The Business Case for a Scrum Master

The financial benefits of hiring full-time Scrum Masters A Scrum Master has a manager-level position’s accountability, scope, and responsibilities. Here is a rundown: Removes impediments, minimizes distractions, enhances emergent planning and feedback loops, upholds quality standards, eliminates barriers to efficiency and effectiveness, and does whatever else is required to keep the team’s concentration on getting…

4 Adaptions of Scrum with Kanban

Scrum AND Kanban — Learn the 4 Adaptions & 4 Metrics that Matter

Combine Scrum and Kanban, two Complementary Approaches to Getting Things Done Teams who wish to combine both frameworks may do so successfully with four adaptions and four data-driven elements to design improvements. Scrum is a good choice for teams working on incremental delivery of something. The team has enough information to start and reasonably forecast…

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Scrum Master Power-Ups

3 Practices to Break out of Cruise Control & Drive Change If the outcome of an effective Scrum Master is to create a high-performing, self-managing team, the litmus test may be — what happens when you are not there? The Ultimate Litmus Test: Go on Vacation Mike Cohn describes a high-performing team as one that…

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3 Steps to Break out of Your Mental Sand Traps

Improve your decision-making and avoid three mental hazards for a year of great choices Have you ever been stuck at a decision point, trapped in uncertainty or paralysis analysis? Or have you had the experience of making a poor decision? It would be hard to find someone who doesn’t relate to one or the other.…

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Practical Fibonacci: The Journey to Predictability-Part II

by Julee Everett Agile transformations, in particular, Scrum, often tout “predictability” as a benefit. This concept is a critical component of success, and I find we don’t spend enough time at the beginning on how to achieve predictable delivery. It mostly comes through practice, but some organizations quit before they achieve success and then blame…

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Practical Fibonacci: A Beginner’s Guide to Relative Sizing-Part I

Overview of Agile Estimating Absolute vs. Relative Sizing When more is known than unknown, use absolute estimating. A traditional or Waterfall software development lifecycle includes a long and detailed planning period to define requirements before beginning development. Absolute estimating is the practice of applying an hourly, finite estimate to each requirement. Absolute estimating may seem…

Agile Product Consulting Toolkit

Agile Product Consulting Toolkit 5 Key Areas to Excel as a Product Consultant or Product Coach There is a new acronym trending: VUCA. It stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. VUCA perfectly describes our world, accelerated by the pandemic and a low-touch digital economy. The good news is, there is an answer. The antidote…

Agile 2021: Negotiation Techniques for Stakeholder Management

We had a great time presenting at Agile 2021! Unfortunately, the workshops at the conference are not recorded. So we decided to make them available via other channels. For the materials, the best is to visit the original Medium blog, which has links to the long negotiation recording, a worksheet to download to practice while…