Although this question doesn't come up all the time, it certainly comes up enough that sharing how our team made the decision to keep the Design team work outside our scrum team's sprint could be helpful to others. Just to give you some background, this team has been focusing on the intake of new projects, how... Continue Reading →
Agile Ceremonies
NOTE: Since this post references project workflow and you may want further clarification, check out my other post regarding project workflow here. Please take a look at the summary below which explains the type of meetings and practices throughout the lifecycle of our projects that we'll be focusing on improving and adjusting as we grow as an... Continue Reading →
Yes, We’re Agile but we still Plan, right?
Yes, of course you still need to plan - even when following some type of agile method. It still amazes me that so many organizations stop doing this. Some don't it because they believe that agile means no planning and some don't it because ... well, there are so many other reasons. Is it really... Continue Reading →
No Scrum Master? Is it still Scrum?
What happens when the team gets all the training about Scrum, begins to kickoff the process but they don't have a Scrum Master? There are arguments (some legitimate and some not) to justify why Scrum will work without a Scrum Master. First, let me say that a Scrum Master is a role not a title... Continue Reading →
Coach in Manager’s clothing…errrr what???
It is not a new question to ask who should be the Scrum Master when you're starting a new team or beginning to use Scrum in your existing team. There are so many different opinions and advice on this that when I reached out to my fellow agilists, I got a lot of different answers.... Continue Reading →
Daily meeting blues? How about shaking it up?
Whether you've just started agile with your teams or you've been doing it for a while, at some point people may question the value of the Daily Stand up, Daily Scrum or Daily meeting. People start missing the meetings, arriving late, taking calls, the meetings go over the 15 minutes or start sounding more like... Continue Reading →
Timeboxing the Sprint Review, Retro and Planning in a Single Day
Prep work for the Project Manager, Scrum Master or the like: Break the meeting scheduled in calendarto explicitly time box the Sprint close from the Retro (maybe two separate meetings in calendar) Have a set agenda posted along with detailed descriptions as noted below (Customize as you like as a team) for the Sprint Close... Continue Reading →
Fist of Five Voting for Team Consensus
Fist to Five is quality voting. It has the elements of consensus built in and can prepare groups to transition into consensus if they wish. Most people are accustomed to the simplicity of "yes" and "no" voting rather than the complex and more community-oriented consensus method of decision making. This moves a group away from... Continue Reading →
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