Ranking, especially forced ranking used by many organisations as part of performance appraisal, results in lower productivity. It generally has negative impact on employee engagement. But, without performance appraisals how do we know how much to pay people, whom to promote or let go? And how do people know they need to improve? Here are some thoughts from Esther Derby.
Now and then you’ll have a sprint when the team doesn’t have much to do. This scares management. Doesn’t it? So what to do then? Would it be better to have some of the team members work for other teams? Or should the team pick up some low priority requirement? Or is there a better way? Read on.
At times it’s not possible to have an increment that’s potentially shippable by the end of the sprint. How do you get as close to shippable as possible? How do you increase transparency in this context? And how do you keep getting better so you can get that much more close to Done? Here’s a technique you you can use to do just that.
Elon Musk is the epitome of entrepreneurship to many people in our industry. So, how does responding to change over following a plan work at Tesla? How about individuals and interactions over processes and tools applied over there? Here’s what we can learn from Elon Musk.
How much experience should you have before you go ahead and start coaching new Scrum Masters? If we look at great coaches in football and other sports, some coaches have been great players, others have been somewhere between mediocre to listless. Here’s an interesting perspective on what sort of experience a coach needs.
As a Scrum Master or coach, your job is to ask powerful and probing questions. Let’s say you are new. What sort of questions do you ask beyond normal icebreakers? How do you uncover personal motivations and understand the mindset of organisational leaders? These questions should help you identify and explore issues that you can help teams solve. You should be able uncover what gets people going. Here are a good set of questions you can use.
Every user action takes some energy. Filling in form fields, moving from one form field to another, clicking buttons – all take energy and focus and increase friction. A simple login form with username and password can take anywhere from 29 action units, to only 5. Here’s how you can make your UI frictionless.
Is micro service design essentially better than the monolithic architecture? Probably yes. But some teams find it a drag on their productivity. Is it the case? Microservices provide ease of deployment, but how about eventual consistency? What are the pros and cons of using microservice design? Martin Fowler explains.
AGILE, LEADERSHIP
Why Are Performance Appraisals Evil?
Ranking, especially forced ranking used by many organisations as part of performance appraisal, results in lower productivity. It generally has negative impact on employee engagement. But, without performance appraisals how do we know how much to pay people, whom to promote or let go? And how do people know they need to improve? Here are some thoughts from Esther Derby.
www.scrumalliance.org
TEAM, PRODUCT OWNER
What to do When the Team is Idle?
Now and then you’ll have a sprint when the team doesn’t have much to do. This scares management. Doesn’t it? So what to do then? Would it be better to have some of the team members work for other teams? Or should the team pick up some low priority requirement? Or is there a better way? Read on.
agilepainrelief.com
AGILE
Does Your Definition of Done Drive Continuous Improvement?
At times it’s not possible to have an increment that’s potentially shippable by the end of the sprint. How do you get as close to shippable as possible? How do you increase transparency in this context? And how do you keep getting better so you can get that much more close to Done? Here’s a technique you you can use to do just that.
agileconnection.com
What Elon Musk Can Teach You About Agile?
Elon Musk is the epitome of entrepreneurship to many people in our industry. So, how does responding to change over following a plan work at Tesla? How about individuals and interactions over processes and tools applied over there? Here’s what we can learn from Elon Musk.
dzone.com
COACH, SCRUM MASTER
How Much Experience Do You Need to Coach a Scrum Master?
How much experience should you have before you go ahead and start coaching new Scrum Masters? If we look at great coaches in football and other sports, some coaches have been great players, others have been somewhere between mediocre to listless. Here’s an interesting perspective on what sort of experience a coach needs.
agile42.com
How to Kickstart Meaningful Conversations?
As a Scrum Master or coach, your job is to ask powerful and probing questions. Let’s say you are new. What sort of questions do you ask beyond normal icebreakers? How do you uncover personal motivations and understand the mindset of organisational leaders? These questions should help you identify and explore issues that you can help teams solve. You should be able uncover what gets people going. Here are a good set of questions you can use.
lmsgoncalves.com
PRODUCT OWNER
How To Make Frictionless User Interface?
Every user action takes some energy. Filling in form fields, moving from one form field to another, clicking buttons – all take energy and focus and increase friction. A simple login form with username and password can take anywhere from 29 action units, to only 5. Here’s how you can make your UI frictionless.
targetprocess.com
DEVELOPER
Pros and Cons of Microservice Design
Is micro service design essentially better than the monolithic architecture? Probably yes. But some teams find it a drag on their productivity. Is it the case? Microservices provide ease of deployment, but how about eventual consistency? What are the pros and cons of using microservice design? Martin Fowler explains.
martinfowler.com
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