written by gunther gerlach-2011
This is a list of the most common mistakes that I have seen again and again along my career in small and large corporations in their intention of implement Agile as the primary development process. I hope while you are reading this, help you to understand what is the logic behind every single practice and try to adapt (shape) to fit into your environment. Remember, the goal is not just follow the best practices but to achieve the goals behind each one.
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Daily Scrums
Gunther Gerlach
When one looks at all the wastes, defects has to be the most obvious one. The cost and repercussions of finding defects varies depending on where in the cycle they’re found. Defects found early on in the development life-cycle are way less costly to resolve than defects found later on in the cycle; the most expensive being when applications are already in-production.
Additionally, depending on when the defects are found, defects can and do trigger other wastes like task switching, relearning etc.
Gunther Gerlach
Every time a project is initiated there is no understanding, time-consuming effort to write down all foreseeable tasks or requirements. Usually, a project writes down what is obvious, which is almost always more than enough for a first sprint. The Product Backlog is then allowed to grow and change as more is learned about the product and its customers.
Gunther Gerlach
written by gunther gerlach-2009
A user story describes desired functionality from the customer (user) perspective. A good user story describes the desired functionality, who wants it, and how and why the functionality will be used.
The INVEST model define a User Story as Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable. Let’s see what each one means:
Independent - One user story should be independent of another (as much as possible). Dependencies between stories make planning, prioritization, and estimation much more difficult. Often enough, dependencies can be reduced by either combining stories into one or by splitting the stories differently.
Gunther Gerlach
written by gunther gerlach-2009
Definition: Agile project management is as radically different from traditional project management as agile processes are different from traditional methodologies. Rather than plan, instruct and direct, the agile project manager facilitates, coaches and leads.
Recently I came across of someone posting about the value of a PM in an Agile Scrum environment. It’s been a long time from most of the companies realized the important role of PMs But it looks like some Scrum process consultants, after run out of ideas to justify the PM’s role, they just wants to get rid off them… big mistake
Gunther Gerlach
written by gunther gerlach-2009
Velocity is a measurement of how much the team gets done in an iteration (called as Sprint in Agile Scrum). Velocity is what actually got done in the last iteration not what is planned and is calculated by the number of story points done in a certain sprint.
In Scrum it is measure in Story points. Each feature in scrum is a story. A story has points. Points can be anything you come up with.
Examples are 1, 2, 4, 8 , 16

Gunther Gerlach