Blog: Agile & Business

Who is Scrum for?

November 27, 2012

A few months ago someone I know and respect in the Agile community said that they do agile to make the world safe for programmers. This phrase has stuck with me. I don’t know how seriously the person meant it. I suspect it was partially a joke and partially a stronger statement than one might […]

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Joe’s Agile Release Planning

October 30, 2012

I have written a new booklet that I want you to have (I think you will find it useful) and also to comment on. It is about Agile Release Planning. [Note: It was a booklet, it is now a book.  See: https://leanpub.com/joesagilereleaseplanning] It proposes that agile release planning consists of these major steps (at least): […]

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Two Levels of (Agile) Planning

October 30, 2012

Almost all firms that I work with have at least two levels of planning.  I call them “high level” and “team level.”  High Level At the high level, project or product ideas come in.  Someone has to prioritize these opportunities initially, to see which ones make the cut.  Often this is formally done once a […]

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Something Unexpected

October 19, 2012

What do we do when something unexpected happens? “The readiness is all,” said Hamlet. So we must be ready.  Ready to meet that new thing, that innovation, that crazy idea, that new person…more than half-way. Yes, we may be skeptical. Yes, as Polonius says (careful grandmotherly type that he may be)…we must try our friends […]

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3 Methods to increase Business Value

October 13, 2012

Yesterday I enjoyed talking to Southern Fried Agile, the local one-day agile conference in Charlotte.  My topic was: Three Steps Toward Greater Business Value. I was pleased to see many participants wanted to discuss this subject. So much so, that the organizers decided to run the session twice. I am happy this is considered an […]

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Agile Release Planning is not about the Plan

September 28, 2012

Here is one key observation about release planning from the past week and a half. I have been working in France.  I have worked with 3 different companies, and a bunch of great people. In the third class, we did a 2-day workshop.  The Workshop was mainly about agile release planning, using the real work […]

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Choosing a Scrum course/trainer

September 22, 2012

This is a question I get from time to time: How should I choose between one course/trainer and another? This is an important question and deserves some thought.  It does not deserve, in my opinion, a simple answer, as one might get from Zagat’s about a restaurant. The choice is different than choosing yet another […]

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The Team and the Implementer Role

August 27, 2012

There has been, in several places, some good discussion about the roles in Scrum.  And often the discussion turns (explicitly or implicitly) to ‘what is the Team and what does it mean?’ The Team The full team is what is most important.  Product Owner (PO), ScrumMaster (SM), and Implementers.  Together.  About 7 in total. Ideally […]

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The PO – The Team – The Daily Scrum

August 25, 2012

I have some different views on this topic, and wanted to share them. Your comments are of course welcome. I am NOT asking what is or should be in the Scrum Guide. Or whichever ‘scrum bible’ you use. (In general, I prefer the Scrum Guide.) I am sharing my thoughts and experiences, together, taught me.  […]

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Refactoring the Release Plan

August 18, 2012

At the end of the last post, I had completed the initial release plan. What were the key outcomes? [This is one in a series of posts about release planning. Search (see right) on Release Planning to find many others.] We had a product backlog.  The plan had some sort of scope, date and budget.  […]

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