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The concept of using Scrum-of-Scrums meetings for large projects following the Scrum approach presents major problems. Mike Cohn has written on the subject. So has Tim Bowler. I think it is more complicated than they suggest. Let’s say you have a project with 100 people assigned. I know 100 people seems like a lot but […]

Agile approaches to software development are often criticized for failing to visualize the big picture from which a robust software architecture can emerge. When you are focused on small stories, short time frames, and quick deliveries, broad-based system and user design issues can easily be neglected. But, is this a fundamental weakness of agile teams? […]

So, your team is using Scrum and it’s not working. Symptoms include the following: Sprints are not delivering the stories as promised. Sprints are taking longer and longer. The number of defects found during testing is high and there’s no time for fixes. Morale is low as the team struggles and becomes argumentative. The natural […]

Many agile development teams struggle with the concept of delivering shippable software at the end of every iteration — that’s every 1 or 2 weeks in many cases. Many agile experts advocate keeping stories brief. That’s a good idea, and I’ve advocated it myself, but it’s not enough. There are times when 1-2 weeks or […]

There Are Many Pitfalls to Agile Adoption Do you want to try Scrum, XP, Kanban or any other agile approach and see how it goes? Great, go for it — just be sure to implement it in a sustainable fashion. Too often, teams try a new approach but don’t prepare fully, don’t execute well, and […]

Getting the business community to actively participate during agile software development can be tough. Hey, they have other things to do and creating software is our job not theirs! Assuming you can get them interested and willing to commit their time, the bigger challenge is keeping them engaged. How do you do that? Encourage feedback […]

An agile PMO? Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? PMOs are generally viewed as the project police. They often seem to do everything they can to slow everyone down and promote mediocrity. But wait. Appearances can be deceiving. Let’s start with a definition. What is a PMO? I’m referring to a Project Management Office, also […]

How many agile methodologies are there? If you were to include variations on a theme, I think the number would be almost infinite. Let’s stick to basics. Here’s a brief rundown of the approaches that software development teams can use to be agile: Scrum – Probably, the most widely used agile approach — if you […]

Let’s say that you’ve just been assigned a new project. It is just the kind of project you would like to do. It looks like the business folks are on board and ready to provide support and, most importantly, funding. What now? Where do you begin? You could start identifying the people you’ll need to […]

James Shore and Shane Warden developed a self-assessment quiz for software development teams. It is included in their book, The Art Of Agile Development. Most of us seem to like surveys, quizzes, and questionnaires. They often help us gather our thoughts and explore topics in greater depth. The downside is their superficial nature. It’s hard […]

Agile teams should deliver working software after each sprint. Sounds good. What does it really mean? Ideally, the team should be delivering value to the business with each sprint. Of course, the term value is equally obscure. Ultimately, what works or has value is up to the end users to decide. Obviously, they don’t understand […]

Agile software development goes by many aliases… Scrum Kanban eXtreme Programming (XP) Test-Driven Development Feature-Driven Development Agile Unified Process Open Unified Process Lean Software Development I’m sure I missed a few but you get the idea. There are many flavors of agile. It’s not surprising that there is controversy among agilists resulting in strong disagreements […]

Agile teams must be self-organizing. You hear it all the time. Self-organizing. What does that mean? If you’re a paranoid manager, it means that the team plans to run wild and do whatever they want, however they want. That’s not self-organized, it’s anarchy. If you’re a crazed product stakeholder, it means the team is going […]

Some agile projects are doomed from the start. They simply cannot get going. The team brainstorms with the business folks, defines requirements, creates mock-ups, conducts feedback sessions — then repeats the process again and again. They have paved the road to nowhere. How does this happen? How can a team of software engineers and managers […]

In agile software development, it’s widely believed that every Scrum sprint should result in software that is ready to ship. The theory is that the team will be able to stop or suspend development at the end of any sprint and ship the software to the end users. This means that the team is always […]

One of the big challenges on any major software project is maintaining a high level of enthusiasm. When the team and the stakeholders are enthusiastic, ideas flow and things happen. Enthusiasm creates energy. One of the reasons agile software development is successful is its ability to maintain a high level of enthusiasm within the team. […]

The agile approach to software development has difficulty succeeding in big companies. This seems odd and almost counter intuitive but is simple to explain. Big companies establish lots of policies and procedures. They are constantly in search of the cookie-cutter approach to solving problems and building things. Big companies are focused on performance and scalability. […]

Agile software development has massively increased in popularity over the last decade. Scrum, in particular, has attracted enormous attention. That’s the good news. The downside shows itself when teams adopt agile methods and cut corners. They skimp on training and coaching. They leave out techniques they don’t like. They add elements from waterfall that are […]

Agile software development is often criticized for lack of detailed plans and associated control points. Many managers would like to see gantt charts for agile projects containing carefully laid out tasks and deliverables. Yes, the gantt chart is the ultimate project planning tool. Why? Because it offers the illusion of control. Have you ever taken […]

Estimating is hard. Hours, days, dollars, story points, function points, use case points, lines of codes … whatever — they are all tough. The only reliable estimates are based on prior experience. If you have never performed a task before there is simply no way to estimate how long it will take YOU. 3 people […]