Is it not worth planning and estimating because I’ll never hit the target anyway? In general, people are not good at making accurate estimates, but the good news is that people tend to make more accurate estimates when the scope is smaller. This happens, among other reasons, because the amount of "unknowns" is significantly [...]
Most change programs focus on activities, the actions through which changes are implemented. However, far too often, people are ultimately unaware of the change because it wasn't communicated. When thinking about and designing a change, it is crucial to begin with how it will be communicated. This can even change the design of the [...]
The role and responsibilities of a manager have significantly changed in today's complex world compared to the past. Companies that have understood this can produce the right products faster and with greater calm. If you have not yet adapted your role as a manager, it may already be too late. Doers and Thinkers Before [...]
Everyone reacts to change differently. For some, change is an immediate stress; others are more dominated by fear of change, while some immediately start looking for solutions. Some of us look for reasons for change before we start changing things. Some just shrug their shoulders and make the change. And some will not make [...]
Jan, a dedicated Product Owner. The product backlog is the cornerstone of every agile team. It embodies customer wishes, business vision and strategy, the dreams of technologists, and solutions to operational concerns. Over time, however, the backlog becomes a bit of a mess. We put everything into it to make sure nothing is forgotten. [...]
Companies that are too focused on themselves can easily fall into solutions they consider minimal and functional. However, the customer might have a different perspective. And with the right minimal solution, you are just one question away. About Push Notifications A successful corporation with a million users of its mobile app decided to add [...]
In today's fast-paced, complex world, successful organizations rely on a culture of continuous feedback. Only then can they effectively adapt to organizational changes and operational shifts. Alena and Her Scrum Masters Let's start with a brief story from a few weeks ago. Alena, a PMO director overseeing Scrum Masters, regularly collects feedback from agile [...]
Meaningful and successful changes are achieved by tuning into the outcome you want to achieve, not the problems you need to solve. Using the inverse mental model helps align people and create an environment that supports innovative approaches to solutions, focusing not just on problem-solving but on a new status quo. Ivan, a manager [...]
Have you noticed how you approach the menu in a traditional restaurant compared to a modern one? Traditional restaurants aim to attract customers with a wide variety of options. Their menu often resembles a thick booklet, requiring effort to navigate. It takes time, and not everyone has the patience to find the specialty the [...]
How to break free from the traditional way of estimation in projects with the help of Agile estimation techniques and principles? Estimation is a widespread practice that businesses impose a significant emphasis on. Businesses include the estimation in their processes as a must-have part. Typical reasons for the estimation include the following: To understand the [...]
From our personal experience, we are all aware that with a lot of work and outside pressures, working on your personal development, trying to unite and move forward a team of people can be quite tricky, especially as we share our personal challenges. That’s why at ScrumDesk, we decided to gather a number of [...]
It happened once again. 2nd level support teams (outside of scrum/agile) raised new incidents towards the scrum teams (3rd level support). How to prioritize work between business requirements and non-business requirements where the Product Owner is focused primarily on business requirements? Product Owners should not focus on business requirements only. The Product Owner [...]
Should you use story points for a team of developers developing multiple systems? The situation This question was asked by scrum masters who's teams are not ideal agile teams as the company introduces agile in multiple steps. Their team typically consists of experts focused on web, ledger, back- ends PHP / Java. They are [...]
Previously, we’ve shown you how to write a great elevator statement and some real-life examples. In this post, we’ll show you why you should start writing an elevator statement right now and how it can help you not just create a valuable product for the customer, but also make the development easier. An elevator [...]
We focused the second part of our elevator statement series on working with real-life examples and showing you similar tools. Learn how to improve an elevator statement by using our tips and asking the questions we discussed in the first post. The first elevator statement Let’s take a look at an example of an [...]
What value your product brings? Can you explain in 30 seconds? You want to build a meaningful product that brings value to customers. But how can you do your best to stay on the right track? To focus on the features that matter or create a product that customers want to buy? Start with [...]
Understand the reasons, not just the process. Scrum's been around for over two decades and is helping many people successfully develop new products faster and more efficiently. This framework was officially first introduced to the public in 1995 by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, but as the authors say, it's not anything that hasn't [...]
How to split user stories properly? In previous articles you could read more on the split by workflow steps and by operations. This article brings examples on the user stories splitting by business rules variation. Business rules The business works in very complex environment. Complex technologies, global competition, complex design of [...]
Agile and Scrum have become widely used in IT and even though the advantages of this framework are numerous, some people don’t like it. A lot of them had their own experience with Scrum, particularly with bad Scrum. Attending 45 minutes long “daily stand-ups”, a Scrum Master demanding overtime because the other team’s velocity [...]
Being agile means receiving feedback, accepting it and changing. To get feedback you probably do retrospective once a sprint, but there are other activities that can provide ideas at any time, motivate and “spice up” your retro all at once. We’re talking about Kudo cards. Kudo cards is a technique described in Management 3.0 [...]
User stories splitting, working with epic, epic splitting into user stories. One great art. In the first part, we have shown you examples for splitting requirements into smaller ones by the process. Although this is the last division step for many Product Owners, this is not enough for a reasoned app. In this part, [...]
The examples were created in the form of a user story map using the ScrumDesk app, where you can easily create a backlog from epics to embedded features to user stories. So far, in our consultation with the agile teams, we have always encountered unfamiliarity in each team about how to split the requirements [...]
In your opinion, is the Product Owner a member of the team? Usually, the team's answer during agile mentoring is that they are not. Although the Product Owner is not familiar with the technical development, their presence on daily stand-ups is very important. However, since they do not participate in the implementation itself, the [...]
Do you feel that your team needs to improve relationships, or do you want to help them get to know each other better? Try personal maps with them, and you will not regret it. A personal map is a technique that helps people find common topics for conversation effortlessly and easily. Get inspired on [...]
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a frequently used word today in development. For a Product Owner it is one of the foundations of Agile and a successful product. However, are you sure you know what MVP is and how it differs from the minimum marketable product (MMP)? Many people mistake or misuse these terms. Even when [...]
It’s finally hot outside, and plane tickets to Spain are cheaper. Relaxing by the sea or relaxing from these heatwaves in Norway means temporarily leaving your team. Even if you only leave for two weeks, it may be challenging for them. Or for you, if during your vacation instead of googling the opening hours [...]
On Agile briefly Agile methods are methods that apply iterative and evolutionary development. 12 agile principles employ adaptive planning, promote incremental delivery, and include other values and practices that encourage agility. What does that really mean for software development? What are the implications for daily business? Let's analyze these principles and see where this [...]
A few years ago, Mike Cohn promoted a user-story format of requirements. Since then, every requirement has become accustomed to being a user story in Scrum. Even then, when it is not considered to be a good one and even if it is not written in this format. User Story The User Story format [...]
At the turning point of the year, it’s time for the interviews in companies. Favorite review of last year’s work and proposal of new goals. Plus, their KPI. Key Performance Indicators. At the given time, it was a topic of the week for me. I saw interesting KPI: Your goal is to make an [...]
Oh, that's a great idea once again. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%. Apparently, the feature is 79% done. Round of applause, that’s a nice number. Nicer than 78%. Masturpercentobation. But what Jeff has to do with that, yes, that user Jeff. Team: ‘Ugh nothing we can do now, we have to wait 3 weeks for the next sprint [...]
