Illustrated Agile
In an earlier post I discussed collisions and conflicts which may occur within an Agile environment. A common collision on Agile teams occurs between testers and developers so let’s dig into this scenario a little deeper. When we begin introducing agile into organizations, the impact is often strongly felt by the testing community. Testers are an […]
In 2007, I had the opportunity to join a team of 12 to climb Aconcagua, a 23,000 foot mountain in the Andes of South America. While returning from setting up a high camp at 18,000 feet, our team encountered a bit of “turbulence.” A fast approaching storm hit the group and in an instant we […]
Have you ever been on a team when everything was “perfect” and conflict was avoided? Decisions were delayed and unique perspectives rarely brought forth. Perhaps you have been on a team with the other extreme – constant debates and collisions between team members were the norm. Conflict or disagreement within a team is inevitable but […]
Those who have never been a Product Owner may not understand just how challenging a position it really is. While I thought I understood this, for the past year I have worked closely with many Product Owners and I am beginning to sense all that is required and asked of them. It can be an […]
If you are a Scrum Master on a team, my belief is you are called to serve your team. And by using the word serve, I mean you are doing things for the benefit of others. Not an easy calling but one that can bring transformational results to your team and organizational culture. Using the […]
As a Scrum Master for an Agile team, you will need to bring new team members onto an existing team from time to time. Make them feel welcome, included, and productive by considering a couple of these ideas: Get the team involved. This often happens but if it doesn’t, ask the hiring manager to include […]
It only takes one. The one person who is not mindful of the quality of their work. The one person who is not respectful. The one person who is not pulling their weight. The one person filled with negativity or cynicism. The one person zapping energy and excitement from everyone on the team. If we […]
Every once in a while an Agile team will begin to struggle. High priority stories left unfinished in a sprint, consistent poor quality, and a bickering team has all led to low team morale, sporadic productivity, and an unhappy product owner. Ideally, the Scrum Master can observe and identify the core issues with the team […]
Meetings, meetings. I hear complaints about meetings just about every day including, believe it or not, Agile or Scrum meetings. Too many, too long, too boring, too many slides, too many people, too few people, and the most popular, uninterested meeting participants typing away with laptops or with mobile phones in hand. In thinking about […]
Your team has struggled for the past couple sprints with production deployments having not gone smoothly. Defects are being reported and perhaps some complaints are creeping in around a poor customer experience. Throw in a couple rollbacks or hot-fixes and a trend is clearly starting to emerge. Developing software is not easy…throw in a complex […]
Last year, I posted the original four questions that every good Scrum Master should be asking. With a few more months under our belt and having the opportunity to observe 12 product teams with 7 Scrum Masters every day, I have been able to glean four more questions for Scrum Masters to be asking themselves. […]
#1 – Is my team healthy? Team health can be quite subjective so this question should be answered by looking for the typical dysfunctional team “smells.” These smells usually manifest themselves with minimal laughter and celebration, constant long hours to complete sprints, lengthy and wandering daily scrums, story hangover from sprint to sprint, consistent lateness to […]