Transition from Project Manager to Scrum Master
Being a Great Scrum Master can be Learned In my related post, I argued that most Project Managers make lousy Scrum Masters. It's not on purpose, it just happens that…
Scrum Masters Need to be Good Listeners
As a Scrum Master, listening is one of the most important tools in your tool box. While there are reasons for the Scrum Master to speak up, in general Scrum…
Project Managers Make Lousy Scrum Masters
Don't get mad at me. Though it may sound tough or critical, the reality is that most project managers make lousy scrum masters. I didn't make that up—I’ve been hearing…
One Easy Way to Improve Your Next Retrospective
The very first Agile Coach I ever had taught me the practice of using Norm Kerth’s Prime Directive to start my retrospectives. Though I haven’t always used it, when I do…
9 Pitfalls of Using Agile Tools
Most teams who use Agile or Scrum today use some type of online agile tool or Agile Lifecycle Management Tool (ALM Tool). While I do believe there are some benefits…
Help Your Agile Team Overcome Learned Helplessness
Learned Helplessness There is a well-established process for domesticating young elephants that demonstrates the process of learned helplessness everywhere including organizations and agile teams. When elephants are young they are…
Will Your Agile Transformation Improve Employee Engagement?
Several years ago, I wrote an article on the importance of Employee Engagement and it's relationship to Agile Methodologies. In the last week, I read a newly published article from…
Agile Projects are More Successful than Traditional Projects
I've recently obtained the 2018 Standish Group Chaos Study results which show Waterfall and Agile project success and failure rates. It should come as no surprise that Agile projects are…
Using Reality-Based Forecasting in Agile Project Management
Agile project management approaches for estimating and forecasting are better than traditional approaches because they deliver better and more predictable results. This is what I call reality-based forecasting. Traditional Estimating…
For High Performing Teams, Stop Assigning People to Multiple Teams
In an effort to do more with less, most organizations take their best people and assign them to multiple projects. This approach rarely leads to high performing teams and actually…