In this episode of the Take5IRL podcast, PST Jeff Lee is joined by Peter Borsella, co-founder of Big Orange Square, and a leading expert in Agile for hardware. Together, they uncover the fascinating story of a company struggling to keep up in a competitive market.

In this episode of the Take5IRL podcast, PST Jeff Lee is joined by Peter Borsella, co-founder of Big Orange Square with Hubert Smits and a leading expert in Agile for hardware. Together, they dive into the unique challenges of applying Agile in hardware development—a world where traditional software practices don’t always translate smoothly.

Complex product development requires an adaptive approach. In our latest podcast, join our hosts Jeff Lee and Patrick Campbell as they dive into the tools and practices that can help you improve your product delivery, even when firmware and hardware changes are involved.

In this podcast, we dive into a transformative case study with CAPITAL Services, a leading credit card servicer. Once reliant on traditional waterfall methodologies, they sought a faster way to innovate and maintain a competitive edge. By adopting Scrum, they set out to deliver the best work and get real-time feedback on their progress.

Why should Quality and Regulatory teams care about Agile? Agile isn't just for development—it improves product quality by integrating checks throughout. Kelly and Jeff explain, among other benefits, how early involvement of quality experts speeds up compliance and approvals.

This week on the take5IRL podcast, Jeff Lee welcomes Kelly Weyrauch to discuss the latest updates to TIR45, the guide for applying Agile in medical device software. Kelly covers key topics like signatures, boosting regulatory compliance with Agile, and defining "done" to avoid last-minute surprises. A must-listen for anyone in the med device space!

In part 2 of this powerful medical device case study, our hosts, PST Jeff Lee and Patrick Campbell, continue the journey from where we left off in episode 62. After hands-on Agile training, we moved into coaching the team as they executed their first sprints. Tune in to hear about the cultural shift that took place—a big change for the company that allowed them to see improvement in real-time and track progress like never before. Curious about the results? Listen in to see the tangible improvements and what they were able to accomplish as they embraced Agile in a regulated environment.

In this episode of the take5IRL podcast, PST Jeff Lee and his colleague Patrick Campbell take you behind the scenes of a transformative case study. They dive into the challenges faced by a struggling product group in the medical device industry. Faced with the urgent need for change, they turned to Agile, but how do you implement Agile in a regulated environment? Tune in to hear how our team at agilityIRL brought fast-paced, hands-on Agile training to this team, guiding them through a steep learning curve to achieve remarkable results.

In this episode of the take5IRL podcast, Jeff Lee and Kelly Weyrauch break down what the FDA expects from your systems and reveal how adopting an Agile approach can give your company a competitive edge. Don't miss out on these game-changing insights!

Ready to navigate the complexities of Agile in regulated environments? Join Jeff and his guest, Kelly Weyrauch—the go-to expert for Agile in the medical device world—as they dive deep into the challenges and breakthrough strategies for integrating Agile in regulated industries. Tune in to discover how you can master the balance between compliance and agility, transforming your processes into models of efficiency and effectiveness.

The most important part of an assessment is the tailored solutions that are determined after the assessment is complete. Tune in to this week's episode to learn more!

In this episode, Jeff and Pat will delve into the value of assessing your product delivery flow. Understanding the unique challenges that your organization faces, as well as the outcomes you are looking to achieve, will help you chart a course to business value. This will ensure that the changes you make are both effective and sustainable.

In this episode, Jeff and Pat share why starting with an assessment is the best strategy for your agile journey. No matter where you are in your agile journey, knowing the state of your organization with clarity will lead to data-driven recommendations. Most importantly, your organization will be able to measure growth. Learn how you can get started today.

Are you fed up with productivity clichés that don't deliver? Discover a simple, effective strategy: reduce Work-in-Progress (WIP) and focus on finishing rather than starting. Dive into this approach on the latest episode of the take5IRL podcast, featuring insights from Jeff, Mike and Pat on how doing less can achieve more—essential listening for anyone wanting to cut through the noise and enhance their work life. Don't miss this game changing discussion!

Are you faced with budget constraints?  Do you have a high-performing team that believes it's outgrown the need for a dedicated Scrum Master? Don't worry; you don’t have to compromise on your team's success or bid farewell to Scrum. Even without a dedicated Scrum Master, you can adopt plenty of strategies to maintain, or even enhance, your team's performance.

In recent episodes, we discussed the importance of tracking metrics to measure the effectiveness of your work. Sounds great, right? But what metrics are important to measure? In this episode Jeff and Mike share some of their favorite metrics to measure.

Jeff and Mike discuss getting stakeholders actively involved, from product definition to delivery. They are probably less involved than you think. Hear how to ensure you have the right people involved, at the right time, and doing the right things.

Are you confident that you have alignment across the organization on your product’s direction? If not, you might benefit from a stakeholder mapping exercise. In this week’s episode, Jeff and Pat talk through two simple tools to group your stakeholders, allowing you to answer “YES!”

In our recent episodes, we emphasized the need to focus on business outcomes in successful Agile organizations. Once business outcomes are prioritized, good Agile coaches focus on the agile practices that support those business outcomes. In this episode, we share some concrete examples of how to do it.

In our recent episodes, we've explored Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) and its pivotal role in optimizing value delivery for both businesses and stakeholders. LPM shifts from the traditional Project-oriented management to more impactful Product-oriented management. In this episode, Jeff and Patrick discuss the key disparities between Project- and Product-mindsets, and why that is important for Agile delivery.

From our previous episode, you now know what Lean Portfolio Management is. The next question is: how do you maximize value with LPM to achieve your business objectives? Tune in to explore how Lean Portfolio Management uses products to deliver value.

How do you prioritize and allocate resources across various projects to ensure optimal outcomes? How do you ensure alignment between these outcomes and your organization's strategy and business objectives? Tune in to this episode to learn how Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) can help executives, project/product managers, PMO leaders, and key stakeholders bring the most value to business objectives.

Should companies be outsourcing their product development? Join us as we explore the potential solutions for developing core product development. We also explore if it is possible to maintain agility while outsourcing. Tune in to discover the verdict!

The differences between Agile and Waterfall are well understood, but making them work together is still a challenge. Tune in to hear recommendations on how to integrate Agile and Waterfall teams effectively.

Psychological safety is foundational in the success of any team, and it becomes even more challenging to establish when work is sent abroad. In this episode, your hosts share their experiences working with dynamic offshore teams, and some tips on increasing that psychological safety.

A difficult question for organizations is how to maintain an Agile approach while outsourcing development. In this episode, the agilityIRL team discusses challenges with outsourcing and some ways to make it work better.

We see many of the same Agile anti-patterns repeat themselves. Hear about common failures in Agile implementations and learn how to avoid them in this episode of the take5IRL podcast.

Before changing their way of working, organizations should know first what business outcomes they want to achieve - which will be unique to each organization. Discover why focusing on Agile practices alone could lead you astray from the ultimate goal: achieving tangible and strategic business success.

In this episode, Mike, Jeff and Pat predict 2024 trends in the Agile world.

When using Scrum for a single team, it's important to prioritize Agile principles, business outcomes and team success. The same is true when scaling to include multiple teams. Learn more in this week's podcast!

Definition of Done is one of the most misunderstood concepts for people attending our Scrum training classes. It’s probably also understood by people in your organization. In this episode, we share how two Scrum trainers explain it in their classes.

Not all stakeholders are the same. To be a great Product Owner, you must understand their needs and segment them accordingly. Tune in to this episode as Jeff and Mike share strategies in ways Product Owners can manage and build relationships with their stakeholders, delivering more value with less friction.

It’s more than just ordering the work for a team. A great Product Owner must have hard skills to make them more effective at working with stakeholders and managing a Product Backlog.

In this episode of the take5IRL Podcast, learn what good coaches do and more importantly, what they don't do.

Create focus for your team and get more done by breaking down work. In this episode, Jeff and Mike explore the transformative impact of aligning teams to a Product Vision and creating incremental goals that bring your product toward that vision.

Scrum Masters need to have technical skills, but they aren't the same skills that the Developers on their Scrum Teams need. Discover the benefits of a Scrum Master's technical toolkit.

Thin slicing helps Scrum Teams to learn quickly and build working product every Sprint. Learn some tips on how to do it in this episode of the take5IRL podcast.

The term Minimum Viable Product means different things to different people.  Is your company using it to define the first of a series of fixed scope, fixed date projects?  If so, you're probably not using it right.

Join Jeff and Mike as they unravel the complexities of spikes, transitioning from uncertainty to wisdom in Agile, and the essential mindset shift needed for teams to “get things done”.

In this episode of take5IRL Podcast, hosts Jeff and Mike explore strategies for effective Product Backlog Management and debunk common misconceptions.

Do you know the answers to common Product Backlog questions from students in Scrum classes? View the podcast and see if you can go 3 for 3.

Product Owners are accountable to provide stakeholders have a clear understanding of the product's direction. In this new episode of the take5IRL podcast, Jeff and Mike explore methods for enhancing transparency. Discover how providing transparency to the Product Backlog can foster a shared vision and facilitate meaningful collaboration with stakeholders.

Before going all-in on Agile, it's important to know the outcomes you want to achieve, the business value you want to create, and the leadership alignment you need to succeed.

We have seen many Scrum teams attempt to resolve challenges by giving up and moving to Kanban. However, the decision to switch from Scrum to Kanban typically arises not from Scrum shortcomings, but rather from challenges in its implementation. In this episode, Jeff and Mike explore misguided reasons to move away from Scrum and things to consider before making that move.

Scrum Masters are like great white sharks, if they stop swimming, they die. (Just metaphorically, thankfully.). Keep learning, Scrum Masters!

This episode focuses on way to avoid robotic Scrum and make the Daily Scrum come to life!

Jeff and Mike discuss guaranteed ways to make a Scrum Master fail. Do the opposite to aid in their success!

There are many sources for unplanned work: production support, developer pet projects and management requests, to name a few. What is a Scrum Team to do?

Organizations have a habit of setting Product Owners up for failure. In this episode, Jeff and Mike discuss common anti-patterns and what to do about them.

Does your Scrum Team often find itself with carryover work from the previous Sprint? Does that make your team an unproductive one? Whose fault is it? In this episode, Jeff and Mike share how to limit sprint-to-sprint carryover.  Listen and share with your team so things get DONE.