First, a bit of background. I was a project manager at a small software company and was very limited in my understanding of technology. It hampered my ability to effectively communicate with customers and my engineering team. So I started dabbling in code with the hopes that it would make…

As a Scrum Master, I often get feedback and requests from the teams and companies I work with about “practical” uses of Scrum. It is understandable because, at the end of the day, the goal is to use Scrum, or any other tool or framework, to achieve product objectives effectively. …

Deadlines are often arbitrary, almost always flexible, and hardly ever trigger the consequences we think — or are told — they will. —Chris Voss, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It A complaint (read: misconception) I hear a lot about Agile is that you can’t…

In my past life as a project manager, there was one practice in my toolbelt that I found invaluable: risk management. Although I don’t quite agree with those formal risk management methods anymore, in the context of my work at the time it was critical to have a fully fleshed…

Who doesn’t love planning? Weddings, road trips, diet programs, retirement savings. As human beings, we have the ability to imagine a desired future which we can then use to chart a path. “Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve.” — Napoleon Hill It can feel natural to…

It’s no secret that Scrum is the framework of choice for most Agile adoptions. And it’s easy to see why. The Scrum Guide is about ten pages when printed, so just about anyone can pick up and start plugging in parts that make sense in their existing system. Sprints. Daily…

This new year looks a lot different from past ones. Many of us are still figuring out working from home vs the office, but there isn’t that same glimmer of hope from the previous year. …

Although Scrum is intended to be a lightweight framework, its implementation and benefits are common grounds for debate. And while it’s true that Scrum doesn’t work for every team culture or makeup, I often find that the source of animosity towards Scrum is misplaced. …

Clarifying commitments in Scrum with the latest guide — Tell me if this story sounds familiar to you. A project manager is planning the schedule for a large project and asks the development team for estimates. They provide them, although they might be a bit optimistic. …