We often think that finishing a story from the backlog is “just” tactical. However, the more often we deliver in short feedback loops, the more often we can make strategic decisions. Finishing a story creates a new decision point, for both the product and the corporate strategy. The more often we iterate strategically, the more …
Use Deliveries to Offer New Decision Points for Tactics and Strategy Read More »
Do you ever struggle with knowing if you should split stories? Or wondering if you have a valuable minimum? Jeffrey Frederick and Squirrel offered a signal for a too-small minimum in their podcast, MVP Cubed. That signal was when people became bored with the work. Let me add some additional tests: When the team can’t …
Possible Test for Splitting Stories and Valuable Minimums Read More »
The larger your product, the more likely you have components teams. I often see component teams because of the architecture of the product. In this first image, the Integrated System Program, the rest of the product uses the Platform of Common Services as components. Also, the teams find it tempting to think of the common …
See and Resolve Team Dependencies, Part 4: All Component Teams, Complex Product Read More »
Continuing the series on dependencies… Maybe you don’t have the problem where the team creates internal dependencies with their process. And you don’t have to wait for someone outside the team to approve your work—an organizational process. But you do have a combination of platform/component teams and feature teams. I see this most often in …
See and Resolve Team Dependencies, Part 3: Some Component Teams, Some Feature Teams Read More »
The good news is most sites realize we, the users, need nudges to create strong passwords. The bad news is too many of those nudges reject strong passwords from password managers. (I use and am happy with 1Password.) Worse, too many sites still ask horrible, terrible security questions instead of asking for two-factor authentication. Your …
You’re a busy product person, a Product Owner. You have information the team needs, and you want to meet. A lot. You see the need for these meetings: Standups Backlog refinement Iteration planning Strategic updates, so the team knows what’s going on. Sounds reasonable. Except, the team thinks you want to meet too often. What …
Decide When You Need to Meet, Workshop, or Write to Save Energy and Time Read More »
Michael Mahlberg taught me something cool last week. We’re writing an article together. Part of the article is about forecasts. I was ranting and raving about how to help people see their confidence levels. He pointed me to this slideshare: Lightweight Kanban Metrics (in German). (Don’t worry about the language.) Go to slides 24, 25, …
Low Tech Way to Visualize Your Percentile Confidence for Forecasts Read More »
Several of my clients have intertwined problems. Everyone agrees they want innovation: Which products and services the organization offers. (The project portfolio) What features the product offers, or the problems the product solves. (The product roadmap) In the team, to solve the problems in a way that will attract users/buyers/customers. (The team’s backlog and how …
Multiple Short Feedback Loops Support Innovation Read More »
I spoke with an agile coach whose team works in flow, similar to this board. They don’t use iterations—they plan on demand. The column on the left, “Stories to Workshop” is their backlog refinement column. Recently, the team decided they need “minimum” WIP (work in progress) limits. Especially on the Workshop column. Why? Their product …
Many of my clients use an iteration-based agile approach. And, they have these problems: They “push” too much into an iteration. They use velocity, not cycle time to estimate. They rarely finish everything before the iteration ends. They have to manage extra work—work they had not estimated—in the form of an emergency or production support. …
Three Ways to Manage “Extra” Work in an Iteration Read More »