Story mapping is an effective inception tool to create a product backlog in a visually structured way. But how to get started? How do you tie tasks, activities and stories together? How do non-functional requirements fit into this? How do you structure a story map? How do you create Product Backlog from your story map? What do you need to prepare for a story mapping exercise? Here are a few practical tips.
Absence of conflict in a team is not a good sign. It depicts fear and lack of trust. On such teams, team members seldom express disagreements, they hide their diversity of opinion, or frustrations. Instead, they act passive-aggressively toward one another, leaving a lot issues unresolved. The cost of passive-aggressiveness is high. The negative effects include slow decision making, poor risk identification and mitigation, and slow response. It kills agility. How do we go about reducing passive-aggressive behaviour? Have a read.
How do you deliver fast? How to work with your team to help them focus on smaller units of work? It’s easier said than done. What practical techniques do you use? How do you stop worrying about utlisation? How do you work with your team to maximise throughput? Have a look.
When do you get time to refactor? Should set aside some time for refactoring only? How do we make a case for refactoring? Martin Fowler advises against setting time aside for refactoring. According to him, we shouldn’t just decide to refactor. We should refactor because we want to do something else, and refactoring helps us do that other thing. That’s a compelling case for refactoring. Here are some tips we can use to effectively use refactoring.
It’s very difficult to come up with useful and effective metrics, especially related to productivity. Management worry about metrics. They want numbers. What should we measure? Here are three simple and impactful metrics that you can use to quickly understand aspects of productivity and especially how healthy an organisation really is.
What if you have a Scrum Master who’s working part time as a Scrum Master, and doing something else also. Is it a good idea? It is very challenging, at least. What makes it difficult? What sort of questions should the Scrum Master think about, to see if they are doing their Scrum Master job well? What sort of things should they focus on from team perspective, how should they work with the Product Owner, how do they help the team, and how does it work in the context of the organisation they operate in? Here’s an interesting perspective.
In gaming, grinding means you have to complete repetitive tasks, normally to complete a level or move on in a game. Technical debt and reverse grinding are major problems for any developer team – they harm productivity and ultimately cost money. But how much does it cost, on average? It’s difficult to generalise, but some studies have tried to put some figures on it. Here’s what the cost look may like, and a few ways you can minimise the cost.
AGILE
Effective Story Mapping
Story mapping is an effective inception tool to create a product backlog in a visually structured way. But how to get started? How do you tie tasks, activities and stories together? How do non-functional requirements fit into this? How do you structure a story map? How do you create Product Backlog from your story map? What do you need to prepare for a story mapping exercise? Here are a few practical tips.
thoughtworks.com
How to Reduce Passive-Aggressive Behaviour in Teams?
Absence of conflict in a team is not a good sign. It depicts fear and lack of trust. On such teams, team members seldom express disagreements, they hide their diversity of opinion, or frustrations. Instead, they act passive-aggressively toward one another, leaving a lot issues unresolved. The cost of passive-aggressiveness is high. The negative effects include slow decision making, poor risk identification and mitigation, and slow response. It kills agility. How do we go about reducing passive-aggressive behaviour? Have a read.
hbr.org
LEAN
How to Think Small to Deliver Fast?
How do you deliver fast? How to work with your team to help them focus on smaller units of work? It’s easier said than done. What practical techniques do you use? How do you stop worrying about utlisation? How do you work with your team to maximise throughput? Have a look.
solutionsiq.com
AGILE
Using Refactoring as a Feature Tax?
When do you get time to refactor? Should set aside some time for refactoring only? How do we make a case for refactoring? Martin Fowler advises against setting time aside for refactoring. According to him, we shouldn’t just decide to refactor. We should refactor because we want to do something else, and refactoring helps us do that other thing. That’s a compelling case for refactoring. Here are some tips we can use to effectively use refactoring.
blog.8thlight.com
3 Simple Productivity Metrics
It’s very difficult to come up with useful and effective metrics, especially related to productivity. Management worry about metrics. They want numbers. What should we measure? Here are three simple and impactful metrics that you can use to quickly understand aspects of productivity and especially how healthy an organisation really is.
rallydev.com
What If You Have a Part Time Scrum Master?
What if you have a Scrum Master who’s working part time as a Scrum Master, and doing something else also. Is it a good idea? It is very challenging, at least. What makes it difficult? What sort of questions should the Scrum Master think about, to see if they are doing their Scrum Master job well? What sort of things should they focus on from team perspective, how should they work with the Product Owner, how do they help the team, and how does it work in the context of the organisation they operate in? Here’s an interesting perspective.
lmsgoncalves.com
Cost of Technical Debt and Reverse Grind
In gaming, grinding means you have to complete repetitive tasks, normally to complete a level or move on in a game. Technical debt and reverse grinding are major problems for any developer team – they harm productivity and ultimately cost money. But how much does it cost, on average? It’s difficult to generalise, but some studies have tried to put some figures on it. Here’s what the cost look may like, and a few ways you can minimise the cost.
dzone.com
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