Agile Glossary: Essential Terminology for Teams & Leaders

Agile Glossary

The Agile Glossary serves as a comprehensive resource for understanding the terminology that underpins agile methodologies. For teams and leaders, a shared vocabulary is crucial to ensure clarity, alignment, and effective communication throughout agile projects. This glossary covers essential terms, roles, artifacts, and practices that form the foundation of agile frameworks, including Scrum, Kanban, and SAFe.

Whether you are a team member new to agile or a leader guiding an organization’s transformation, this glossary provides precise definitions to support your journey. By mastering these terms, you can enhance collaboration, streamline processes, and achieve successful outcomes in dynamic and fast-changing environments.

Agile Terminology

1.      Acceptance Test Driven Development (ATDD)

2.      Acceptance Testing

3.      Agile

4.      Agile Iteration

5.      AntiPattern

6.      Automated Build

7.      Agile Manifesto

8.      Agile Mindset

9.      Agile Project Development

10.   Agile Software Development

11.   Agile Product Development

12.   Agile Transformation

13.   Backlog

14.   Backlog Refinement

15.   Behavior Driven Development (BDD)

16.   Burnup Chart

17.   Burndown Chart

18.   Business Agility

19.   Cadence

20.   Collective Ownership

21.   Continuous Deployment

22.   Continuous Integration

23.   CRC Cards

24.   Customer Development

25.   Daily Meeting

26.   Definition of Done

27.   Disciplined Agile Delivery

28.   Definition of Ready

29.   Epic

30.   Estimation

31.   Exploratory Testing

32.   Extreme Programming

33.   Facilitation

34.   Feature Driven Development

35.   Gantt Chart

36.   Frequent Releases

37.   Given – When – Then

38.   Heartbeat Retrospective

39.   Incremental Development

40.   Information Radiators

41.   Integration

42.   INVEST

43.   Iterative Development

44.   Kanban

45.   Kanban Board

46.   Lean

47.   Lead Time

48.   Milestone Retrospective

49.   Minimum Marketable Feature (MMF)

50.   Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

51.   Mob Programming

52.   Mad Sad Glad

53.   Mock Objects

54.   Niko-niko Calendar

55.   Open Space

56.   Pair Programming

57.   Personas

58.   Planning Poker

59.   Points (estimates in)

60.   Product Backlog

61.   Product Owner

62.   Project Chartering

63.   Quick Design Session

64.   Refactoring

65.   Release Plan

66.   Retrospective

67.   Relative Estimation

68.   Scaled Agile Framework

69.   Rules of Simplicity

70.   Scrum

71.   Scrum Master

72.   Scrum Board

73.   Scrum Meeting

74.   Scrum of Scrums

75.   Scrumban

76.   Sign Up For Tasks

77.   Sprint

78.   Simple Design

79.   Open Space

80.   Story Mapping

81.   Story Points

82.   Story Splitting

83.   Sustainable Pace

84.   Task Board

85.   TDD

86.   Team

87.   Team Room

88.   Timeboxing

89.   The Three C’s

90.   Three Amigos

91.   Three Questions

92.   Timebox

93.   Ubiquitous Language

94.   Unit Testing

95.   Usability Testing

96.   User Stories

97.   User Story Mapping

98.   User Story Template

99.   Velocity

100.  Version Control

Conclusion

Understanding agile terminology is essential for effective collaboration, clear communication, and successful implementation of agile methodologies. The terms outlined in this glossary provide a foundational framework for teams and leaders to navigate the complexities of agile practices, ensuring alignment on processes, roles, and goals. By fostering a shared vocabulary, organizations can reduce misunderstandings, enhance productivity, and achieve their desired outcomes more efficiently.

Leaders and teams must continually expand their knowledge of agile concepts as frameworks evolve and adapt to new challenges. Whether you are a seasoned agile practitioner or a beginner, a solid grasp of these terms will empower you to drive innovation, embrace flexibility, and deliver value to customers in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

By integrating this glossary into daily practices, teams can build a culture of clarity, collaboration, and continuous improvement—core tenets of agile philosophy.