Some time back, I was in a Sprint Planning meeting with my team. Listening to the conversations, it was clear that the team had a pretty good idea on what to do and how to do, but, I sensed that there quite a bit of ambiguity and uncertainty about how the planned items might… Continue reading Scrum Master Tips: One Practice to Identify and Reduce Risks During Sprint Planning
Author: Ram Srinivasan
Ten Tips to make your Daily Scrum more effective
Learn 10 tips that can make your Daily Scrum more effective
Scrum: What is the difference between “Undone Work” and “Incomplete Work”?
All work that needs to be done by cross-functional (Product) Development Team is in the Product Backlog. Each item in the product backlog (product backlog item, PBI for short) is expressed in a way such that the value of PBI is transparent to the Product Owner. During the Sprint, the Development Team works on the… Continue reading Scrum: What is the difference between “Undone Work” and “Incomplete Work”?
What Stops you From Really Listening to Others?
Joyce Brothers, an American psychologist said that "Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery". Listening is more than comprehending the meaning of what someone says. Sometime ago, I wrote an article on if you are listening to respond or listening to understand. Though many of us genuinely try to "listen to understand", it may… Continue reading What Stops you From Really Listening to Others?
Scrum is not a Substitute for Common Sense
Have you encountered these situations below? We are adopting Scrum, I want my team/management/organization to listen to me, but they are not listening to me, what should I do? Scrum says self-organizing teams, so I (manager/scrum master) am going let them figure out everything. Am I doing it right? We want our estimates to be accurate,… Continue reading Scrum is not a Substitute for Common Sense
How Long Should my Sprints be?
When organizations are adopting Scrum, they are always confronted with how long their Sprints should be. Scrum merely provides guidelines that Sprints can be anywhere from 1 week to 4 weeks long. The Sprint is a feedback loop, providing an opportunity for the stakeholders and the Scrum Team to Inspect and Adapt (the product, and the way… Continue reading How Long Should my Sprints be?
Are you Listening to Respond? Or Listening to Understand ?
As a coach and facilitator, it is not uncommon that I get pulled into resolving conflicts. And before I agree to facilitate, I work out some "working agreements" or behaviors which will be adhered to, during the discussion. Among other things, I try to work something along the lines of "giving other person the space to… Continue reading Are you Listening to Respond? Or Listening to Understand ?
Scrum Master as an Influencer…
One responsibility of Scrum Master is to influence teams, stakeholders and the entire organization to embrace Scrum. They are also responsible for helping stakeholders understand which of their interactions (with the Dev. Teams) are helpful and which of them are not. But helping people change their old behavior is challenging. When we are unsure about… Continue reading Scrum Master as an Influencer…
Scrum Master as an encourager …
The Scrum Guide refers to Scrum Master as a teacher, a facilitator, as a change agent and as a coach. His power is indirect and is largely due to his expertise in Scrum. One of her responsibilities is to help Development Teams, Product Owner and the whole organization adhere to the rules of the framework.… Continue reading Scrum Master as an encourager …
Burning down tasks(hours)- Is it worth it?
It is important for the team to have a shared understanding of what work needs to be done to achieve the Sprint Goal. Sprint Burn-down Chart is one of the tools used by the Team, during the Sprint, to manage themselves to achieve the Sprint Goal. A while ago I wrote about the . One… Continue reading Burning down tasks(hours)- Is it worth it?
Helping Teams and Organizations be Agile 