Resources

During some Scrum training classes, I have been asked, can teams practice Continuous Delivery (CD) , using the Scrum Framework? The answer is a resounding yes!   Let's explore why some believe that Scrum only allows you to release at the most, every Sprint against what the Scrum Guide says.   

Diversity boosts innovation in companies in times, when the rate of outside change is high. Diversity of people across culture, gender, religion, physical ability, ethnicity and other individual differences have to offer value for the group. Diversity in teams can generate greater idea flow and help making faster and better decisions. 

In this article we’ll bust the myth that in Scrum too much time is spend in meetings. We’ll not only describe how time-consuming the Scrum events factually are, but also clarify the purpose and importance. After explaining the origins of this myth, we’ll offer some practical tips to prevent or resolve the symptoms.

The intention of this blog post is to test the content of an upcoming book that I am writing on Leanpub called So You Want To Be A Hero: Soft skills at the core of Agile leadership. While I agree that Agile is eating the world, I believe we have to revisit our understanding of leadership to support Agile. To quote Denning in his article, "this kind of leadership is beyond the capabilities of the lumbering industrial giants of the 20th Century."

With Scrum, World Servants Product Owners are able to identify which of their requests are higher priority and should be completed first. In turn, they also use Scrum to help them collectively agree on which backlog items should be assigned to the IT department in the next Scrum Sprint - a time-box of 30 days or less during which a “Done,” usable, and potentially releasable product increment is created.

Everyone building software products today aspire to be able to seamlessly update the production software in a continuous manner. To be able to deploy code without the ‘normal’ friction of process controls, reviews, test departments and committee meetings.

Manuel Mendez is a Boston-based tech genius who knows why most businesses struggle to create software and apps that connect with the marketplace. He learned his trade from Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, co-inventors of Scrum and original signatories of the Agile Manifesto.

Most Scrum Teams that I encounter don’t do refinement of their Product Backlog and try to work on things that they don’t understand correctly. However, if you get to the Sprint Planning Event and your backlog is not ready, then you are doing it wrong.

In the year 2018, how will companies use development processes, business practices, IT infrastructure, and technologies like artificial intelligence and IoT to help drive digital transformation? While many organizations are starting down the path, sometimes with an eye to improving the user experience (UX), progress levels, types of initiatives, and specific implementations vary a lot from one industry to another and even between individual companies. That’s the general consensus of opinion among a variety of informed observers.

Todd Miller comes to Itero Group, LLC as an experienced Scrum Master, Product Owner, Agile Coach, and Developer. In his most recent roles, Todd trained and coached enterprises and teams across the United States on the Scrum framework, enterprise agile transformation, and professional software development. He is a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org.

I often get this question when coaching or training organizations new to Scrum: “I’m a project manager. What do I do?”

In my last post about Professional software teams creating working software David Corban made a good point. How do you determine what "Free from fault or defect" means?

Everyday I wake up and wonder, “Where am I”? Where am I going?  

Scrum.org CEO Dave West provides his insights into his 2018 Agile predictions.

Do you ever influence or coach people?  How?  Do you use a gut feel approach or do you have coaching patterns that you use?  I have several coaching patterns that I step through when trying to influence people.

In this article we'll bust one of the more radical myths in Scrum; the belief that plans and planning have no place in Scrum.

Many Scrum Teams use User Stories as a technique for creating their Product Backlog Items (PBIs). But when the teams bring big stories to the Sprint, this causes lots of problems.

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame talks about his experiences over many years working in the Agile community and with Ken Schwaber, co-creator of Scrum, founder of Scrum.org and signatory of the Agile Manifesto. David looks at his history with Ken and Ken's impact on the industry. (2:13 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame discusses how many modern practices and techniques have Scrum at their core and why the empiricism of Scrum continues to be so important today. (1:39 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame talks about how using Scrum with practices from Design Thinking can come together to help deliver better solutions to customers. (3:08 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame discusses why you need to think and use common sense when working. With Scrum being empirical, you need to leverage common sense in making changes and decisions. Sometimes, you need to make assumptions and moves based on knowledge instead of just hard and fast rules. (1:55 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame talks about why diversity in Scrum Teams is so important.  Topics include diverse thinking, capabilities and knowledge. (2:27 minutes)

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer David Dame discusses how people can always be learning and why you don't have to be an expert to contribute to the Scrum Team. (2:14 minutes)

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

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer Erwin van der Koogh takes you through the Cynefin model that he uses to determine the how to approach problems from simple to complex. (5:03 minutes)

In this post, we’ll explain the Liberating Structure "Troika Consulting" and how we apply this facilitation technique within our Scrum training and coaching engagements.

In this SD Times article, they look at the year 2017 and how DevOps has evolved including the coming together of Scrum and DevOps.

Flashback to 1995, Jeff and Ken had presented their paper at OOPSLA on Scrum. People recognizes it as one of the new ways of working. Fast forward to Feb 2001, no ski resort gathering and no Agile manifesto.

In this DevOps Digest article, Scrum.org CEO Dave West provides his insights and thoughts about the future.

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer Ralph Jocham describes the Backlog Refinement, provides tips for how to hold and improve refinement sessions. 5:25 Minutes

Yes, you read it right, it was really challenging for me, and may be other PSTs have the same or different experience. A couple of times I thought about quitting it but because of some or the other reasons I continued.

In this post, we'll bust the myth that Scrum requires work to be estimated in Story Points. Although it is a useful technique, and used by many Scrum Teams, it is by no means the only technique. Above all, remember the quote by Esther Derby: “Estimating is often helpful, estimates are often not.”

In this LiveMint article, Bigtree Entertainment’s CEO Ashish Hemrajani talks about how he has evolved his organization, improved communication and created an environment where people want to work.

InfoQ interviewed Scheepstra and Aalbers about their expectations when they started with agile, how they used the Scrum Studio concept to apply agile practices, measuring team maturity, and how the culture has changed during their agile journey.

Scrum Studio creates an environment in which empiricism can thrive. It may exist as a physically separate organization, or it may simply be a protected part of an existing organization, especially when it is just getting started.   Read this paper to learn more.

"That's the problem with so many organizations around entrepreneurship. They're driven by metrics that don't matter." - Brad Feld

In this presentation by Professional Scrum Trainer Robert (Robb) Pieper he discusses Agile Transformations and common challenges/solutions to scaling Scrum, issues with individuals and teams, communication challenges and much more. 50:08 Minutes

There is a frustrating misunderstanding of reality when one thinks that the Product Owner can reject a single story at the Sprint Review.

Scrum.org, the mission-based organization dedicated to improving the profession of software delivery through training, certification assessments and community, announced today a new academic offering at Carnegie Mellon University that will help address the Agile skills gap in today’s workforce.

People in the Agile community must have heard or have came across this white paper multiple times.

"See it all. See it fairly. Be truthful, be sensible and be careful with language" - Henry Grunwald

Do you think people need to be forged into a T-shape? Think again. Focus on the aspects preventing people from employing their intrinsic T-potential.

In this podcast Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods of InfoQ, spoke to Dave West, CEO and chief product owner at Scrum.org, about the state of Scrum in 2017 and the future of agile.

In this blog post we’ll bust the myth that “The Scrum Master is a junior Agile Coach”. Effective change is driven from “the inside-out”. The Scrum Master - being part of the Scrum Team  - is in a better position to facilitate this change than an (external) Agile Coach.

As part of the Scrum Tapas video series, Professional Scrum Trainer Hiren Doshi discusses a model to assess and control unplanned work that may come up during a Sprint and reviewing its impact during the Sprint Review. 3:12 Minutes

This short video provides a look into what happens during the Scrum.org Professional Scrum Developer (PSD) course. You can see the class in action as they break into Scrum Teams, deliver working software and go through the different Scrum Events. Course stewards and Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainers (PSTs) Thomas Schissler, Peter Goetz and Richard Hundhausen host this video. 2:02 Minutes

There is a better way than staggered iterations for delivery that will keep you on the path to agility. Staggered iterations lead to more technical debt and lower quality software.

Many teams are struggling with delivering modern software because they are not building with Test First Principals.

An excellent summary of the signing of the Agile Manifesto with quotes from the many signatories including Scrum.org founder, chairman and Scrum co-creator, Ken Schwaber.

Use "Shift & Share and Caravan" as facilitation pattern in Scrum for Sprint Reviews, brainstorms and involving stakeholders. Spread novel ideas across groups of any size with "Shift & Share" and rapidly receive feedback with "Caravan".