Developer English guide
Agile Vocabulary in English: Scrum, Kanban and SAFe Terms
August 25, 2026
Learn Agile vocabulary in English: Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, retrospectives, planning and more. Bilingual guide for developers on agile teams.
Key Takeaways
- A spike is a research task with a time box. The output is knowledge, not code.
- WIP limit stops the team from starting too many things at once.
- Lead time includes waiting time. Cycle time only counts active work time.
- In SAFe, a PI is roughly 10 to 12 weeks. PI Planning aligns all teams at the start.
- 'Let's park that' means 'we'll come back to this later, not now'.
1. Scrum-specific terms
This page focuses on Scrum terms not covered in the main Scrum guide. For the core Scrum events and roles, see the Scrum vocabulary guide.
For Scrum events and roles, visit the Scrum vocabulary guide.
The sum of all completed work at the end of a sprint. It must meet the definition of done and be potentially releasable.
“The increment from this sprint includes the new dashboard and the CSV export.”
The criteria a story must meet before the team can start working on it. Similar to the definition of done, but for the start of work.
“This story doesn't meet the definition of ready. Acceptance criteria are missing.”
A time-boxed research task used when the team does not know enough to estimate or implement a story. The output is knowledge, not production code.
“Let's add a spike to evaluate the payment providers. Two days max.”
The average story points completed per sprint over recent sprints. Used to forecast how much work fits in a sprint.
“Our velocity is 38 points. Don't overcommit this sprint.”
An estimation technique where team members simultaneously reveal their estimates using cards (usually Fibonacci numbers). Differences are discussed before reaching consensus.
“Let's do planning poker on this story. It's harder to estimate than it looks.”
A relative unit for estimating complexity or effort. Teams define their own scale. The point is the comparison, not the absolute value.
“I'd say 5 story points. It's similar in complexity to the auth feature we did last sprint.”
The total available work time for the team in a sprint, accounting for holidays, meetings, and other commitments.
“Our capacity is reduced this sprint. Two people are at a conference.”
2. Kanban-specific terms
Kanban is a flow-based system focused on limiting work in progress and reducing cycle time. These are the terms you need to discuss it in English.
Work In Progress limit. The maximum number of items allowed in a column at any time. Forces the team to finish before starting something new.
“The In Progress column has a WIP limit of 3. Pull from the previous column if you can't start something new.”
A horizontal row on the Kanban board used to separate different types of work, teams, or priorities.
“Add a swimlane for hotfixes. They should be visible separately.”
The total time from when a request is created to when it is delivered. Includes waiting time.
“Our average lead time is 12 days. That's too slow for bug fixes.”
The time from when work actually starts on an item to when it is delivered. A subset of lead time.
“The cycle time is 3 days on average. Lead time is higher because of the backlog.”
The number of items completed per time period (usually per week or per sprint). A key Kanban metric.
“Our throughput dropped to 4 items per week. Let's find the bottleneck.”
A system where team members pull new work when they have capacity, rather than having work pushed to them.
“Kanban is a pull system. Don't assign items to people. Let them pull when they're ready.”
Items waiting to move to the next stage. Long queues indicate bottlenecks.
“There are 8 items queued for code review. That's our bottleneck.”
3. SAFe vocabulary
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) is used by large organizations to apply Agile at scale. If your company uses SAFe, you will encounter these terms in PI Planning and ART ceremonies.
Program Increment Planning. A two-day event where all teams in an Agile Release Train align on a shared plan for the next 8 to 12 weeks.
“PI Planning is next week. Prepare your team's objectives and risks.”
A fixed time period (usually 10 to 12 weeks) during which an Agile Release Train delivers value. Roughly equivalent to 5 sprints.
“We're in PI 4. The next PI Planning is in two weeks.”
A long-lived team of Agile teams (typically 50 to 125 people) that deliver solutions together on a common cadence.
“Our ART has 6 teams. We all sync during PI Planning.”
In SAFe, a feature is a service or capability that delivers business value. Features are larger than stories but smaller than epics.
“The payment feature is in the program backlog. It will take 3 PIs to deliver.”
Work that supports the architecture, infrastructure, or exploration needed to deliver future features. Not directly visible to the user.
“The database migration is an enabler. It unblocks three features next PI.”
The highest level in SAFe. Contains the strategic themes, epics, and value streams that guide the entire organization.
“The portfolio epic was approved. It affects all three ARTs.”
The sequence of steps an organization uses to deliver a product or service to the customer. SAFe organizes work around value streams.
“Our value stream covers everything from requirements to production deployment.”
4. Common Agile phrases used in meetings
These phrases come up in sprint planning, retrospectives, and daily standups. Knowing them helps you participate without freezing.
“Let's timebox this.”
Propose a time limit for a discussion that could go on forever. Example: 'Let's timebox this to 10 minutes and decide.'
“What's the blocker?”
Ask what is preventing progress. Usually said in a standup when something is stuck.
“This is out of scope.”
Signal that the topic does not belong in the current sprint or discussion. Firm but neutral.
“Let's park that for now.”
Defer a topic without dismissing it. Common in retrospectives and planning sessions.
“LGTM”
Looks Good To Me. Approval in code reviews and quick decisions.
“WDYT?”
What Do You Think? A fast way to ask for input or feedback.
“Let's take this offline.”
Suggest handling a topic in a separate conversation, not in the current meeting.
“We need to align on this.”
The team has different opinions and needs to reach a shared understanding before moving on.
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Written by
Roxana LafuenteLingua-e's founder
Roxana Lafuente is a software engineer with 8+ years of experience. At the beginning of her career, even though she had already passed the First Certificate in English, she still froze every time she had to speak up in the daily standup. That was a gap nobody was fixing. After 2,000+ standups, she figured out what actually builds fluency: practice that looks like your real work. She built Lingua-e so other developers wouldn't have to take the long road to feel confident working in an international development environment.