I've given the same advice to almost all of my clients -- "you need a clearer Product Backlog", "You're working really hard but you're not getting anything done", and "You need to cut scope, launch your product with a more focused scope, launch it, and then get feedback." ...

On today’s episode of YOUR DAILY SCRUM: When does a Scrum Team create a Definition of Done? Today's question asks when the Definition of Done (DoD is created by the Scrum Team.

On today’s episode of YOUR DAILY SCRUM: Do we still have a Sprint Review if nothing is done?

Many organisations wrestle with the seeming incompatibility between agile and release management, and they struggle with release planning and predictable delivery.

In my last post about Professional software teams creating working software David Corbin made a good point. How do you determining what “Free from fault or defect” means? Since that is different for each Product and may change over time you need to focus on Quality and reflecting that quality in a D...

At a recent class, a new Scrum Master asked me for a simple example of a Definition of Done. This post captures my answer to them and I hope it will help simplify this concept for you.

In the 2020 Version of the Scrum Guide, the commitments were introduced for each artifact. These then became an element of Scrum; in that they need to be used to gain the maximum value that the Scrum Framework offers. They were always part of a Professional Scrum approach, now there is a clear conne...

This blog post talks about the addition of Commitments to each Artifact in the updated Scrum Guide.

Scrum is defined completely in the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland and is maintained independently of any company. The Scrum Guide is translated and available in over 30 languages.

As per Scrum Guide – The Sprint Goal is an objective that will be met within the sprint by implementing the Product Backlog, and it guides the Development Team on why it is building the Increment.

Regularly, we find articles from developers detailing why ‘Agile’ in general and Scrum’s nature, in particular, deserve our collective disdain.

“Can an R&D team of chemists, physicists, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers and embedded software developers optimize teamwork and value by using Scrum? And can live virtual Scrum training deliver a practical Scrum learning experience to everyone on such a functionally diverse team?”

Ein Produkt für Kunden verfügbar zu machen ist der einzige Weg für ein Unternehmen, mit diesem Produkt Wert zu generieren. Erst wenn ein Produkt am Markt verfügbar ist, sind Kunden bereit, Geld dafür zu bezahlen. Wer aber entscheidet, ob ein Produkt released wird?

A Sprint Review is perhaps one of the most difficult elements in the product development with Scrum.

How to make sure that the definition of Done is used properly at a sprint planning session? Continue reading ...

“Our problem is that we can’t plan Sprints accurately with velocity,” he said. “Some Sprints, our velocity is really high, in others, we barely achieve anything.”

Treacherous bottlenecks can nullify all your hard work, no matter how industrious you are.

This seventh article now looks into organizing a remote Sprint Review with a distributed team: How to practice the review with virtual Liberating Structures, including and giving a voice to team members, stakeholders, and customers.

Working overtime in stressful situations is not a viable long-term remedy and should not be seen as a professional solution, but as a warning signal to be heard courageously.

Are scrum and personal effectiveness compatible? In recent weeks I have experienced using Scrum for my personal organization.

In this blog post I explain why the Sprint Goal is key for an effective implementation of Scrum and how it is widely present in the Scrum framework by exploring its “lifecycle”. 

Scrum is intended as a simple, yet sufficient framework for complex product delivery.

The Scrum Team gathers around their team desk to hold the Daily Scrum.

A question that frequently comes up in my Scrum Training courses is how to define a product.

What are the most common mistakes with Scrum that lead to dysfunctional Scrum? This time we take the perspective of the Scrum Development Team.

A businesswoman orders a burger in a restaurant and her order is refused. Learn how this is essential to the success of your product and your Scrum Team.

For those of you who are big fans of Marvel Cinematic Universe comics or who have watched the latest Avengers: End Game movie might know that Thanos (supervillain) wanted to possess all 6 infinity stones so that he would be unstoppable and could gain control over the entire universe.

Hello awesome people. How was your week? In today's vlog I would like to talk about one of the most important aspects of Scrum, that is the Definition of "Done".

In this post I want to explore whether the Increment, a core concept to Scrum, needs to be changed for Scrum in a non-IT context. In future posts, I will do the same for the Definition of Done, or other concepts that may provide a better understanding of Scrum when applied to non-IT context.

Professional Scrum Trainer Sahin Guvenilir wrote "Why having a Definition of Done is not optional and how it helps you protect your customer, money, reputation and morale".

A while ago, I received an interesting scientific article from Gunther Verheyen titled “Getting Things Done: The Science Behind Stress-Free Productivity” (Heylighen & Vidal, 2007). The article discusses possible scientific explanations for the success of a personal productivity approach called “Gett...

Sprint Planning is a core event, defining how your customers’ lives will improve with the next Product Increment. Learn more on how to improve its effectiveness by avoiding 20 common Sprint Planning anti-patterns.

The Bytesize Agile Series is inspired by discussion tangents that arise during training. 3 Amigos the topic of today comes up during discussion regarding refinement of backlog items into a ready state.

I call myself a Scrum Caretaker. I aspire inspiring people using Scrum. I prefer sharing positive experiences and cases that demonstrate how amazing working with Scrum can be, what problems can be tackled and how, the level of excellence we can build into our products, how Scrum can engage people.

In this Scrum Tapas video, Professional Scrum Trainer Guus Verweij discusses how acceptance criteria can be added to Product Backlog Items individually in additional to an overall Definition of Done and why it may be a good idea. (4:19 Minutes)

The Professional Scrum Master (PSM) workshop has a module that talks about the Definition of "Done" (DoD) and Technical Debt.

If Scrum were to be reduced to one purpose and one only, it would be the creation of a "Done" increment. Although the DoD serves as a crucial part of Scrum, it is also often neglected by many Scrum teams. Try out the DoD EvoCycle, a simple technique to effectively manage your Definition of Done.

I will make a case why the Sprint Goal should take center stage in any Sprint. If it seems difficult, it is an opportunity to improve.

As Scrum Trainer I get to meet a lot of teams and hear of many different ways to do Scrum. Most are valid ways, yet some seem more aligned with the values of Scrum or the purpose of the specific Scrum Element.

Hi Duncan, I took your Scrum Training class a couple of months back. You mentioned if we had any questions, we could email you and I have an interesting situation I found myself in regarding QA’s in our Scrum teams.

If Scrum were to be reduced to one purpose and one only, it would be the creation of a "Done" increment. Although the DoD serves as a crucial part of Scrum, it is also often neglected by many Scrum teams. Try out the DoD EvoCycle, a simple technique to effectively manage your Definition of Done.

When working with teams new to Scrum, one of the questions I usually ask is, "What are your plans to describe non functional requirements (NFRs)?". Typically the Product Owner already has a good handle on functional requirements (i.e. new product features), yet what about the product's performance, ...

An organization’s ability to rapidly and deliberately respond to changing demand, while controlling risk helps ascertain its Agility.

As a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org I get to think about the Definition of "Done" and its meaning a lot.

A few days ago, I was observing a Sprint Retrospective. The Scrum Team decided to work on the Definition of Done (DoD), identified as the most important topic to adapt for the next Sprint. The discussions were open and animated, when an unexpected discussion emerged during the session.

The purpose of Scrum is to create a potentially releasable Done Product Increment, in order to realize business value. Many teams struggle in improving their Definition of Done. The technique described here allows for greater transparency on what the Definition of Done is, and what the next steps ar...

The Scrum Guide is markedly ambitious in the standard of professionalism it demands of a team. Development Team members must be self-organizing and cross-functional, to the point that they will repeatedly and sustainably create a valuable product increment...

Compare the use of Scrum's Definition of Done to the professional procedures in other fields such as surgery and aviation.

In this article, I will discuss the dangerous dynamic that can arise when a Product Owner, Scrum Master, or the management of an organization focuses a Development Team on velocity.

In Scrum, “Done” doesn’t support adjectives like “nearly”, “pretty much” or “almost”. Work is “Done” or it isn’t . And there is a very powerful, compelling reason behind this: the Scrum Framework only helps to reduce the risk of wasting money and effort when you deliver “Done” software every Sprint;...