Category Archives: Better Agile

Ideas Behind Agile Planning: It Helps to Have a Plan

Revised: 11/21/2020 (Original: 9/21/2020). This idea is a bit controversial, depending on who you talk to. First, let’s agree partly with the opposite idea. It can be painful to have a plan.  It can hurt.  Especially if managers will lock the “delivery date” in stone, as we say, and want to punish us if we […]

Webinar: On Agile Managers (2 parts)

This is another in our Webinar Series. The overall topic is building agile managers. For this session, I propose two sub-topics, to give us some focus within this huge topic. Two Sub-Topics: How do we want the Manager interacting with the Team? So, we are limiting it this time to one manager and one team.  […]

Webinar: Overview of the Team Level Up Workshop

We are giving a free webinar about our Team Level Up workshop. We have given this workshop 3 times recently.   Clients are very happy. The basic idea is to take a new/existing team (or teams) and do two things. (1) Get all the team members and surrounding people on the same page.  Level set.  […]

Ideas behind Agile Planning: Iterative and Incremental

When we start the work (and the plan) we do not know everything. As I have suggested, if we know half of everything we need to know (to have a perfect plan) that, in my experience, would be a better-than-average start. So, we start. And we start with the notion that the plan will never […]

AC: Starting a Great Team

This Agile Carolinas session we will discuss some sub-topics. As before, we will use open space-like rules. Main topic: How to start a great team? Some possible sub-topics (you will get to decide that day): What are the prerequisites? How to gather a great team. What would make a great first project How can the […]

Webinar: Creating A Real Team & Better Sprint Planning Meeting

This is another in our Webinar Series. Two Topics: Creating a Real Team. What is a real team and how do you help create one. A better Sprint Planning Meeting Running a better Sprint Planning Meeting.  Who to include, how to prepare, what steps to include. *** I will present some ideas. Briefly.  And attendees […]

Agile Carolinas: Open Space Topic – Agile Transformation

Agile Carolinas has recently had some awesome meetings on this topic of Agile Transformation. Now we want to do an Open Space event on the subject.   Topics might be: * Dealing with middle-level resistance * Getting stable teams * Getting teams set up well for success (the team, the product vision, the situation) * […]

Ideas Behind Agile Planning: Prioritize Our Stupidity

We could phrase this as “prioritize our learning,” but I find it fun and a good chuckle to be humble enough to admit we are stupid. Human beings, at least in regard to planning, are stupid in two ways: (1) incompletely informed, and (2) we just do stupid things. But I am referring particularly to the initial […]

Webinar: Aggressively Attacking Impediments & Using Business Value Points

This is the next in a series of webinars on topics of interest to you. WHEN: August 13, 2020 from 2-3 p.m. PRICE: The cost is $5 to join the conversation—a nominal charge. Your Questions The purpose of these webinars is to help you. Please tell me if you have a topic of special interest. […]

Team Level Up Workshop

Next week I am doing an Team Level Up workshop. I’m excited. The point of the workshop is two-fold: (a) Level set. This is to level set amongst the whole team. Get the all on the same page about agile-scrum. It is common that your Team now has experienced and inexperienced people. People who were […]