Remote PI Planning: Techniques that Work
Remote Program Increment (PI) planning poses unique challenges to SAFe teams accustomed to working together in person. We propose solutions to get your team prepared.
Remote Scrum: New Tools for Better Meetings
Working from home is a new reality — one that can prove challenging for Scrum teams. ScrumMasters and other facilitators need new tools to make online meetings better.
Solving the 7 Wastes of Development with Cross Functional Teams
Developing fully cross functional teams can dramatically reduce waste. In this essay we explore why cross functional teams are difficult to implement, and how to overcome common obstacles.
Adapting Scrum: Know Your Limits
Scrum leaves a lot of room for teams to experiment, but what are the core elements that should not be changed? And what are the elements that can be tailored for your team?
Agile Metrics: 4 Balanced KPIs to Measure Success
Whatever your feelings on metrics, organizations will expect them for your team. Here are my four go-to metrics for an Agile team to gauge team throughput, work quality, predictability, and health.
How to Hire a Certified Scrum Trainer
Though many aspects of the Scrum framework are uniform, Certified Scrum Training is not an "off the shelf" commodity. Trainers can vary dramatically in experience and approach, so you should think carefully about how you choose — and what you want to get out of it.
Tips for Communicating About Your Agile Transformation
“Too many coaches relegate themselves to the kid’s table and are really ineffective at making big, organizational-level changes. Agile coaches are change agents and should be sitting at the adult table”. I am paraphrasing my colleague, but this was the gist of his lament when discussing effectiveness of some Agile ...
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Types of Scrum Product Owners
There are many different types of Product Owners in the world, so let us examine the common ways I have seen Product Ownership implemented in the wild from the most powerful to the least powerful. God (or Goddess) of the Product: this is the most powerful of all the Product ...
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Agile Retrospective Framework in Five Steps
Did you know that every well-run Retrospective follows five steps? In my experience, the best Retrospectives follow this outline first created by Diana Larsen and Esther Derby in their book, Agile Retrospectives. Here is a summary of each stage. 1. Set the Stage: setting the stage helps people focus ...
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User Stories: Making the Vertical Slice
One of the challenges I continually observe Scrum teams struggle with in their Agile adoption is the concept of vertical story slicing. As described by Wikipedia a vertical slice “refers to a cross-sectional slice through the layers that form the structure of the software code base.” For example, a simple ...
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