Agile Answers

What should we do instead of painful “Annual Planning”? Jan 18, 2022

🎉 The podcast is BACK!

Before we jump into the show, I want to invite you to join me for the LIVE Open Space event I’m hosting on January 27th, 2022!

Now on with the show! 🎉

If your organization is like most, you’re rushing around a bit more than usual right now.

Why? Because it’s the start of a new year, and leaders in your organization are insisting on “annual planning”. They want a plan for 2022 that will set you up for success.

Sadly, big upfront planning rarely works for the complex, ever-changing work we all do.

Thankfully, there’s something else you can do that’ll no doubt be more invigorating, and will likely give you and the rest of your team the boost they need to make 2022 awesome.

Mentioned in this episode:

Agile Mastery Open Space on January 27th, 2022
Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide by Harrison Owen

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

Agile Virtual Summit Preview: Lyssa Adkins May 16, 2020

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Before the show: Join me for our LIVE Open Space event on January 27th, 2022!
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There are few people in the agile world that have had a bigger impact on our work than Lyssa. In this episode, we’ll talk about her upcoming session at the Agile Virtual Summit entitled Running Around Like Crazy? Use Agile on Yourself! (it’s harder than it seems but really worth it). She’ll even share some brand new news about her book Coaching Agile Teams, which is approaching its 10 year anniversary.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get your Agile Virtual Summit tickets for FREE at https://AgileVirtualSummit.com
Find out more about Lyssa Adkins
…and of course Lyssa’s book: Coaching Agile Teams

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

How do we make sure we have cross-functional teams and why does it matter? Jun 01, 2017

Every once in a while I stumble upon a facilitation tool that works so well I’m a little shocked. Recently I was helping several teams work together to create a backlog for their large project and I had a sneaking suspicion that the teams they had formed were not truly cross-functional. The trouble was, as an agile coach who had just parachuted in to do some training and coaching around their complex project, I didn’t absolutely *know* that they didn’t have cross-functional teams. Thankfully there were some stickers in the room, and my Red Dots of DEATH activity was born. The activity is amazingly simple, and quickly helps teams and organizations uncover for themselves if they have properly formed teams.

If your team is struggling to deliver value every sprint because your work is dependent on the work of people outside your immediate team, this episode is for you.

Mentioned in this episode:

Jeff Patton’s book Story Mapping and his free PDF on the same topic
Red Dots 😉

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

What agile practices can you recommend to our game development studio? May 17, 2017

Whether you build video games for a living, or just like playing them for fun today’s episode will help you improve your Scrum implementation. I’m always looking for practical tips on how teams can improve their work together and my friend Clinton Keith (who wrote Agile Game Development with Scrum) just came out with a new book called Gear Up! Advanced Game Development Practices. This book is a treasure trove of 88 bite sized tips, tools, and tricks your team can use TODAY. While the thrust of the book is video game development, an Agilist working in any space will find useful practices they can employ in their work.

Gear Up recently captured the #1 spot on LeanPub’s best-seller list: https://leanpub.com/GearUp

To celebrate the book’s upcoming release on Amazon, Clinton has offered to give away 5 free copies of the kindle book! Enter the free drawing at http://weisbart.com/giveaways/gear-up and increase your chances of winning by telling your friends about the contest after you enter.

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

How do we remove silos when doing government contract work using Scrum? May 10, 2017

Ed works for a government integrator and is finding it very difficult to deliver thin vertical slices of functionality every sprint. The difficulty is that, by law, his company cannot have access to the full system they’re working on. I’ve enlisted the help of my friend Patrick McConnell, who’s an Agilist with tons of government experience to help me tackle this thorny issue. While this question mainly applies to government integrators, the discussion will likely spur some ideas on how you can help remove silos in your organization and improve your definition of done.

A non-scrum related note about Patrick: He was on an episode of Marketplace. The episode is charming and wonderful. You should listen to it: https://www.marketplace.org/2015/10/09/life/transaction/transaction-bar-tab

How awesome is your Daily Scrum? http://DailyScrumQuiz.com

Looking for scrum course? http://weisbart.com/available-workshops/

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

How should we form new Scrum teams? May 03, 2017

In my courses and coaching, I’m often asked how a Scrum team should be formed. Since the Scrum Guide gives no guidance on this, organizations usually decide to have managers form these new teams. Sadly, this approach doesn’t work well in the long run for a myriad of reasons.

Thankfully, there’s a better way.

On today’s show, I’ll have a conversation with Adam Hsu, Gabe Abella, Jason Newberg, and Natalie Veilleux of JP Morgan Chase, whom I met while giving an opening keynote at their internal developer’s conference last year. These four fantastic agile coaches use the approach I recommend to all my clients regarding forming teams. I think you’ll benefit from hearing their real-world experience forming teams.

Mentioned in this episode:

Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) @ J.P. Morgan by Craig Larman & Matt Winn: https://www.infoq.com/articles/large-scale-scrum-jomorgan
How to Form Teams in Large-Scale Scrum? A Story of Self-Designing Teams:
https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/articles/2013/2013-april/how-to-form-teams-in-large-scale-scrum-a-story-of
Into the Wind is a documentary on WWII bomber crews from England. During the movie, they talk about how they self-formed bomber crews:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1656180/
Video clips from my Opening Keynote at J.P. Morgan’s internal developers conference: http://weisbart.com/book-adam/

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

Disclaimer: Any opinions or personal views expressed by the guests of this episode are their own and not those of JP Morgan Chase

How can we have good retrospectives (about our Scrum Master)? Apr 27, 2017

The podcast is BACK!

Today’s question comes from Stig, who is wondering how to help his team give honest and constructive feedback to their Scrum Master during retrospectives. We’ll talk about an approach you can use to help your team to break through the power imbalance that might be keeping them from sharing useful information with your Scrum Master.

Mentioned in this episode:

Join my free 5-day Daily Scrum Challenge on June 12th. Start by checking out how awesome your current Daily Scrum is at http://DailyScrumQuiz.com

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

When’s the podcast coming back? May 26, 2016

I’ve gotten the same question from several different people over the last several weeks”What happened to the podcast?” and “Is it ever coming back?”.

<< Spoiler Alert >> Yes it’s coming back. Soon

Listen to this quick update to find out what the heck happened to it.

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

How do we self-organize if our boss is on our team? Feb 16, 2016

Today’s question come from an anonymous source. “Stifled Scrummer” says that their boss is on their team, which makes self-organization difficult. Stifled is wondering what tips I have for helping them deal with this organizational impediment.

Mentioned in this episode:

Free chapter of Agile Antipatterns

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show?

How do we deal with constant interruptions to our Sprint? Jan 28, 2016

We’ll take a look at why teams often use user stories to capture agile requirements and how the format often gets misused. If a user story isn’t a detailed requirement, then what is it?

Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes.

Do you have a question for the show? Submit it at http://GetAgileAnswers.com

Can a User Story be too long? Ours seem insane! Jan 20, 2016

We’ll take a look at why teams often use user stories to capture agile requirements and how the format often gets misused. If a user story isn’t a detailed requirement, then what is it? Mentioned in this episode: User Story Mapping by Jeff Patton Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate...

Can our Scrum Master and Product Owner be the same person? Jan 13, 2016

Andrew’s organization is small. Since the company is small, they’ve decided that the Product Owner and Scrum Master need to be the same person. We’ll discuss the possible pitfalls of mixing these two roles and what can be done instead. Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes. Do...

What 1 simple thing can I do to improve my coaching & scrum mastering? Jan 07, 2016

I’ve been meditating daily for around 3 years, which has hugely improved my skill as an agile coach due to the focus it helps promote. In this episode my friend Hala asks for tips on how to get started. Since I think every agile coach and scrum master can benefit from setting aside a few minutes...

How do I get hired as a ScrumMaster if I’ve never been one before? Dec 01, 2015

Susan wants to get a new job as a Scrum Master. The problem? She’s never been a Scrum Master before and it seems that employers are only hiring people with experience. She has become a Certified Scrum Master, but that alone isn’t doing the trick. In this episode, we’ll explore how she can improve her...

Our team wants to be more agile. What agile process is best? Nov 03, 2015

Alex’s team wants to be more agile, and he’s wondering what process they should try first. With so many approaches out there, how does one pick the right one? Even though I’m a Certified Scrum Trainer, my answer might surprise you. Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes....

How do we improve our giant, multi-team Sprint Review session (or Sprint Reviews in general)? Oct 27, 2015

Dae-Ho’s organization has multiple Scrum teams, and one giant all-day Sprint Review. People come and go throughout the day, and stakeholders are not always present. He wonders if there’s a better way to do things. Even if your company only has one Scrum team, the tips in this episode will likely help improve your Sprint...

What are some creative & effective ways to make Retrospectives more engaging? Oct 13, 2015

Anthony is looking for ways to make the Scrum meetings more engaging and useful. In this episode I’ll talk about how to get your team engaged in Retrospectives by making them FUN! If your team feels stuck, tools in this episode will help you break out of old patterns. If you’re already enjoying your retrospectives, this episode will...

Will this hurt my Daily Scrum? And how do we deal with “non-dev” work? Oct 05, 2015

Jamie has two questions: the first is about the Daily Scrum, the second is about how to account for work a team needs to do that doesn’t directly affect the product they’re building. I’ll answer both questions this episode, and let you know how you can help shape the podcast moving forward. Help improve the...

How do I escaped the dreaded ‘Scrummerfall’ trap? Sep 29, 2015

Duncan’s team has switched from waterfall to an iterative approach. Their iterations are 2 weeks in length, but it seems the team is just doing mini-waterfalls in the two-week timebox. I’ll share the 3 simple steps teams can take to extract themselves from this common agile antipattern. Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate...

How do you help PMs and Managers not fall back into their waterfall ways? Sep 22, 2015

Switching from waterfall to an agile approach can be difficult. Managers, PMs, and others often cling to their old command-and-control ways in order to feel comfortable and, well, “in control”. Raj asks how he can help his organization move forward and improve their agile implementation despite this. Dave Prior, CST, PMP, and AAGG (All Around...

Our teams keep changing. How do I set guidelines that keep teams together? Sep 15, 2015

illConstantly moving people from team to team hurts the teams in question, the individuals being moved around, and the organizations they serve. Amanda asks what guidelines can be put in place to help protect against this. You’ll learn a handy game you can use during coaching conversations with management and teams that helps illustrate how...

How do you make sure your team has time to make the improvements they identify in their Retros? Sep 05, 2015

Does your team identify process improvements in your Retrospective then find it hard to make time during the next sprint to actually implement the improvements? You’re not alone. In this episode I’ll answer Cheryl’s question by suggesting 3 steps to help combat this issue. Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate...

When should the business stakeholders get help from the dev team to get items ready for work? Sep 05, 2015

When’s the right time to get the development team and business stakeholders together to discuss requirements? Marcy is struggling with a few challenges around this topic, so my friend Luke Walter, CST stopped by and we tackled it together. We also ate tacos. Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it...

How do I energize a demotivated Scrum team? Sep 04, 2015

Angela recently joined an existing team as their new ScrumMaster. Unfortunately the team is a bit shell-shocked from their old ScrumMaster’s command-and-control ways. I’ll offer up several approaches to help her team get energized about Scrum again. Like the podcast? I’d love it if you’d take 60 seconds to rate it in iTunes. Mentioned in the show: Agile...

Mic Check! 1…2…3… Sep 04, 2015

Introducing the Agile Answers Podcast! Every week I’ll answer a question submitted by a listener, and will give you no-nonsense real-world tips, tricks, and techniques to help you improve your agile kung-fu. At around 10 minutes per episode, you’ll get tons of value with no sleep inducing droning! Subscribe now and get notified when the next episode is...

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