Agile teams have been struggling since the earliest days with how to bring new people on to a team. In one of the first Agile books, there was a story of Alistair Cockburn walking a new hire through the team’s flip charts and telling the story of their work. I haven’t seen a team use […]
team building
Scrum by Example – Team Friction Inspires Working Agreements
Scrum team Working Agreements are a simple, powerful way of creating explicit guidelines for what kind of work culture you want for your Team. They are a reminder for everyone about how they can commit to respectful behaviour and communication. In this post we’ll see how the fictional World’s Smallest Online Bookstore (WSOBS) Scrum team struggles […]
Is Your Scrum Team Good Enough?
If your Scrum Team has been together for years and you’ve been following the Agile principles and Scrum structure, you might be feeling quite confident. Scrum isn’t an inherently easy methodology to adapt, especially since it requires change beyond the personal behaviour level to see the biggest results. So if your team has gotten to […]
Agile Bonuses – The Damage They Do
A design pattern is a description of a solution to a recurring problem. It outlines the elements that are necessary to solve the challenge without prompting the reader to address the issue in a specific way. Unfortunately, we also regularly see recurring patterns of ineffective behaviour. These are called Anti-Patterns. The following explores the common […]
Scrum Anti-Patterns: Micromanagement
A design pattern is a description of a solution to a recurring problem. It outlines the elements that are necessary to solve the challenge without prompting the reader to address the issue in a specific way. Unfortunately, we also regularly see recurring patterns of ineffective behaviour. These are called Anti-Patterns. The following is an exploration […]
What Are the Limits of the Scrum Framework?
Frequently in workshops, I get asked, “Where shouldn’t we use Scrum?” The short answer is there are lots of instances where the Scrum framework doesn’t fit. However, to give a more complete and effective answer to this question, first we need to have an idea of why and when Scrum does work and what the […]
The Role of Agile Managers: Why Job Titles Are Dangerous
Managers transitioning from waterfall to Agile will need to renegotiate their relationship with their teams if they are to succeed. A manager cannot simply become an Agile Manager – a big part of a transition requires a rethinking of how job titles are assigned and the leadership responsibility that comes with them. I was recently […]
How to Be an Effective Manager in Scrum
You’re a manager. You recently helped implement Scrum in your organization. You have received praise for this, because quality of work is now steadily improving and customers are delighted by the steady stream of product improvements. Your Scrum teams are now self-organizing. Things are flowing so smoothly now, the team has taken on tasks that […]