose a color theme,10,Cosmetic preference


ENTRY CHECK

Question: Is a Sprint Goal the same as a task list?

Self-check: No. It explains the valuable outcome the selected work should support.

Question: Can a partially tested item count as Done?

Self-check: Only if it satisfies the actual Definition of Done; waive no quality condition for the demonstration.

Question: Must a Scrum team use story points?

Self-check: No. The case uses hours for capacity reasoning; this is not a rule of Scrum.

STAGE 1: Choose a useful goal

Prerequisite: Basic project vocabulary; no Scrum role or paid software is required.

Instruction: A delivery cycle needs a reason beyond completing tickets. Start with a user action and an observable result. A coherent goal lets the team negotiate scope while protecting that purpose. Keep the product goal, the short-cycle goal and individual acceptance conditions distinct: they describe different levels of intent. A convincing demonstration shows a usable journey rather than a collection of unrelated interface fragments.

Practice task: Write one Sprint Goal and two observable success checks for the room-reservation journey. Explain which backlog item can be deferred without defeating that goal.

Deliverable: A goal and success-check card

Acceptance check: The goal names a user outcome and can survive removal of the color theme.

If stuck: Replace vague goals such as improve the app with a specific action the patron can complete.

Record your work, decisions and evidence:




Record your result against the acceptance check:



STAGE 2: Order and size the work

Prerequisite: Bring your previous output: A goal and success-check card

Instruction: Order work by contribution to the goal, dependency and uncertainty. Estimates support a conversation; they are not guarantees or employee performance measures. Available hours also cover integration and testing. Selecting 30 hours of feature work for 30 hours of capacity leaves no room to discover a problem. Make the trade-off visible before work starts, and preserve a smaller fallback increment.

Practice task: Order the four items, select a feasible set and reserve four hours for integration and review. Describe what you would negotiate if reservation work takes longer.

Deliverable: An ordered backlog and capacity note

Acceptance check: Selected work plus the reserve does not exceed 30 hours; a fallback still produces user value.

If stuck: If every item is essential, distinguish the minimum usable journey from later convenience.

Record your work, decisions and evidence:




Record your result against the acceptance check:



STAGE 3: Define usable completion

Prerequisite: Bring your previous output: An ordered backlog and capacity note

Instruction: An item-specific acceptance condition might say that a booked slot cannot be offered to another patron. A shared Definition of Done might require tests, readable error messages and integration with the current product. Checking one does not replace the other. Choose evidence a reviewer can inspect. A screenshot alone cannot prove that duplicate reservations are rejected.

Practice task: Write three shared Done conditions and two acceptance examples for the reservation item. Include an unsuccessful attempt, such as selecting an already booked slot.

Deliverable: A Definition of Done and acceptance examples

Acceptance check: Shared quality conditions and item-specific behavior are separate and testable.

If stuck: Turn subjective phrases such as looks finished into a demonstration, test or inspection criterion.

Record your work, decisions and evidence:




Record your result against the acceptance check:



STAGE 4: Adapt the daily plan

Prerequisite: Bring your previous output: A Definition of Done and acceptance examples

Instruction: A short daily inspection helps developers adapt their plan toward the goal. It is not a mandatory report to a manager. In this simulation, the slot feed is unavailable on day two. Identify what can still be learned using a labelled fixture, what becomes uncertain, and who can help remove the dependency. Never call a simulated integration a completed live connection.

Practice task: Record three daily updates: progress toward the goal, impediment, and next adaptation. On day two, introduce the unavailable feed and revise the plan.

Deliverable: Three short adaptation logs

Acceptance check: Each update changes or confirms a concrete next action and labels simulated evidence.

If stuck: If an update only lists activity, add its implication for the goal and the next decision.

Record your work, decisions and evidence:




Record your result against the acceptance check:



STAGE 5: Inspect and improve

Prerequisite: Bring your previous output: Three short adaptation logs

Instruction: A review examines the increment and informs what to do next. A retrospective examines how the team worked and identifies an improvement. Keep these conversations separate enough that customer feedback does not become a blame discussion. Record an observation, an interpretation and a decision independently. One fictional review is practice evidence, not proof that the product will succeed in the market.

Practice task: Run a five-minute reservation demonstration, capture two fictional stakeholder responses and reorder the next work. Choose one measurable teamwork experiment for the next cycle.

Deliverable: A review note and improvement experiment

Acceptance check: Product feedback changes the backlog; the teamwork experiment has an owner and a check date.

If stuck: If the improvement says communicate better, specify which handoff or check will change.

Record your work, decisions and evidence:




Record your result against the acceptance check:



WORKED CASE
A feasible starting selection is availability (8h), reservation (12h) and cancellation (6h), with 4h reserved: 30h total. The color theme stays outside. If a new integration risk consumes the reserve, renegotiate cancellation before weakening the Done conditions. This is one defensible forecast, not a required Scrum formula.

FINAL PROJECT
Deliver a Cedar Sprint simulation: goal, backlog, completion standard, three daily adaptations, a usable-increment demonstration plan and the next-cycle decision.

REQUIRED CRITICAL CHECK
An over-capacity plan, a fabricated live integration or unfinished work labelled Done must be corrected.

SCORING
Score each of the five stage acceptance checks from 0–16 (0 missing/incorrect; 8 partially supported; 16 complete and evidenced). Score the final integrated project from 0–20 (0 missing; 10 incomplete handover; 20 complete, reproducible and consistent with the case). Target: at least 80/100 AND the critical check must pass. A total score never overrides a failed critical check.

SCOPE LIMIT
This is a guided Scrum simulation, not certification preparation or proof of delivery experience.

SOURCES AND ACCESS
Assigned public videos can be watched free. Complete the original case in a text editor, on paper or in a spreadsheet you already have. No paid course, exam or provider certificate is included.

Free Project Management Course by Google
WikiFree: https://wikifree.com/courses/google-project-management-free-video-course/
Official source: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTZYG7bZ1u6puLWxUtqAjZkIB4dB_JFzk
Why selected: The selected Google lessons explain Scrum and practical team delivery; they do not require repeating the full project-management route.

Definition of Done in Scrum: Free Course
WikiFree: https://wikifree.com/courses/free-scrumorg-definition-of-done/
Official source: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgDaZD8y4z0BDRT0WKRbR3jl5qz3ytGzG
Why selected: Scrum.org adds focused guidance on Done and acceptance conditions at the quality decision point.

Stage 1 selected lessons:

23. What is Scrum? (25:02)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_iHptXcKQ&list=PLTZYG7bZ1u6puLWxUtqAjZkIB4dB_JFzk&index=23

Stage 2 selected lessons:

24. Agile and Scrum in the Real World (47:04)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1evfn3qTYGM&list=PLTZYG7bZ1u6puLWxUtqAjZkIB4dB_JFzk&index=24

Stage 3 selected lessons:

1. What it Means to Have a Done Increment (5:41)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUHGUqUuRcc&list=PLgDaZD8y4z0BDRT0WKRbR3jl5qz3ytGzG&index=1

3. The Difference Between Acceptance Criteria and the Definition of Done (4:20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxXL_sP-sqQ&list=PLgDaZD8y4z0BDRT0WKRbR3jl5qz3ytGzG&index=3

6. Crafting a Definition of Done (4:30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MD5onpE6jg&list=PLgDaZD8y4z0BDRT0WKRbR3jl5qz3ytGzG&index=6

Stage 4 selected lessons:

25. Scrum Master Tutorial (45:50)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYLf0z3Xhok&list=PLTZYG7bZ1u6puLWxUtqAjZkIB4dB_JFzk&index=25

Scrum Guide
https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html

REUSE
Original WikiFree teaching text and synthetic fixtures are supplied for personal learning and adaptation with attribution. Provider lessons remain on their original sites and retain their own terms. No provider certificate is included.