Meetings in a Hurry Are Not Effective Ones
The Importance of Timeboxing in Scrum
The timeboxing is a fundamental technique for many Scrum activities. There is often a misunderstanding that meetings should be fast, leading facilitators to rush participants to finish within the timebox. This haste results in poorly discussed problems and many uninformed decisions.
Read MoreTwo Structuring Meetings Patterns
As I describe in my book, it is beneficial to structure meetings (or parts of meetings) to make them more effective. Here are two examples useful for planning meetings, applicable in Scrum and adaptable to other contexts.
Read MoreThe Hacker Way
A few days ago, Paweł Wrzeszcz sent me Erik Meijer’s talk “One Hacker Way” (watch here) from the GOTO Conference in Copenhagen. It is a very provocative talk, which is great. It questions the Scrum method and challenges the status quo in Agile. Given that Scrum is a dominant framework in software development, a critical view is healthy, especially as Agile has become a significant business machine over the past 20 years. When implementing Agile at Scale, core ideas can easily become distorted. (Check out Dave Thomas’ “Agile is Dead” talk here).
Read MoreSimple, Complicated, Complex and Chaotic Systems, in Other Words Cynefin. And How Does It Relate to Software Development?
Intro
You might have already come across terms such as complex systems, complicated systems, or complex adaptive systems; especially, if you have read Management 3.0 by Jurgen Appelo or heard about Ken Schwaber’s ideas about the applicability of Scrum. It might sound intriguing, but finding logic in it is difficult without some background theory. This is the point at which Dave Snowden’s Cynefin concept comes in handy. This concept is based on complex systems theory, anthropology, evolutionary psychology, and, last but not least, cognitive psychology.
Read MoreWhy I Hate These Standups...
Why I Hate These Standups…
I often hear it… that they are a waste of time, just distractions from work, adding no real value…
Read MoreThe Scrum Team
The Scrum Team
Team, team, team… It’s time to delve into the subject of the team, after discussing the topics of Product Owner and Scrum Master. This subject can be explored from many different angles. However, that is not the point.
Read MoreMaster... Master...
The Role of the Scrum Master
In the real world, there are many variations of this role. Sometimes it’s a person from the team, sometimes a manager, sometimes someone from outside the team, sometimes a specialist in being a Scrum Master, and I’ve even seen it as a rotating role within the team. So, who is it really? What’s the purpose?
Read MoreThe Scrum You Don't Know
But we don’t have a Product Owner! The Product Owner is unavailable! We are working on several projects at the same time! Our deadlines are getting delayed. Testers do not have time to test our code.
Read MoreWhy Agile Fails
Introduction
Implementing a methodology from the Agile family is not at all easy. The problem usually lies in management, who upon superficially understanding what it’s all about, perceive the new method as a promise that from now on, everything will magically work better. It doesn’t matter if we have subpar team members and adhere to the principle that “any specialist can be replaced by a finite number of students.” It doesn’t matter if there’s complete disregard for knowledge management and skill development in the team because there’s never time for that. It doesn’t matter if people working on projects are shuffled between projects—after all, it’s about interdisciplinarity, and everyone should know everything.
Read MoreMeeting Deadlines at All Costs is a Mistake!
The Necessity of Deadlines
Deadlines are necessary. Whether you work in Scrum (Agile) or a waterfall-like methodology, one thing is certain: without deadlines, there is no motivation. According to Parkinson’s Law (no relation to the disease), deadlines are essential.
Read MoreHave You Ever Thought About a Career as a Trainer/Consultant?
As our activities at BNS IT (bnsit.pl) continue to expand, we have openings for individuals eager to work with others to share knowledge and experience. We aim to support teams in increasing their work efficiency.
Read MoreYou Shouldn't Run with a Broken Leg!
You Shouldn’t Run with a Broken Leg!
Clear? Obvious? It seems so, yet we continuously run with broken legs…
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