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Showing posts from February, 2015

What good are story points and velocity in Scrum?

We use velocity as a measure of how many story points to take into the next sprint. When you take in enough stories, and story points, so that you reach your average velocity, then, you can end the sprint planning meeting. Although this is a common approach, it is exactly how you should not use story points in Scrum. It leads to over-commitment and spillover (started, but unfinished work) at the end of the sprint. Both of these are bad for performance. How should you use story points in planning? How do you create the Forecast? And what do you do if the team runs out of work?

The first thing to remember is that Development Team is self-organizing. They have exclusive jurisdiction over how much work they take on. The Product Owner has final say over the ordering of items in the backlog, but nobody tells the the Development Team how much work to take on! Not the Product Owner, not the ScrumMaster, and certainly not the math!

As a Product Owner, I would use story points to help set mediu…

Are agile trainers agile?

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of people out there who will train you to do Agile (and some will even try to convince you to be Agile). Some of them are certified, some are not. How many of them apply Agile to their own profession? I believe the answer is "not many," and I have realized that I was not one of them. This a-ha moment help me refine the purpose of my CST mentorship program.

When people say "Agile", most people are referring to the four values of the Agile Manifesto. While these are important, I believe the fundamental definition of Agility is contained not the four values, but the first statement: We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. (emphasis added).

I don't develop software, I train people to do Scrum. Actually, I like to believe I enable them to turn their current project into their best project ever, so maybe this "training Scrum" is too limiting. Hmm... let's no…

Announcing: Scrum Trainer Mentoring Program

Do you want to become a Certified Scrum Trainer? Becoming a CST is long process which requires you to demonstrate both your knowledge of Scrum and your ability to teach Scrum to the satisfaction of the Scrum Alliance Trainer Acceptance Committee (TAC). Many trainers resist working with aspiring CSTs, out of fear of competition, lack of interest or lack of time. Until now.

After a couple of attempts on an ad-hoc basis, with both successes and failures, I believe the best way to mentor CST-aspirants is to lead them through a structured program. My goal is that by the end this program, you will be well qualified to teach Scrum and should be ready for the rigors of the TAC. I believe a structured mentorship will be a better way to achieve that goal.

My motto is partnership. I believe that future CST's and I can work together and we can grow together. And I have some ideas on how we can benefit each other. Interested?

Check out the CST Mentorship Program!Contact me to discuss further!