Creating a Sprint Goal Template

Every two weeks at the beginning of a new sprint, I collaborate with my development team to create the sprint goal. This goal is aligned to strategic priorities and briefly discusses the why and what we will be delivering in clear business terms over the next sprint. It also explains briefly how we will measure … Read more Creating a Sprint Goal Template

Free and Simple Agile Planning Poker Tool

I have used multiple agile planning poker tools with my product development teams. The one I continue to use most often is called Firepoker. Not only is this tool free but I find that it’s very user friendly and simple. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Do you have another … Read more Free and Simple Agile Planning Poker Tool

Determining Priority and Value with Business Stakeholders

As a Product person, have you ever had difficulty prioritizing work and deciding which items hold the highest value? Try having a session with your respective business stakeholders prior to starting development to prioritize work based on business value. This means having stakeholders from groups such as marketing, operations, sales, etc. assign a point estimate … Read more Determining Priority and Value with Business Stakeholders

Agile/Scrum?

I see a lot of postings by organizations stating they are Agile/Scrum. The words are almost used interchangeably in many industries. What do these words mean? When I think of the word Agile for an organization, in simplest terms, I think of being able to move quickly and learn quickly. In terms of software, how … Read more Agile/Scrum?

Adding Value

Do you ever get the feeling that the processes at your organization aren’t adding value? Most likely, many of them aren’t adding value in terms of a Lean mindset. A typical process is 95% non-value added (NVA) to 5% value added (VA). The Lean Electronic Health Record The good news is that by focusing on … Read more Adding Value

Circle of Influence

Sometimes I find myself worrying about things I can’t change. They are outside of my circle of influence. When leading an organization or team on their agile journey, focus on what is in your control and how you can influence others to be more agile. I first read about Circle of Influence in Stephen R. … Read more Circle of Influence

Impediments Backlog Over Change Management

Is change something that is under strict command and control at your organization? In Scrum, the concept of impediments ideally becomes a catalyst for change from the bottom up. I have seen organizations make change something that becomes very restrictive. In an Agile organization, being able to move quickly is critical to continuous improvement and … Read more Impediments Backlog Over Change Management

Customer Collaboration

Do you find that you are committing to deadlines knowing that they are unrealistic? Does your development team have a relationship with the customer? Is your customer directly involved in your process? The Agile Manifesto says. “customer collaboration over contract negotiation” I interpret this as involving your customer directly in your product development life-cycle. It … Read more Customer Collaboration

Learn Quickly

In the Scrum Framework, there are built in ceremonies to help the organization and team be agile and learn quickly. These include: daily scrum sprint planning sprint retrospective sprint review Each sprint has a goal and at the end of the sprint cycle, the team reflects on goal completion and what can be done to … Read more Learn Quickly