I recently parted ways with my Scrum teams in order to pursue an opportunity another company. One of the team members asked for general feedback about how the team had been doing. Here is my response: Team, I have always been open with you about things we are doing well and areas where we need to … Continue reading What’s the What?
Requirements
Shadow Backlog
The team was under pressure to deliver a rewrite of the flagship product after having been handed an agressive delivery date. In spite of the Scrum board and other information radiators in their area, the Scrum Master had to deliver progress reports to the CEO every day. The company president and vice presidents attended sprint … Continue reading Shadow Backlog
User Stories – What’s in a Name?
The team was eager to launch into their first release planning exercise. Wisely, the Scrum Master and Product Owner (PO) did not hand the team a list of already-written user stories. They knew that while it would take the team a little more time to identify and write the basics of each story, it would … Continue reading User Stories – What’s in a Name?
Does Agile Make Business Analysts Obsolete?
One of the most challenging aspects of adopting agile is requirements gathering and definition. The challenge is not because agile has complex methods for describing requirements, rather quite the opposite. Agile methods such as writing a user story on an index card and then relying on conversations between developers, product owners, and users to carry … Continue reading Does Agile Make Business Analysts Obsolete?
Agile Reflections 