Scope creep is common in projects and refers to changes in requirements that diverge from the original agreed-upon work and risk derailing the schedule, delaying the delivery date, or increasing the project’s costs. In traditional project management, the scope is tightly monitored and managed to ensure minimum new changes are introduced to keep things on schedule…
A Sprint is not just about delivery. A big part of each Sprint is about discovery, learning, de-risking, validation, refinement, and prepping for future Sprints. Below are some discovery and validation techniques that help elicit user needs, validate ideas, and test out hypotheses to help ensure product/market fit. 1. Surveys Surveys provide a quick and relatively…
When brainstorming using open discussions, typically the loudest person in the room takes over and dominates the conversation. Or it might be the most experienced person or the most senior person. Newer folks, less experienced folks, quieter folks, or more introverted participants might not find the necessary space or time to gather their thoughts and share…
A good technique to give and receive feedback is to follow the guidance of Kim Scott from her book Radical Candor. Kim introduces a framework based on the level of care and the level of challenge that we exhibit when providing feedback. Radical Candor The upper right corner is the radical candor quadrant. That is where…
Design Sprints is a discovery technique created by Jake Knapp and popularized in his book Sprint - How to solve big problems and test new ideas in just 5 days, based on techniques he used helping teams while working at Google Ventures. Design sprints are not a part of Scrum and the Design Sprint concept differs…
Statement: Dev Manager “We have a lot of work for this Sprint, so we are going with a 4-week Sprint instead of a 2-week Sprint.” Anti-pattern: The Variable Sprint Duration. Problem: Variable Sprint durations disrupt the rhythm of the team. Recommendation: Determine the amount of work to take on based on the Sprint duration instead of…
On September 30, Fadi Stephan attended AgileDC in Washington DC and presented Building High Performing Teams. Below are some of the resources mentioned in the talk: Building High-Performing Team Slides High Performing Teams Canvas To learn more about how to build high-performing teams, check out the Building High Performing Teams Workshop.
Abstract: Most organizations and teams use Scrum to build better products. They understand the benefits that Scrum provides from a product development perspective in terms of faster time to market, reduced risk, increased visibility, improved adaptability, and increased customer satisfaction. Few, however, understand or know how to use Scrum to build better teams. Come to this…
On June 6-7, Fadi Stephan attended the Regional Scrum Gathering in Ghent and presented 6 Tips for Effective Product Backlog Refinement. Below are some of the resources mentioned in the talk: 6 Tips For Effective Product Backlog Refinement Slides 6 Tips For Effective Product Backlog Refinement Blog 13 Patterns For Splitting User Stories The Product Backlog…
At the 2024 Global Scrum Gathering in New Orleans, Fadi Stephan presented on integrating UX work on Scrum teams. Below is the abstract of the talk, along with the presentation slides. Abstract: Many UX designers struggle to work within a Scrum environment and see Scrum as a framework mainly for programmers. Working in time-boxed Sprints and…
Use the High Performing Team Canvas as a template to help you take your teams to higher performance levels. Goals: Establish long term goals and short term goals to ensure teams have a shared sense of purpose and are aligned towards a common objective. A high performing team works collaboratively together towards a common goal or…
Over the past 100 years, management trends have evolved as building products and managing people became more and more complex. Below is a brief history of major trends that shaped todays organizations. Scientific Management – Taylorism & Fordism – 1910s Most of today’s management practices have their roots in the early 1900s with the principles of…
Depending on the situation and the context, a Scrum Master might switch stances between teaching, mentoring, coaching, and facilitation. These are some of the stances a Scrum Master might take and below is a brief description of the difference between them: Teaching Teaching is about knowledge sharing. A Scrum Master has some knowledge to share with…
Leaders today are dealing with a VUCA world where the business climate is constantly and rapidly changing. A climate where the barrier of entry has been diminished due to advances in tech, automation, and artificial intelligence. An environment where customers find it increasingly easy to adopt new tech and new products. All this while facing increased…
A Sprint Goal should be outcome-oriented, collaborative, and singular. The whole Scrum team should create the Sprint Goal during Sprint Planning and the goal should be debatable and open to discussion until the team finalizes it by the end of Sprint Planning. Initial Sprint Goal discussions are held in the Sprint Review with the stakeholders based…