Category Archives: Scrum

Kanban or Scrum? Know your constraints before you take the plunge

This post is from ambitiousmanager.com by Tom Sedge. Many people think that the answer to their problems is to pick an agile approach and use it to deliver their services. In doing this they frequently put the needs of service development … Continue reading

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The Purpose of Measuring Cycle Times

I recently made the assumption that I did not need to explain why shorter cycle times were generally desirable.  However, I was mistaken, so let me explain: If the average cycle time from starting to finishing a user story goes … Continue reading

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Sinn der Messung Zykluszeiten

Wenn die durchschnittliche Zykluszeit von Start bis zum Ende einer User Story von 20 Tage auf 5 Tage reduziert wurde: Bedeutet dies, dass die Entwickler den Code 4 mal schneller schreiben? NEIN   Bedeutet es, dass der Kunde 4 mal … Continue reading

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WIP Limit Panic Sheet – what to do when you feel tempted to break the work-in-progress (WIP) limit

When a software development team starts using a work-in-progress (WIP) limit, everyone is calm and relaxed … until they are not. When you start to panic and feel the need to break the WIP limit rule – STOP! Read this … Continue reading

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Beware of Scrumnesia – more transparency can make things seem worse than before!

I think this post is more about personal catharsis than anything else, but hopefully there is something useful here. I recently introduced a work-in-progress (WIP) limit with a Scrum team and was delighted that the average cycle time on user … Continue reading

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Gamifying Scrum – it’s not enough just to stick a tatty burndown chart on the wall

As I am currently carrying out an Agile Coach role in Germany, I have been trying to discipline myself to spending regular time improving my German. Being a language enthusiast anyway, I have plenty of books and audio to learn … Continue reading

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Waking the team from “the They” mode

One of the realities of working with a development team to help them change and adopt an Agile mindset is the fact that, as human beings, it is very natural for us to slip into a routine, to go along … Continue reading

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Reducing cycle times: how to cheat properly

Reducing cycle times is a very good way to streamline processes within the software development life cycle. In order to reduce cycle times, there are some bad ways to cheat and some good ways to cheat: Bad ways to cheat: … Continue reading

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Velocity – It Could Have Your Eye Out

This post is from mumbly.co.uk by Mark Stringer. I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Imagine there was this tool that everybody said was fantastic – let’s say it was a wood chisel, let’s call it the Wonder Chisel. And … Continue reading

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Reducing Cycle Time

This post is from jimhighsmith.com by Jim Highsmith. An increasing number of organizations are moving towards radical reductions in cycle time as they move towards rapid business responsiveness and Continuous Delivery. (I’m trying to reduce my personal cycle time, but that’s another … Continue reading

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