Posts Tagged: Scrum

Boring retrospectives – part 8 : fishbowl

During the Mini XP Days conference, Rini Van Solingen interviewed me on the fishbowl exercise.  This is a great exercise to use in retrospectives when your team is divided and needs to understand the different opinions without lapsing into hour-long

Boring retrospectives – part 8 : fishbowl

During the Mini XP Days conference, Rini Van Solingen interviewed me on the fishbowl exercise.  This is a great exercise to use in retrospectives when your team is divided and needs to understand the different opinions without lapsing into hour-long

Forget about poker planning

Explaining agile estimating and planning is the hardest part when teaching a class. That’s because people freak out when they hear about story points and relative estimations. Why wouldn’t they? If you’ve ever done a project before in your life,

Forget about poker planning

Explaining agile estimating and planning is the hardest part when teaching a class. That’s because people freak out when they hear about story points and relative estimations. Why wouldn’t they? If you’ve ever done a project before in your life,

Boring retrospectives – part 7 : Role swapping

People picture themselves doing your job, and I bet you do the same. If I were a tester on this project, I would do things differently. In many cases, you even have ideas to do the job better.  Whether or

Boring retrospectives – part 7 : Role swapping

People picture themselves doing your job, and I bet you do the same. If I were a tester on this project, I would do things differently. In many cases, you even have ideas to do the job better.  Whether or

How to prepare for a daily standup

The daily standup has become a routine in the lives of many people in software development. 78% of all agile teams hold daily standups, according to the 2011 State of Agile Development Survey from VersionOne. Each day, at a specific time, teams gather

How to prepare for a daily standup

The daily standup has become a routine in the lives of many people in software development. 78% of all agile teams hold daily standups, according to the 2011 State of Agile Development Survey from VersionOne. Each day, at a specific time, teams gather

Boring retrospectives – part 6 : Storming Group Facilitation

(Tuckman’s Group Development Model) Every new team goes through a storming phase. These are times when nerves are tight and you can feel the tension in the air.  As a retrospective facilitator, it is important to recognize this and plan

Boring retrospectives – part 6 : Storming Group Facilitation

(Tuckman’s Group Development Model) Every new team goes through a storming phase. These are times when nerves are tight and you can feel the tension in the air.  As a retrospective facilitator, it is important to recognize this and plan

Why I quit

(image by peminumkopi) I quit one of my biggest clients last week. For almost 2 years, it has been a major part of my professional career.  You can imagine it was hard to say goodbye after such a long period.

Why I quit

(image by peminumkopi) I quit one of my biggest clients last week. For almost 2 years, it has been a major part of my professional career.  You can imagine it was hard to say goodbye after such a long period.

Boring retrospectives – part 5 : Reverse Timeline

My next exercise in the series ‘Boring Retrospectives’ is the reverse timeline. It is a modification to the classic ‘Gathering Data’ exercise called ‘Timeline‘. This is an activity used to reconstruct what happened during the previous iteration.  I also use

Boring retrospectives – part 5 : Reverse Timeline

My next exercise in the series ‘Boring Retrospectives’ is the reverse timeline. It is a modification to the classic ‘Gathering Data’ exercise called ‘Timeline‘. This is an activity used to reconstruct what happened during the previous iteration.  I also use

A retrospective check-in exercise

I often use a check-in exercise at the beginning of a retrospective.  In my opinion, it’s not a good idea to jump immediately into the search for improvements.  No, we all need to warm up, clear our mind and prepare

A retrospective check-in exercise

I often use a check-in exercise at the beginning of a retrospective.  In my opinion, it’s not a good idea to jump immediately into the search for improvements.  No, we all need to warm up, clear our mind and prepare

Agile Retrospectives Anti-Patterns

During our XP2011 tutorial, Pat and me facilitated a fishbowl, followed by a brainwriting exercise. Because we needed a subject we could all relate to, we decided to discuss retrospective anti-patterns during the fishbowl. I recorded each anti-pattern that was

Agile Retrospectives Anti-Patterns

During our XP2011 tutorial, Pat and me facilitated a fishbowl, followed by a brainwriting exercise. Because we needed a subject we could all relate to, we decided to discuss retrospective anti-patterns during the fishbowl. I recorded each anti-pattern that was