Agile – Page 3 – Tandem Coaching

Agile

Getting to 85 – Agile Metrics with ActionableAgile Part 3

Discover the keys to optimizing workflow with the Aging Work in Progress chart. Learn how to interpret team productivity and efficiency insights for better outcomes.

Agile

Getting to 85 – Agile Metrics with ActionableAgile Part 2

In the first part of Getting to 85 – Agile Metrics with ActionableAgile we looked at the Cycle Time Scatterplot as generated by ActionableAgile software. That piece also discussed some ideas the scatter plot could bring about and conversations that potentially might occur.

Let’s take a look at another important chart and set of metrics the ActionableAgile can produce based on sample or custom loaded data – Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD).

Agile

Getting to 85 – Agile Metrics with ActionableAgile Part 1

Dive into the world of Agile Metrics, spotlighting Cycle Time’s crucial role in Scrum and Kanban integration. Discover how embracing this often-overlooked metric can lead to significant gains in predictability and efficiency. This article marks the beginning of a series, aiming to demystify Agile measurements and their practical applications for today’s dynamic project management landscapes.

Agile

The Power of Interlocking Roles

So, now you know two things about me. I write in my books and I can’t draw. I snapped a shot of this image from the Coaching Agile Teams book – Chapter 7, (Lyssa Adkins) because it is an amazing way to portray how the role of the scrum master, product owner, and agile manager work together. Too often I see coaches running off managers and basically telling them that they no longer have a job. Managers are seen as the enemy of Agile. It doesn’t have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way. We should be teaching managers what their new, even more powerful, role is!

This picture really stirred me up because it put into writing questions I have often had explaining to the scrum master and agile manager. There are also pieces of this that validate things I’ve always instinctively known but didn’t have anything but my gut to tell me it was true.

Agile

Agile Jeopardy Retrospective

(This post is by guest blogger, Kenny Barnes.)

For our latest retrospective, I created a jeopardy board using JeopardyLabs – Online Jeopardy Template. I used a mix of Agile related categories (Scrum, Agile), items related to the team [Working Agreements, Sprint (more details below)] and something the team is really passionate about (Star Wars). It took about an hour and a half to come up with the questions/answers and setup the board.

Agile

What Does Sustainable Pace Really Mean?

Agile values and principles are the core foundation by which Agile organizations operate and make decisions. Everything we do is based in these. With that being said, viewing every principle through a holistic perspective is absolutely necessary. Every word in the principles we live by has value and impact. So, when we reduce a principle to a three word summary, I believe we do ourselves a disservice. This practice often results in focusing on part of the principle without the balance of the other side. Through this oversight, we inadvertently create environments where there is unbalance that leaves people frustrated and confused. They begin to believe that Agile is the problem. But, the real problem is our failure completely embrace the Agile values and principles and settle for anti-patterns instead.

Today, I’d like to take a deeper look into Agile Principle #8 which states: Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

Agile

Is More Really Better?

One of my favorite things about being and Agile coach is connecting with the Agile community through conferences, meet-ups, and other networks. Because of these connections I get to interact with Agilists all over the world. Over the past few months I’ve noticed a concerning trend coming from the Scrum Master community. They are telling me with excitement, “I’ve finally worked myself up to two teams!” Some have said they are now working with three or four teams. The thing that concerns me is that they seem to view spreading themselves across multiple teams as an accomplishment. I am hearing pride in “being busy” and “being able to handle more” and that tells me that we still have work to do. It tells me that there may still be an anti-pattern running rampant in our Agile organizations telling us lies.

Agile

A Fixer

While attending the Agile Coaching Institute’s Coaching Agile Teams class a while back the instructors read this poem to the class. It served as a powerful reminder that as an agile coach, or a scrum master/team coach, we must see people and teams as naturally creative, resourceful, and whole if we want to empower them to grow and move forward. As a coach I must be a servant to those I coach. I’m not here to be better than them or to have all the answers. I’m here to serve them in their quest for greatness.

Agile

Getting Unstuck ~ Lessons in Delegation

I spent some time coaching one of my clients* recently who was planning an event and needed to enlist the help of others in order to be successful. The problem she was facing involved feeling overwhelmed.

Agile

My Agile Journey to CEC

“If you want to be a CST, do something about it. Get out there. Join the Agile community. Go to user groups. Go to conferences. Speak at conferences. I want to see you and know who you are. And you can never stop coaching. You can’t be a good CST if you aren’t coaching. That’s where everything you know comes from. That’s where you gain your credibility and true expertise that can help people.”