User Story Basics – What is a User Story?

What is a User Story? I’m glad you asked! First of all, it’s important to say that User Stories are not a part of Scrum as defined in the required practices in the Scrum Guide. User Stories are but one way to represent Product Backlog Items in Scrum, and while it is the most popular [...]

Handling Scope Changes Mid-Sprint in Scrum

The first thing about handling scope changes mid-Sprint is to recognize what type of scope change it is. Bug or Production Support request? If it’s a bug, or a production support research request, then my preferred method is to use One way to handle Bugs and Production Support in Scrum . As it says in [...]

Story Testing Patterns – My Recent Presentation at Mile High Agile

You can now find my recent presentation(along with all the handouts, etc), “Story Testing Patterns” on my website here: http://www.scrumcrazy.com/Presentation+-+Story+Testing+Patterns Feel free to add any comments here on my blog. .

Scrum Strategy – The Dev Team Improvement Backlog

The strategy I describe below is one I’ve used successfully in coaching Scrum teams. Your mileage may vary, of course. Overview The Dev Team has a thing called the “Improvement Backlog”, where it keeps a list of things(Improvement Backlog Items — IBI’s) that are intended to improve the Dev team’s productivity. Purpose The purpose of [...]

One Way to Handle Bugs and Production Support in Scrum

Dear ScrumCrazy readers, I need your help. I’m working on a Scrum strategy for handling bugs and production support on a Scrum team. This is the first draft of the chart below. I already have a couple of changes I would like to make, so I’d appreciate it if anyone could provide feedback on the [...]

I Mostly Hate Software for Managing Scrum Teams

Update February, 2012: I’m currently seeking my next engagement as a Scrum Coach or ScrumMaster, so please contact me (You can use the “About” tab above) if you know of an opportunity. I often get asked to evaluate a particular Scrum tool or to compare the relatively value of one to another. To be honest, [...]

How do I handle production support on a Scrum Team?

Question: How should I handle production support on a Scrum Team that gets pulled off of new development every now and then to research/solve production problems? Answer: In My Coaching Experiences… Here is what, IMO, the best solutions look like, based solely on my coaching experiences: If it is at all possible, add the item [...]

Scrum Guide 2011 – Backlog Grooming as a Required Practice

Intro In my previous article, I give an overview of some of the interesting changes incorporated into the 2011 Scrum Guide. One of the most interesting changes in my view is the inclusion of Backlog Grooming as a required practice. In my Scrum coaching experiences, the one practice that seems to help beginner Scrum teams [...]

Sprint In Progress Tip – Resolve Obstacles and Update Task Completion Immediately! (Don’t wait until the Daily Scrum)

Intro I have long recommended that Scrum teams have a team working agreement that their Scrum board (aka Sprint Backlog) be updated immediately, but at least once daily about 30 minutes before the Daily Scrum. Someone once questioned me on this advice as follows: If the team updates task and story state immediately upon a [...]

Part 2 – User Stories: Epics and Themes

Releases as Themes Some teams uses release as themes, which his sometimes helpful with Release Planning and Release tracking via burndown charts. So, in our example above, we might decided to theme the current stories as follows (stories are listed in priority order) Story/Epic Associated Themes Pay by MasterCard/Visa Release Feb2011, Credit Card Payments, Online [...]