InfoQ Homepage Planning Content on InfoQ
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How Agile Teams Can Improve Predictability by Measuring Stability
In this article, we will present our approach for analysing agile systems as networks of queues and how we have used it to analyse 926 projects in the Public Jira Dataset. We explain how you can measure the Stability Metric (SM) for your queues. Finally, we will present our planned next phase of research.
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Improving Your Estimation Skills by Playing a Planning Game
Underestimation is still the rule, rather than the exception. One bias especially relevant to the estimation process is the planning fallacy. This article explores the planning fallacy and how we are vulnerable to it. It explains how you can reduce your vulnerability to this fallacy through playing a planning game that has been specifically devised to help mitigate it.
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Using Machine Learning for Fast Test Feedback to Developers and Test Suite Optimization
Software testing, especially in large scale projects, is a time intensive process. Test suites may be computationally expensive, compete with each other for available hardware, or simply be so large as to cause considerable delay until their results are available. The article explores optimizing test execution, saving machine resources, and reducing feedback time to developers.
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Key Sprint Metrics to Increase Team Dependability
What are the questions you should be asking and what behaviours should you be measuring within your Scrum teams in order to improve overall dependability and delivery efficiency? We explore how you can transform your Sprints into the building blocks for success and ensure you can continue to meet (and even surpass) long-term user and business expectations.
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Exchange Cybernetics: towards a Science of Agility & Adaptation
Agility can become part of a scientific theory of adaptation. The capacity for adaptation is nothing more than the ability to move resources around in order to take opportunities as they emerge. This article describes the ingredients of an agile theory of adaptation and provides examples for how to do tactical planning in order to execute agility.
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Agile Initiative Planning with Roadmaps
Most “agile” initiatives fail to meet their value, time and budget goals despite spending ½ their time and 1⁄3 of their budget designing and planning upfront. Agile Initiative Roadmaps add product, project, architecture and UX planning to initiatives so that you can take a longer view with a small amount of time and effort, which means that you can deliver benefits much sooner at a lower cost.
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On Uncertainty, Prediction, and Planning
This article describes the software industry’s dismal history with predictions and planning in the face of uncertainty. It details some of the reasons why we fail to learn from our repeated mistakes. It suggests alternative approaches that are based on learning and include the strategy of hypothesis testing (Hypothesis-Driven Development) for deciding which features to deliver.
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Agile and Late! End-to-End Delivery Metrics to Improve Your Predictability
Agile teams may need to deliver milestones expected at a certain time, so will need to forecast or risk being accused of being “Agile and late”. There are metrics that relate to the “Logical Six” potential sources of delay which are key to improve forecasting accuracy. The metrics can used to create a Root Cause RAG Progress Report – to share a more accurate forecast and clear mitigations.
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Author Q&A on the Book Software Estimation Without Guessing
George Dinwiddie has written a book titled Software Estimation without Guessing: Effective Planning in an Imperfect World. The book discusses different approaches to estimation for software products, the ways they can go wrong and be misused, and when to use them
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How Developers Can Learn the Language of Business Stakeholders
This article explores how business stakeholders and developers can improve their collaboration and communication by learning each other's language and dictionaries. It explores areas where there can be the most tension: talking about impediments and blockers, individual and team learning, real options, and risk management.
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Agile in the Context of a Holistic Approach
In this article Jon Kern, co-author of the Agile Manifesto, describes a set of critical practices that serve to build up a holistic view of the project, from which all else proceeds. Fail to do a good job at taking the systems view, and your project will likely not go as well as it could. It might even fail.
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Scaling Autonomy at Zalando
Autonomy isn't something you can just give to a team, it’s something that teams learn and earn over time. It has to come with accountability to amplify working towards a purpose. At Zalando, creating the right architecture and organizational structure reduced the amount of alignment needed and freed up the energy to be more thorough where alignment is needed.