Monthly Archives: September 2011
Avoiding technical debt from bugs – From Scrum to Kanban
One of the challenges of Scrum is being really done when you think you are done. At the end of the sprint our testers often haven’t had the chance to fully test all the stories. Once we are on the next sprint it is disruptive to go back to older stories and fix the bugs, […]
Reflections on Remote Pairing Programming
Most people’s idea of working from home is working alone, and I am regularly asked how I put up with what for me would be a miserable existence. I prefer to spend my time with at least one other person, unless like now, my pursuit is purely creative. For me pairing is the perfect way to […]
How to create a team that sticks together
As our agile process has improved our team has grown closer and happier despite half the team no longer being colocated. What is it that bonds agile teams together and what has to change for this to happen? Self Organise Traditional development teams are often plagued by hierarchy and ego. Senior developers often protect their position […]
Delaying Decisions
Waterfall sucked… because you made a decision about what the solution would be SOooo long before it was delivered, that it made no sense by the time it was released. Agile fixed this by delaying decisions and it seems the more you are able to delay decisions the more benefit you get. Delaying decisions gives […]
Why working remotely can benefit agile software development
When I finish work I often head out on the hills, ride or fly model planes and watch the sunset. I spend time with my children and my wife . I love my job, my life at home and the fact that I don’t have to commute between them. Time is precious. But doesn’t all […]
What is sprint planning really for?
Planning is something you think you’ll move away from when you start Scrum, but there is no escape, you still have to do it, its just less painful and more accurate. But what do we really get out of it? Estimates: By estimating in points and applying a velocity we can get a reasonably accurate […]
Pressure
Individuals never deliver enough unless they work all night. But code created this way crumbles when stressed and progress grinds to a halt. Pressure kills progress since there is no time for improvement. Motivation drives productivity not pressure and developer motivation comes from within. Developers just want to create something that matters. The team needs […]
Team Intuition
Velocity reminds me of GDP. It does not account for many types of value & yet we continue to base everything off of it. — David J Bland (@davidjbland) September 3, 2011 This got me thinking Scrum is empirical, velocity is measured, amounts of points committed in a sprint is calculated. We constantly improve by […]
Diary of a ScrumMaster 