Francie Van Wirkus's Blog, page 20
December 12, 2017
Agreeing on Good
As you plan work for 2018 with your teams, it might be a good idea to revisit the word good. Does everyone have the same definition of good…
customer service
customer value
data science
software development
user experience
market share
teamwork
employee engagement
If you assume everyone thinks the same, or worse yet, thinks like you do, you’re missing a huge opportunity to improve for 2018.
December 11, 2017
Strong Finish…with Solid Beginning
In the Ironman Triathlon, an...
Strong Finish…with Solid Beginning
In the Ironman Triathlon, an epic, three-sport competition, you can’t win the race on the swim, but you can lose it on the swim.
December 6, 2017
Going SAFe: Discovery not Dictator
Going scaled Agile?
When interacting with your organization, aim for a mindset of discovery. Easy to say, and very difficult to do. Yet, if you can maintain this discovery outlook throughout your work, the outcome is the change you’ve been so hungry for.
Use a former mindset, don’t be surprised if your outcomes are very similar to the way you used to work.
December 4, 2017
Itent
“We don’t need to keep telling everyone why we are doing this. They know. It’s a waste of time.”
Whether it’s the first time, or the 30th time… Any time you are asking people to commit large amounts of time, energy, and talent, it is paramount to tell them why they are needed. Illuminate your vision to them. Respect them.
November 29, 2017
Tribal Reflection
The end of the year shouldn’t be the only time you ask this question as a team and a family:
How can we make each other better?
Leaders, this question is for you, too. Often in business and families, we work on helping our teams, but neglect our own team, or worse yet, believe we don’t need to improve.
November 27, 2017
Year End & the Backlog
With just 34 days left in the calendar year, I have to ask…did you accomplish everything you set out to do in 2017? I didn’t. But I did make fantastic progress on learning what isn’t a priority. One of the best benefits of having a ordered backlog isn’t having an ordered backlog. It’s not even to know what is the most important thing to do first. The best benefit is to let go the least important…
November 22, 2017
Ownership
It’s not my job to…
Find the errors.
Know my audience.
Understand the impacts of my change.
Help that team.
Care about my work.
Lack of ownership might be the environment you inherited, but is it the one you are propagating?
November 20, 2017
Team & Leader Question
The end of the year is in sight. In fact, its roaring to the finish line, whether you are an Agile team or not.
A great question teams and leaders can reflect upon together and in solitude is:
How have I amplified learning and spread knowledge in 2017?
And, since the year isn’t over yet, you can follow that question with:
How can we/I amplify learning and spread knowledge yet this year?
November 15, 2017
Paired Programming Strategy for Scrum Masters
Paired Programming Strategy for Scrum Masters
So, your team needs to boost its skills, but you’re too busy? Team: “There is no time to team up and develop software together with all of these deadlines!” Product Management: “The last time we tried paired programming, we had a huge drop in productivity.” Even though working together takes extra time, you can tackle far more complex problems in less time. So, we can slow down a little now, to…
November 13, 2017
Agile Coach's Notes: You Ain't Scrum
Agile Coach’s Notes: You Ain’t Scrum
How you do scrum is really how and when you integrate.
Follow all the ceremonies you want, but if you’re developing stuff, and then letting it sit around until the team can finish integrating something, you’re not scrum.
