New to Agile? Build trust to grow influence and impact
Transforming the way you work to an Agile approach has implications for the relationship between software teams and their customers and stakeholders. But in many…
Category: Newbie
New to agile? Remember, sometimes things get crazy!
Do you ever get so frustrated you feel like pulling your hair out? I do (although that is NOT a picture of me to the…
New to agile? Learn how to fail well
Is success or failure really a choice? I don’t think it is at all. Pretty much no one chooses to fail. Unfortunately, we can’t just…
New to agile? Remember a user story is more than a card!
What’s wrong with the user story on the card? It seems to have everything we need: a) short title, b) a size (in this case…
New to agile? Watch an Intro to Scrum video in about 8 minutes
My friend, Arif Gangji, and I created this video to help his customers understand why his company uses Scrum as their software development framework. I…
New to agile? Lean principles can help!
Ever see a trash can look like that? I know I have – plenty of times. I have 3 kids so I sometimes even see…
New to agile? Remember the power of automation
As this blog entry is published I am teaching an agile/scrum course to a client in Flanders, New Jersey. You might want to ask “Bob,…
New to agile? Give thanks!
Here in the United States we will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, November 26. If you are currently on an agile team you…
New to agile? Remember to respect people
One of the Lean Principles is “Respect People.” I think it may be the most important lean principle. When I teach a course and get…
New to agile? Keep it very simple
When dealing with an agile implementation, particularly in the case of a new agile team, we often make things too complex and difficult. We tend…
New to agile? Work at a sustainable pace
Question: Which is better: a) Working nights and weekends to meet iteration commitments, or b) Admitting the commitment was too much and working normal hours…
New to agile? What to do when you are behind
Wow, has it really been more than a month since I posted something on my blog? Ouch! I guess I’ve been busier than I thought. …
How to make a LOT more money using agile
Yesterday’s blog post dealt with how to manage scope for an agile project. Today I have to admit it was a bit of a setup. …
New to agile? Remember how to say “No”
No. Only two letters. Very simple word. Yet for some reason, with the exception of when we are at “the terrible 2’s” stage of life…
New to agile? INVEST in good user stories
As a <user> I want <function> so that<value>. Above is a very simple user story template. How can something so simple be so hard to…
New to Agile? Use a Rules of Engagement document.
How do we work together? Seems like a simple question, right? How wrong you could be! For an agile team, working together is vitally important,…
New to agile? Do the simplest thing that works – THEN STOP!
As an agile trainer and coach I often see new teams struggle with a simple question: “How much to do on a user story?” A lot…
New to agile? Tips for better daily stand-ups
As an agile coach I have attended a lot of daily stand-up meetings. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been in a meeting…
New to agile? Don’t settle for mediocrity
James Shore recently changed the entire focus of his company. This blog entry gives his reasons why. The blog post really struck a chord with…
New to agile? Tools for distributed agile
I’ve been working the past several weeks with some highly distributed teams. Each team requires a way to track their project effectively (when you have…