Clik here to view.
Interview with a newly-minted Scrum Master
Six months ago SilverStripe, an open-source Content Management System provider and Wellington web agency approached me to help them improve the way in which they deliver client and open source...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Interview with a developer turned Agile
Following last week’s interview with a newly-minted Scrum Master this week I have had a conversation with developer Mateusz Udowski. We talked about how SilverStripe’s adoption of Agile and Scrum have...
View ArticleThe non challenging Scrum Master
Earlier this year I was invited to join the Scrum plop, to help write some patterns for the Scrum community, unfortunately the stars were not right and I was not able to attend. It did however help me...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It might look like rapids, but it’s still a waterfall
This is my second post in my Scrum coaching patterns series. In my last post I asked for some help with a pattern format that I could follow and at least one person must have read my blog as I now have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Evolving the Story map
I can’t say enough about how useful story maps are and how essential they are on any Agile project. Jeff Pattonis the undisputed (certainly in my mind) master of the story map and it’s well worth...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Could a “Definition of Ready” Help You Strike a Balance?
Many novice teams find it difficult to strike the balance between too much and too little detail when writing user stories. User stories often start their lives as big statements of intent with lots of...
View ArticleSprint planning – turning the what into how
What does your sprint planning meeting look like? Are you the “do it as fast as you can” efficiency hounds or the “sit and listen while the tech lead drones on” type, or are you a “real team” who fight...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Daily stand-up with a goal
Why your daily standup should be driven by a daily goal Let’s face it, the daily standup can be a boring affair. I’m not talking about abominations with 16 people or half-hour long status reporting...
View ArticlePortfolio Kanban talk
Here are the slides for my presentation “Portfolio Kanban – Seeing the Bigger Picture”. I had a great time at AgileWelly last night – thanks everyone for coming along and for all the lovely feedback!...
View ArticleSometimes average is good.
The Big Estimation Debate There have always been, and no doubt always will be debate over estimation; the pros and cons, behaviour anti-patterns and the how and why of it all. In this post I am not...
View ArticleWhy being a Scrum Master is a full time job
“An adequate Scrum Master can handle two or three teams at the time; a great one can only handle one”. (Michael James - An Example Scrum Master’s checklist) I found that organisations, teams and new...
View ArticleA Scrum Product Owner checklist
After my last post on the role of the Scrum Master I have been asked if I could write a similar role description for the Scrum Product Owner. Here’s my view of the role: The Product Owner The product...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A template for the sprint review
Conducting an interesting and engaging end-of-sprint review is an often overlooked art: Not only do we want to show what we have built during the last sprint and collect feedback and good ideas for...
View ArticleEven done is never done
A “done” definition in an Agile project is a statement that the team use to measure whether they’ve met all of the requirements for completing a userstory / feature (and in some cases completing an...
View ArticleThe document dilemma
The Agile manifesto states “Working software over comprehensive documentation” – this seems to be one of the biggest mindset shifts that organisations need to make when adopting any Agile framework....
View ArticleKanban is not for the Idle or Newbies
For four of my six and a half Agile years I was solidly in the Scrum camp, Lean, in my opinion, was already part of Scrum and its influence made Scrum even better. I don’t think that any Agile practice...
View ArticleExploring servant leadership
A few weeks ago I was sitting next to a log fire, sharing a glass of wine with a few like minded individuals chatting about all things Agile, one of the things we discussed was a time when one of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The importance of size and proximity
Process is expensive. Bigger teams, working from a distance, part time team members, and many specialists are all factors that lead to a more elaborate process. This might be obvious, but the more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
5 Lessons from Business Accelerators – Part 2
This is part two of the post from 15 January. Lesson 3: Figure out your Unique Value Proposition and test it with customers Unique Value Proposition is often confused with elevator pitch, tagline,...
View Article10 ways to fail with Agile
Last week I presented at WebDU in Sydney. The conference was excellently organised by Geoff and the Daemon guys and I met lots of interesting people. And I love Sydney! In short I had a blast. Apart...
View Article
