An expert guide to aligning, collaborating, and communicating development for new products


Adopting agile is a continuous process, especially since frameworks, best practices, and team dynamics are constantly shifting. As the lifecycle of software development continues to evolve, we've got you covered. Stay in-the-know on the ever-evolving agile mindset with these deep-dive articles on agile concepts and methodologies. 

Agile concepts and methodologies

Agile methodologies are only as good as your ability to implement them across your software team and organization. These blueprints provide step-by-step instruction for key software development processes so you know what you need, who to involve, and how to apply agile frameworks from start to finish. 

Step-by-step instructions to apply agile practices across your team and processes

How-to blueprints for adopting Agile

This software development hub is designed to be a single point of reference and eduction for software development teams and leaders. It will give you a deep understanding of agile methodologies and detailed instruction on how to apply agile frameworks to your software development processes.


Ready to get started? We've got you. ClickUp Templates take the busy work out of setting up agile frameworks for your software development processes. Get started in just one click, and let the native flexibility of ClickUp help you meet the needs of your unique teams across product, engineering and design.

Quick-start solutions using preconfigured ClickUp tools

Templates for your agile workspace

The software development hub 

Section 1

ClickUp's [Product Requirements Doc Template](https://clickup.com/templates/product-requirements-doc-kkmvq-6021108) is preconfigured to ALIGN your product, design, and engineering teams, facilitate long-term collaboration, and communicate priorities to those getting the work done.

Section 2 

If you have a product roadmap, link to it from your PRD for a bird’s-eye-view of the product and a deeper dive into intersecting timelines. Get started with ClickUp's [Product Roadmap Template](https://clickup.com/resources/software-teams/template-guide-the-product-roadmap).

Section 3

What's the difference between PRD and MRD? An MRD (Marketing Requirements Document) typically comes before the PRD and describes the business case and market demand for a new or upgraded product or feature. This document is for marketing and leadership, where the PRD is also for the product teams themselves. 

Dig Deeper

Section 4 product-requirements-doc

Product requirements documents

How to develop an effective product roadmap–with templates!


Section 2

A product backlog is a list of all deliverables not yet completed. A product roadmap should be a much more strategic document, including priorities, steps, and the why behind what you are building.

Definition

If the idea of maintaining multiple roadmaps has you sweating, never fear. ClickUp lets you create additional custom roadmaps and views with a single click—no double-entry headaches.

Section 5

Section 6

In ClickUp, you can use [ClickUp Docs](https://clickup.com/features/docs) to create a strategy document and collaborate with your team and/or stakeholders in real-time, cutting down on the back-and-forth feedback cycles that often come with [strategic planning](https://clickup.com/blog/strategic-planning-templates/).

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Section 10

Section 11

Section 13

Section 14

Section 15

Section 16

Section 17 develop-product-roadmap

Product roadmapping

Your ultimate guide to defining, managing and running scrum meetings 


What Are Scrum Meetings?

Scrum is an agile project management framework that’s all about clear goals, collaboration, accountability, and delivering incremental value. It breaks big, complex projects down into more manageable pieces and creates the flexibility teams need to pivot when things change mid-project. The term comes to us from Rugby scrummages: plays where the team huddles close, heads down, to get the ball.

Who should attend scrum meetings?

The 5 Scrum Meetings You Need to Know About

Don't skip the retrospective!
Research shows that [team performance rises by a whopping 20%](https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/the-impact-of-agile-quantified) when effective retrospectives enter the picture.

Stats

The Benefits of Scrum Meetings

[In a 2021 ClickUp study](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-new-abnormal-nearly-half-of-american-employees-feel-burnt-out-after-a-year-working-during-a-pandemic-301248568.html), research showed nearly half of U.S. employees (45%) would take a 10% salary decrease for a simpler work life. Additionally, 52% said they've felt disconnected from co-workers and their organization in the last year. 

How to Run an Effective Scrum Meeting

What if there's more than one priority-one? 

We get it. In complex organizations, there are a lot of items fighting for that top priority spot. But the truth is…if you want productive teams, you simply can’t give them unordered priority lists and expect everything to get done. 

It’s up to project managers and leadership to come together and order your priorities before they go to your teams.

Give teams choices, but not too many

Getting Started With Scrum Meetings

Wait, what's the sunk cost fallacy?

The sunk cost fallacy tells us that humans are more likely to make bad choices once they’ve already “sunk costs” into those choices. It is why people stay in relationships that no longer serve them (“but I’ve already put two years into this!”) or keep pouring money into projects that have clearly gone off the rails (“but we already spent $100k on this feature!”). It can also keep you using unhelpful tools because you “already spent the money.”

Experts say when making decisions, ignore sunk costs and focus on the costs moving forward. Will it cost you more or less tomorrow if you ditch the old tool and choose the one that better fits your business?

DIG DEEPER

Handy Scrum Meeting Templates

scrum-meetings-header-image.png

Scrum meetings

A scrum master's guide to tracking, forecasting, and reporting on total work remaining


Introduction

What Are Agile Burndown Charts?

So how do teams measure their actual progress? 

The answer is story points—a point system assigned to each feature to represent the time and effort required to complete it. Higher numbers of story points mean more work for the team. Lower point levels will be easier (and faster) to achieve.

The Benefits of Burndown Charts

In a recent survey, customers told us that enhanced productivity is the No. 1 benefit they’ve realized after switching to ClickUp. Tools like good burndown charts (and other agile solutions) are part of the reason. Get started with a [Burndown Chart Template](https://clickup.com/templates/burndown-chart-kkmvq-6322510).

STATS

Burndown charts also keep high-level leadership teams in the loop

Burndown vs Burnup.. whats the difference

agile-burndown-charts

Agile burndown charts

Why adaptability, flexibility, and trust are key to success in the digital age


What Is Agile Mindset?

You can’t be adaptable (or flexible) without the right systems in place. If your company requires a 10-step approval process, you simply won’t be able to roll with the punches. So while the most important thing is shifting mindset across the organization, it’s also vital to audit your current practices with that mindset at the forefront.



Flexibility and Trust

How to cultivate an agile mindset

Does your organization have a culture of psychological safety, where employees take risks, innovate, and are honest without fear of consequences? If the answer is no, your agile journey is at risk–according to [Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2022/02/agile-doesnt-work-without-psychological-safety).


RISK

Update processes

agile-mindset

The agile mindset

A new approach to agile software development 


Section A (up to ClickUp Doc image)

Section B (up to Burndown Chart Image)

Section C (through to end of article)

modern-agile

Modern Agile

What is it, and why it's important for software development


DesignOps-article body content

DesignOps can be best understood by looking at it from two different angles: inward and outward.

**Inward:** Evaluates the tools, systems, and practices of a design team to optimize and operationalize every step of the design process. This helps teams scale without sacrificing product quality or user experience. 

**Outward:** Integrates design strategy into business strategy so that product development and user experiences drive, and even influence, business goals. 


design-ops

Intro to DesignOps

How to assess the impact of technical debt on your product development


markdown fallback

The term “technical debt” originated with Ward Cunningham, one of the initial authors of the Agile Manifesto. He saw the need for a way to explain the refactoring that was necessary when teams prioritized speed over perfection.

article-technical-debt 2 types of technical debt

While everything falls under the categories of intentional or unintentional, many teams further categorize their debt into 13 categories based on the type of deficiencies that need addressing: architecture, build, code, defect, design, documentation, infrastructure, people, process, requirement, service, test automation, and test debt.

Tip 

Article-tech-debt tech ever a good thing

Just because we believe technical debt can be useful doesn’t mean there aren’t downsides. The main issue is technical debt tax. Think of it as the interest payment on your debt. The time your tech teams spend putting out little fires because the code wasn’t perfect when it went live. Just like with regular financial debt, the longer it goes unpaid, the more interest you rack up. This is why experts strongly suggest having the plan to pay off all technical debts within 90 days of incurring them.

Article-tech-debt tech debt quadrant

Paying down or staying out of technical debt is all about visibility, which is where ClickUp comes in. In fact, 84% of customers surveyed said their visibility improved with our tools. Whether you’re in software development or not, getting technical debt under control is beneficial to your entire organization.

Article-tech-debt backlog

technical-debt

Managing technical debt

A beginners guide to agile methodologies (+4 popular ones to consider)


introduction-to-agile

Agile methodologies

- Scrum Master (usually a lead engineer)
- Scrum Product Manager/Product Owner
- Scrum Team (engineering squad)

hero card sprint planning 1

Who you need

*   [A good sprint-planning tool](https://clickup.com/features/sprints)



hero card sprint planning 2

What you need

*   15 minutes prep
*   1 hour meeting for each week of the sprint 
*   15 – 30 minutes post-meeting documentation



hero card sprint planning 3

How long it takes

How to run sprint planning meetings that don’t suck


For a deeper dive into why sprint planning matters and what best practices to live by, check out our [ultimate guide to sprint planning](https://clickup.com/resources/software-teams/sprint-planning-guide-for-agile-project-managers).

Section 2 - Refine

Remember that [scrum](https://clickup.com/blog/agile-scrum/) is all about clear goals, collaboration, accountability, and delivering incremental value. How you run your meetings should reflect these foundational values. 

Section 3: Running Sprint

Check out our [free sprint planning template](https://clickup.com/templates/agile-sprints-events-kkmvq-1396988), where you can document not only the sprint goal but everything else from your planning meeting.

Section 4 - velocity

This isn’t the time to shoot for the moon. Make sure when you plan a sprint you aren’t overloading your teams, ignoring key dependencies, or assuming a higher velocity than you’ve ever reached before. It’s great to set stretch goals high. But ultimately there should be a realistic, reachable goal that you use for planning purposes.


Risk

Section 5 - Risk and dependencies

An added benefit of good sprint planning scrum meetings? Bringing the team together! 52% of employees say they [felt disconnected from their teams](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-new-abnormal-nearly-half-of-american-employees-feel-burnt-out-after-a-year-working-during-a-pandemic-301248568.html) at some point in the past year, so this regular connection can add real value to team solidarity.

Section 6 - after meeting

sprint-planning-blueprint

Sprint planning meetings

*   The team(s) involved in the sprint, project, or milestone



The team(s) involved in the sprint, project, or milestone

*   A physical or digital [whiteboard](https://clickup.com/features/whiteboards) or other visual organization tool



Physical or virtual whiteboard

*   15 minutes **prep**

*   30 – 60 minute **meeting**

*   15 minutes **post-meeting** **documentation**



desc

A blueprint for getting team buy-in when defining roles and responsibilities for your next project


If there are responsibilities you know exist and have no idea who they belong to, put them in the unassigned column.

If you’re struggling to identify responsibilities, these questions might help: What hasn’t gotten done on past projects? What would improve future projects? What tasks are still on the to-do list from your last project? What tasks are on each person’s daily to-do list? What tasks are in people’s job descriptions? 



Have each individual

In method #1, to make it clear where one person’s perceptions diverge from the team's, you can choose to color code your sticky notes, giving each person a different color or style so that it’s easy to differentiate visually when reviewing.


Come to an agreement

To get clarity on who is completing a task, who is approving it, and who else is involved, now’s a good time to consult your RACI chart. 

Prioritize responsibilities

While identifying responsibilities is vital, make sure not to over-plan. Research says that teams thrive when given objectives and outcomes to work toward, and left to forge the path to those goals themselves. 

Post-meeting

roles-responsibilities-blueprint

Defining roles & responsibilities

A physical or virtual board

*   15 minutes to prep

*   30 minutes to an hour for the meeting

*   30 minutes post-meeting to document and share findings



description

Your blueprint for running an effective retrospective


Psst…in ClickUp, use notes to jot down thoughts during the meeting. Notes can easily become tasks added to a sprint improvement or similar board.


retrospective-blueprint

Running a retrospective

*   Decision-makers
*   The teams doing the work                                                                                                               



Who You Need Description

*   A physical or digital [whiteboard ](https://clickup.com/features/whiteboards)or other visual organization tool



What You Need Description

- Up to 1 hour of prep
- 1 hour for the meeting
- 1.5 hours post-meeting async review and priority finalization

How Long It Takes Description

A blueprint for organizing and leading a prioritization workshop with key stakeholders


Section 1.A: Make Your List

Share the whiteboard ahead of time with the list of priority items. Tell attendees to add emojis or draw indicators (e.g. stars, dots, checkmarks…etc) near the items they feel are most important. Limit to a number of 2-3 so you can stay laser focused on priorities.

Section 1.B: Choose Method

image2.png

Section 2.A-C: Running the Workshop

Don’t forget to leave space for innovation. Can any of the tasks on your priority list be combined? Made more efficient? Are there things on your priority list that shouldn’t be there? Even if leadership has honed down the task list or the team has tried to cull priorities ahead of time, this is a great time to bring up any new ideas or opportunities for further efficiency. 

It also helps to look for patterns. If you notice that you have five items on your list connected to settings, that might be indicative that you need a larger initiative rather than a few one-off tasks.


Section 2.D: Discuss

Understanding where these priorities fall in your matrix means less stress when backlog requests or other software team time-sucks force you to deprioritize some of what’s on your list. Which activities can be quickly deprioritized? The matrix has the answers.

Section 2.E: Make List

Section 3: After Workshop

Section 4: Prioritization in ClickUp

prioritization-blueprint

Running a prioritization workshop

- Product team
- UX/design
- Development team
- Q&A 
- Sales (optional)
- Marketing (optional)
- Customer support (optional)

user-story-blueprint who you need

- Visual tool for mapping
- [Start with ClickUp Whiteboards](https://clickup.com/templates/user-story-mapping-kkmvq-6290627 "Start with ClickUp Whiteboards")

user-story-blueprint what you need

- 1 hour for the __meeting__
- 1 hour __post-meeting__ for user feedback and documentation

user-story-blueprint how long

A blueprint for how to run a user story mapping session 


Be clear about the scope of your meeting up front and keep that scope reasonable. Are you mapping the product as it is today in order to understand issues and gaps? Are you mapping a future iteration of a product or feature? Make sure the answers are clearly outlined and that you haven’t bitten off more than you can chew. Large-scale mapping is often better done in bite-sized chunks.

User-story-blueprint during the meeting

If your UX team has identified top tasks, this is the time to pull those into this conversation. They will often overlap, if not exactly match up with the activities you want to discuss.

user-story-blueprint map steps and details

user-story-blueprint

User story mapping

*   Designed specifically for Product Managers



Who description

Who is involved?

*   A step-by-step guide for prioritizing in ClickUp



What description

What is this?

*   2 mins to apply template

*   10 mins to review



How long description

How long will it take?

A guide for how to use ClickUp's Impact Effort Matrix


image1.png

Create [Custom Fields](https://help.clickup.com/hc/en-us/articles/6303536766231-Custom-Fields-overview) in ClickUp to add your defined criteria to each task. 

Search your Backlog list and add tasks from there! 

Request a ClickUp demo.