The (mis)adventures of an agile coach
Sprint Planning is an important Scrum event in which the Developers decide what work they will do during the upcoming Sprint. The Scrum Master is critical in facilitating a great Sprint Planning event by ensuring that the event is well-organized and the team is properly prepared. One of the Scrum Master’s primary responsibilities is to … Read more
Product Backlog Items (PBIs) should be “bite-sized” in Scrum so that they can be completed in a single Sprint. This ensures that the team can savor the flavor of delivering value frequently, while also keeping the work manageable. Like a delicious meal that isn’t too filling! When PBIs are too large, the team may struggle … Read more
The Sprint Review is an important Scrum Event in which the Scrum Team shows the stakeholders and other members of the organization the work completed during the Sprint. The Sprint Review’s purpose is to gather feedback on completed work and plan for the next Sprint. The Scrum Master and Product Owner play an important role … Read more
The Daily Scrum is an important Scrum event. It is a daily meeting in which the Developers discuss their progress, identify any roadblocks and plan for the next 24 hours. The Scrum Master is critical in facilitating this meeting and ensuring that it runs smoothly and efficiently. Creating an environment conducive to open and honest … Read more
A Definition of Ready (DoR) is a useful tool for ensuring that PBIs are prepared for development. A DoR is a shared understanding of what it means for a PBI to be ready, and it is used during Product Backlog Refinements to ensure that PBIs in the Product Backlog are well-understood, refined, and ready for … Read more
The Product Backlog Refinement is an important (but unofficial) Scrum event that helps to ensure that the Product Backlog is well-maintained and organized, and that the most important PBIs are ready for development. The Scrum Master facilitates these refinements by providing guidance and support to the Scrum Team and assisting in the smooth operation of … Read more
Timeboxing is an important aspect of Scrum, and it entails allocating a specific amount of time for each Scrum event, such as Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective. The Scrum Team is able to stay focused and on track by setting a time limit, ensuring that each event is efficient and productive. … Read more
A few weeks ago, while preparing for my PSM-III exam, I encountered an article (in Dutch) where someone spoke of a useful tool to make connections between the different parts and aspects of Scrum. They proposed a spreadsheet with the various Scrum Events, Artifacts, Roles and Values. I have decided to make my own version … Read more
Today I scheduled another one of my three-weekly company talks on Scrum. This time I prepared a presentation for my peers on the topic of the benefit of using (great) Sprint Goals. I have rewritten the structure and contents for publication on this blog. In brief: a Sprint Goal is the single objective that defines … Read more
Story of my life: I read a book, come across an interesting concept, Google it – and fall into a rabbit-hole of information I have never heard of before. It’s 11 PM and here I am writing about mathematical concepts and psychological principles. The conclusion is – spoiler alert – to reduce the amount of … Read more
Is there a place for Personal Development Goals in Scrum? Let me give you some insight in my train of thought, and an experiment I did a while back. In my career as a Scrum Master I have helped facilitate and guide a few Sprints. Creating a valuable Increment (and achieving the Sprint Goal) is … Read more
Earlier today a colleague asked me how I facilitate a Sprint Retrospective. It was her first sprint in the role of Scrum Master and in that sense also her first Retro. Back to the theory for a moment. The Scrum Guide describes the Sprint Retrospective as follows: “The Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint … Read more