Scrum Archives - Page 2 of 2

02Mar 2017 by jerrye316@aol.com

Technical Health Over Technical Debt

agile, Agile testing, Scrum, Technical debt, Technical health

Technical health is a better term than technical debt to describe the concept of keeping software code "clean". The original blog, which explains and compares these terms, was updated and re-posted under Technical Health for the New Year. Please take time to follow the link to view. And make your resolutions to regularly adopt and improve your practices to maintain your "technical health!"

23Feb 2017 by jerrye316@aol.com

Agile Testing – A Different Type of Feeling

agile, Agile testing, Scrum

Agile testing differs from testing within the traditional software development environment. In Agile, testers are team members working closely with developers and are partners in delivering quality. Traditional testing generally is performed by a separate test group from the developers. I emphasize the testing differences by looking at two scenarios and focus on two different types of "feelings" which result. Many of my Agile and Scrum classes are to train organizations who are migrating from traditional software development processes. Typically, these organizations have Development groups which are separate from the Quality Assurance (QA) groups. In most cases, the groups even report upward through different management chains. The traditional process is for development to write and unit test the code (maybe other automated or regression tests) and then submit it to QA for further enhanced…

10Feb 2017 by jerrye316@aol.com

Predictive Agility – When will we get there?

agile, Predictive Agility, Scrum

I will describe how maturing Agile projects can actually provide more transparency into the current project status and estimates with higher confidence levels than those typically used in traditional project planning. I will call this "Predictive Agility". I will focus more on Scrum but the same principles apply to other Agile methodologies like Kanban. Many executive and managers who are considering adopting Agile have the misconception that Agile projects do not have the ability to give an estimate of when a product release will be ready for launch. In their roles, they need to communicate the status and projections of new products to potential customers, stakeholders, and business shareholders. In some cases, a product must have new features and be ready by a certain date or else there is no reason to start…

31Jan 2017 by jerrye316@aol.com

More Pigs Less Chickens – Commitment vs Involvement

agile, Scrum, sprint

In an earlier version of the Scrum Guide, there was a reference to a cartoon where a chicken asks a pig to start a restaurant named "Ham and Eggs". The pig declines by stating that he would be "committed" and the chicken would only be "involved". The guide version implied that only the three Scrum roles of Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Team were pigs and everyone else was a chicken. This reference was removed in the 2011 version of the Scrum Guide. To see the cartoon and learn more details about the meaning, view the discussion at AgileForAll. The results of the Sprint Planning meeting were also changed from the Team "committing" to "forecasting" which work items would be completed for the Sprint. The reasons for the change have been discussed…

26Jan 2017 by jerrye316@aol.com

Beginning an Agile transformation

agile, Scrum

Your teams and organization are excited about adopting Agile. You have read all the promises of success, and people have been trained in the latest practices. Then you begin the transformation only to discover that productivity actually goes down. People become unsure about their new roles and responsibilities. What happens next is crucial. Agile adoption involves a mindset shift as well as a behavior change. These require work and continued support from management and other resources. In many cases, there may need to be additional help brought in for coaching, training, or facilitation. It is important to understand that this is a journey which will take some time to complete. Set realistic goals. I often recommend building expertise by adopting Agile at first on some smaller projects. I call it "Iterative…

25Jan 2017 by jerrye316@aol.com

Does Agile really lead to Success?

agile, Scrum

The name of the current site is Agile2Success. Today more software development organizations are adopting Agile and implementing methods such as Scrum or Kanban. I often hear people say "our company is now agile". When I ask them to explain what that means, I find that little has changed in how they are working. At best the adoption means some form of "hybrid" agile, and it is justified by saying the word agile implies we can pick and choose what to adopt. So why are companies at least attempting to be Agile? In several surveys, data shows that Agile projects are significantly likely to be more successful or have fewer failure than traditional Waterfall projects. Successful means that the project delivered value (enough features) on time and within budget. Failure means…