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The Pitfalls that You Should Always Avoid when Implementing Agile

Moving from traditional project management to agile is a paradigm shift. From push to pull systems from a control-and-command culture to a trust culture where authority is delegated. A good structure with some control mechanisms will most likely help you get the wanted results quicker. This article discusses the role that management plays in organizations that have decided to adopt agile.

Annette Vendelbo
on Jun 27, 2015
Using Blocker Clustering, Defect Clustering, and Prioritization for Process Improvement

When work gets delayed (it’s blocked), it is of particular interest to look for ways to improve the smooth flow of work by resolving the causes of that delay. In the long term, finding ways to eliminate the root causes of these delays is a superior solution. This article discusses clustering blockers and provides ways to prioritize those blockers that have the most impact or are the quickest wins.

Klaus Leopold Troy Magennis
on Jun 08, 2015
The Essence of Flow

How do you get good flow? A common scenario in a software company is that too much is going on at once. We need a shift in mindset, to go from focus on resource efficiency to focus on flow efficiency. This article presents concrete examples on how to achieve flow by limiting WIP, reduce wait times and arrange cross-functional teams.

Tomas Rybing
on Jun 05, 2015
Culture & Methods

How a Flow Manager Helps Teams Deliver, Fast and Smoothly

As agile software delivery practices and management evolve, so, too, do the roles. kanban has introduced the idea of managing flow, one of the method’s core practices. With talented developers, quality advocates and user-experience designers, teams know how to deliver valuable software. But as we improve service delivery using kanban, who manages flow?

Matthew Philip
on Jun 03, 2015
Why We Fail to Change: Understanding Practices, Principles, and Values Is a Solution

There’s no reward for being a Scrum or kanban shop if we are not delivering value to customers. We see virtually no impact of agile or lean on the bottom line of success rates of improvement initiatives, because organizations often look for recipes. We need to change our mindset, and focus on the principles that people follow and values they share and the bigger whole: organizational culture.

Pawel Brodzinski
on Jun 01, 2015
Using Experiments and Data to Innovate and Build Products Customers Actually Use

An interview with Jan Bosch, professor of software engineering and director of the Software Center at Chalmers University of Technology, about the benefits that companies can get from increasing delivery speed, the next steps that organisations can take after adopting Agile and DevOps, using experiments to innovate, practices for experimentation and how organisations can become more innovative.

Ben Linders
on May 28, 2015
Q and A on The Scrum Culture

Dominik Maximini researched the cultural aspects of organizations that are using Scrum. He published the findings of his research, together with principles for implementing Scrum and suggestions on how to apply these principles and a case study of a Scrum transformation, in the book The Scrum Culture.

Ben Linders
on May 20, 2015
Lean Start-Up, and How It Almost Killed Our Company

The theory of Lean start-up with its focus on product, small bets, customer validation and pivot points, has become almost universally accepted within software development and businesses in general. In this article Helen Walton offers a provocative critique of its suitability to many business contexts, as well as recounting why the method proved almost fatal for one particular start-up – her own.

Helen Walton
on May 14, 2015
Why Companies Need to do a Better Job of Prioritizing Features

When everything is high priority, nothing is high priority, and we fall into a miasma of finger pointing and misplaced expectations. Here is why companies need to do a better job of prioritizing features. Wikipedia defines diffusion of responsibility as "... a sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present

Tirrell Payton
on Apr 29, 2015
Total Talent Management: A Systems Approach to Agility

With increasing corporate reliance on contract and temporary workers come more challenges for HR departments. Core HRM responsibilities like training/development, compensation/benefits, and mobility normally apply solely to standard company employees. Total talent management aim to do HRM for the total workforce, including temporary workers, contractors and consultants.

Jas Chong
on Apr 27, 2015
A Tester’s Perspective on Agile Snags

Priyanka presents some of the advantages and challenges that agile adoption brings for testers and testing and presents some ideas on how to overcome the obstacles and leverage the advantages. She discusses the agile tester mindset and how the role of someone doing testing in an agile environment changes.

Priyanka Hasija
on Apr 18, 2015
Impediment Busting: Designing an Impediment Removal Process for Your Organization

Lean Product Development takes an end-to-end focus on the flow of work through a system. Rather than focus on traditional measures such as capacity utilization, it proves more effective to focus on how work is moving through the system. This article discusses what impedes the flow of work, and how we manage impediments to the flow of work.

Ken Power
on Apr 15, 2015

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