Scrum Master: “Team, the last Sprint was a colossal failure.” So when can a Sprint be considered a failure? Let us start by defining what does failure mean in this situation? Is it about the team's velocity being low? Is it the team not completing all the Product Backlog Items they took on in Sprint Planning?…
Many teams adopt Scrum but still approach development the same old way. Build widget A in Sprint 1, build B in Sprint 2, and build C in Sprint 3, and in Sprint 4, we put A+B+C together. In Scrum, a Product Increment is whatever you previously built, plus anything new you built in this last Sprint…
Scrum Master: “Team, tomorrow's daily Scrum has been canceled as I have a doctor appointment and I can't be there to run the meeting.” A statement like this indicates a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Daily Scrum, the role of the ScrumMaster as well as the importance of sticking to a cadence. A common misconception…
Agile technical coaching is about helping teams adopt agile engineering practices that are essential to succeeding with Scrum. These practices help teams and organizations realize the benefits of Scrum, like faster time to market, faster return on investment, reduced risk, improved quality, and increased adaptiveness to be able to quickly respond to changing requirements and changing…
New to Agile and Scrum? Learn the fundamentals of Scrum covering Scrum theory values, Scrum roles, Scrum events, and Scrum artifacts by watching this 14 part video series based on the Scrum Alliance® Scrum Foundations Learning Objectives that are aligned with the Scrum Guide. Watch the video series here.
Scrum is a framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products. It all starts out with our stakeholders, customers, and users that have an idea about a product they need and want developed. They collaborate directly with Developers to turn this idea into reality. https://youtu.be/3VvSyXaH31Y Developers in Scrum are not just programmers. They are part of…
Business Analyst: "I am a BA on the Scrum team and I'm responsible for writing the user stories." This is another common statement I usually hear from business analysts. Check out the previous post on the who of product backlog refinement that clarifies the responsibility of the business analysts and the rest of the Scrum team.
Agile Engineering practices are essential for succeeding with Scrum and ensuring that teams are capable of delivering a Product Increment at the end of every Sprint. Let’s walk through an 8 step approach to guide your team to adopt these practices and make them easier to learn and apply. Some of these steps you’ll be able…
Executive: “Of course we are agile, everyone is using Jira now!” A tool does not make you, your team, or organization Agile. I see many organization invest in tooling without investing in proper training and coaching. Our first Agile value is about focusing on individual and interactions over processes and tools. So, any tool we do…
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Due to the uncertainties around COVID-19, we are temporarily pivoting to virtual classes. The classes will still be live, instructor led, learn by doing, with lots of exercises, discussions, and simulations to ensure an interactive and engaging online learning experience. This includes our foundation and advanced classes: Certified Scrum Master (CSM) Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)Certified…
Business Analyst: "I just finished refining all stories for the upcoming 8 Sprints. I marked them all as Ready." This is a common statement I usually hear from business analysts. Here we need to look at the who/when/how much of product backlog refinement. We previously discussed the who of product backlog refinement and emphasized that refinement…
Agile Engineering practices are not new. They originate from extreme programming back in the late 90s. XP specifically calls out these practices as things you should be doing. And here we are 20 years later still trying to get teams to adopt them. Why is that? We do Scrum not XP People might find these practices…
Developer: “We do a code freeze 2 days before the end of the Sprint so we can start testing.” A statement like this typically means the team is not applying agile engineering practices, the team doesn’t properly break out product backlog items into small vertical slices, and the team is working in a mini-waterfall approach with…
Let’s take a look at the top 5 Agile Engineering practices that are essential to succeeding with Scrum and overcoming the struggles team face with trying to deliver a Product Increment at the end of each and every Sprint. Test Driven Development (TDD) TDD is a development practice where we start with a very small automated…