When User Stories Get Bigger What should you do when user stories get bigger? We have all been in the situation. You discuss a user story; you have a pretty good understanding of how it needs to be implemented in the system. Then when you start to work on it, you realise more work needs […]
7 Signs you are Failing at Scrum
See below some key indicators that you are not implementing scrum at its highest efficiency. Are you failing at Scrum? 1. You Have Abandoned the Sprint Retrospective Your scrum team are no longer performing the Sprint Retrospective. This means your team are no longer focusing on continuous improvement; or have any kind of plan in […]
Why Do Agile Companies Do Better?
Preaching Agile Whenever an agile practitioner is selling reasons to adopt an agile approach; in general or one of the the specific methodologies like Scrum, Kanban or XP, they always focus on the benefits (as they should). These usually include working: at a sustainable pace collaboratively and self-organising in a culture that accepts change amongst […]
Don’t Let the Scrum Team Burn Out
Don’t Let the Scrum Team Burn Out Working in an industry that is faced paced and has a strong business push can be both exciting and stressful. This can also be a main contributor to scrum teams burning out. The ability to deliver quickly and to beat your competitors is important. Scrum teams work hard […]
When is the Best Time to Get Backlog Estimations?
When Should You Estimate the backlog items? Most scrum teams will get backlog estimations during the Sprint Refinement / Grooming meeting. This is ok, actually its a great time to do it. You have all the members of the team together in one room; and it’s a good opportunity to break down backlog stories and […]
Daily Stand Up — Managing Outsiders
Daily Stand Up Outsiders Do you often get outsiders to your daily stand up? I have worked with scrum teams where ‘outsiders’ like to attend and see whats going on. Sometimes they are just silent observers who just like to see whats going on, but do you ever get visitors who start to contribute, butt […]
Scrum Isn’t A Silver Bullet
Scrum Won’t Solve all the Problems I get a lot of emails and messages whenever I publish a post, usually they connect with someone and they ask for more information in fixing problems and implementing them in their company. When I ask for more information, I am often responded to with things around problems with […]
What do you do if your Sprint is derailing?
Did your Sprint Derail? I am sure its happened to the best of us, you spend time refactoring your backlog; prioritising it to ensure everyone is on the same page. You complete your Sprint Planning and are ready for a successful sprint. What happens if you are a few days into your sprint; all of […]
Don’t Rename the Sprint Review
Its called the Sprint Review for a Reason In my previous post about the Sprint Planning Meeting: The Sprint Review: The Product Owners Meeting I went through in depth regarding this Scrum ceremony. The important thing regarding this meeting is that it is a Sprint Review, not just a demo. I have heard many teams rename it […]
Ask Questions, Don’t Solve Problem
This article is more aimed at Scrum Masters, but I think there are key take aways that can be applied to any leadership role. Facilitator first Remember as a scrum master you are a facilitator first. You are not there to solve problems for the team. You might know all the answers, but you can’t […]
