Bridging the Gap: Effective Communication Between Managers and Scrum Teams
In an agile setting, communication is the lifeblood that keeps the project moving. This post focuses on the importance of effective, clear, and open communication between management and agile teams. We will discuss strategies, practices, and tools that promote and enhance communication, including daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
Reimagining Management: The Role of a Manager in an Agile Development Environment
Agile development introduces a new dynamic to the role of a manager. In this post, we will explore how a manager's responsibilities shift in an agile environment, from controlling and directing to facilitating and enabling. Learn how you can support self-managing teams, help overcome obstacles, and foster an environment of productivity and continuous improvement.
Demystifying Management in Agility
In the first part of our agile management series, we delve into the heart of agile development - its principles and values as articulated in the Agile Manifesto and how they relate to the typical manager. This post will guide you through the core beliefs that distinguish agile from traditional software development approaches and set the foundation for agile management practices.
How Thinking of Agility as a Methodology Can Ruin Your Job
In today's business climate, agility is key to success. But what exactly is agility? And how can companies make sure they're promoting an agile mindset within their organization? Unfortunately, many companies mistakenly think of agility as a methodology, when in fact it's much more than that.
Do Scrum Team Members have to be Full Time? #AskArtisan
Scrum Team members CAN be part-time, but this week’s #AskArtisan video shares insight on helping them maximize their time, and pitfalls to look out for.
How Many People Should be on One Scrum Team? #AskArtisan
I'm often asked about the ideal number of people on one Scrum Team, but maybe a better question is why and how any number becomes too many?
Leaders, Are You Ready For the Post-COVID Exodus?
Agile Transformations - Is It All-Or-Nothing?
Wondering where to start with agile transformation? Do you pick a single project? Or a specific team? Train everyone and run with it? Here's some guidance.
Embracing Change: The Scrum Master’s Guide to Leading Organizational Transformation
Change isn’t the enemy—stagnation is. Organizations that cling to the status quo risk falling behind as competitors innovate. As a Scrum Master or leader, your role is to guide teams and stakeholders to embrace change. This guide explores seven practical ways to foster a culture of experimentation and help your organization adapt and thrive. In today’s fast-paced world, those that resist change don’t just slow down—they vanish. 🚀
It's All About Value
One small change can make a BIG difference to your Product Owner success. Before worrying about putting value on backlog items, here's some simple tips.
What Does it Mean to BE Agile?
With the Agility mindset, it's critical to understand the concept of "being" Agile. Some people want "to do Agile", but you don't DO Agile, you must BE Agile.
Should Scrum Teams be Dedicated to a Single Product?
Should Scrum teams be dedicated to a single product? The truth is, there's times when you want a dedicated team and times when you don't. Let me explain!
5 Ways to At Least DOUBLE Team Performance
Here's 5 steps you can take as a manager or ScrumMaster to help DOUBLE your Development Team's performance (#5 is a shocker; it's easy but SUPER non-intuitive!)
Creating the Skills You Need for Agility
When beginning the transformation to Agile Development, it's hard to know exactly what skills the organization needs to adapt to the new way of working.
Self-Managing Teams
When I teach or coach people about Scrum, we talk about self-organization, but the importance of self-organizational principles cannot be understated.
Limited Skills, Great Demand
Specialists with a particular skill can get stretched thin! But there's ways to solve this dilemma other than assigning them to ten Scrum teams at once.
Ground Rules for Your Team
Some initial “rules” that everyone agrees to follow will help your team avoid misunderstandings and deliberate misconduct.
I Think We Broke Something... Somewhere
Many organizations transitioning to Agile Development suffer from a preconceived idea that coding tasks and testing tasks should be seen as separate activities.
More Than Just Code
Plan your transition to Agile Development for the long haul. It's more than just code. Treat it that way!
Measuring Scrum Team Productivity
Measuring Scrum Team productivity is something nearly every organization wants, but performance metrics should really only be created under two conditions.