Why Do Some (Developers & Managers) Hate Agile?

Agile development. Love it or hate it, there’s no doubt that it’s here to stay. We’ve enjoyed a great deal of success thanks to agile software development and agile project management methods. We can look as an example the firms with “names like pieces of fruit” . They are not “$30 billion firms.” In fact some of them are now much larger than the old traditional management 20th Century “giants.” Apple for instance is now more than four times the size of IBM. , but not everyone like agile. Why?

How to build great agile teams?

Building successful teams is a key factor in making a success of your Agile transformation. In fact, Agile transformation will not succeed without teams that collaborate effectively and efficiently.  building agile teams But building an Agile team requires a lot more than defining your Agile team roles and finding warm bodies to fill them. Agile visionaries believed that teamwork is essential to delivering great software and that great agile teams embody "we" rather than “I." Nothing is more rewarding than sharing the adventure of building something that truly matters with engaged teammates.

Why Self-Selecting Teams is such a great concept? Sandy Mamoli (@smamol ), Nomad8 & David Mole

Self-selection is a facilitated process of letting people self-organise into small, cross-functional teams. We think it is the fastest and most efficient way to form stable teams, based on the belief that people are at their happiest and most productive if they can choose what they work on and who they work with.

Why is it crucial to Understand the system and system dynamics in any adoption of lean and agile principles?Systems Thinking

Why is the behavior of a large development group (a system) not understood or guided skillfully? 
A development or product organization for example is a system of people and policies with subtle feedback loops and unintended consequences, they have complex positive and negative feedback loops and nonlinear behavior. The behavior of these systems defies our gut instinct. And then there is the minor issue of people .
Understanding the system and system dynamics is crucial for any adoption of lean and agile principles.

Dealing with geographically distributed agile teams

The world is going global, so geographically distributed agile teams are here to stay. What are the challenges and how can we make this happen?

Scrum roles exercises

What's your role activities? 1:1 session example. #scrum

2-3 hour, that can be divided it to 2 sessions if needed .

You can use this with any role..

The goals of this session is to actively discuss the activities and the responsibilities  of the current scrum role throughout the scrum framework in an intimate 1:1 session.

I usually use this type of activity when we are dealing with an organization that the scrum framework is already implemented and also has some unique organization tips and activities into it. For this case we need to fine-tune specific personal to the scrum role activities and responsibilities , train, teach and coaches them to the way they are expected to perform and of course get their feedback.

Its also a great opportunity to collect some process pains and deepen our view over the scrum transition in this organization.

1/ explain the meeting purpose

2/ (10 minutes)

Ask the trainee to draw on the board his/ hers understanding of the flow/process of his/her work inside the scrum framework in the organization.

3/ once the drawing is created look carefully on the board, and share your reflections with your trainee.

For example, a product owner that draw the "sprint' area with no details or no ceremonies: wjat does it mean to you as a coach and to this product owner perception of her/hos role ? You may ask about it.

Write note to where you would like to put and emphases later on in your conversation.

4/ (10 minutes) explain the next steps of the exercise, but just before executing the next step take one example and use it to explain the next step.

 ,

For example : "Next . We will take some time and some sticky notes to write down our role activities and responsibilities in each and every step of this flow. You will stick those notes on the board while doing so."  "As an example lets take the "pre-planning" session. Write down your expected role activities and responsibilities….." once  she/he are done "Lets talk about it."

5/ (10 minutes)  Now, ask the trainee to take some time and some sticky notes to write down your role activities and responsibilities in each and every step of this flow. Ask the trainee to stick those notes on the board while doing so.

6/ 60 min - go over the drawing , an talk about each point of the flow..

** If not existing make sure to add to the flow other points of discussion such as : relation to other roles , specific organization role activities and more…

Scrumble – an Agile board game

Scrumble was created in 2014 in the whimsical spirit of Romain Trocherie, an Agile coach and Scrum Master at Pyxis Suisse. After all, if Scrum comes partly from a game, why not create a game on Scrum? That was the original idea.
Game design and experiments lasted for weeks, and Scrumble will continue to evolve based on your experiences. For any comments or suggestions, please contact Romain by email at rtrocherie@pyxis-tech.com.
Licence and user rights: The Scrumble game is completely free, playable by everyone, regardless of place and time. However, we want to highlight that this required a s...