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Lightning Talks are a series of five-minute talks giving speakers the opportunity to deliver their single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation. Watch all the Agile + DevOps East 2019 lightning keynote presentations in one place—and have some fun at the same time.

There is a lot of interest in organizations around a transformation to agility. However, the focus is usually on agile development, so it may not be clear how software testing is done in agile. If you're responsible for leading your testing teams, don't let them be left behind. Here’s how you can make testers part of the transformation, too—step by step, because this is agile, after all.

Traditional project management and agile project management are two contrasting styles that are often pitted against each other, each with unique values and downfalls. The best methodology to use for a specific project largely depends on the nature of the project and its requirements. Consequently, it’s important to understand the premise of each of these styles and the attributes that differentiate them.

DevOps does speed up your processes and make them more efficient, but companies must focus on quality as well as speed. QA should not live outside the DevOps environment; it should be a fundamental part. If your DevOps ambitions have started with only the development and operations teams, it’s not too late to loop in testing. You must integrate QA into the lifecycle in order to truly achieve DevOps benefits.

Fixed-price projects are a challenge to manage when using agile practices, as software teams need the flexibility to change what they are building based on customer need, and that often alters what can be done within a fixed budget. However, there are ways to achieve agility even within a fixed-budget constraint. Here are three ways to make a fixed-price project a win for all parties involved.

Refinement is time spent during the current sprint discussing and elaborating product backlog items so that they are ready for future sprints. Unfortunately, many teams do not unlock the full potential of refinement. Backlog items should be sliced, and a solution should be proposed, reviewed, and discussed. If your team is having trouble getting started, here are 18 questions you can use to trigger refinement discussions.