A Great Link for Patterns on How to Hold a Great Agile Standup Meeting

I never cease to be amazed by the great work that Martin Fowler has on his web site.  (In all fairness, though, this post seems to be mostly from Jason Yip). Anyway, GREAT LINK! “It’s Not Just Standing Up: Patterns for Daily Standup Meetings” http://martinfowler.com/articles/itsNotJustStandingUp.html Also, while you’re here, you might want to take a [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Best Practice: Look to the Scrum Guide *First*

Short Story: When teams struggle with Scrum, it is my strong opinion that they should look *first* to the Scrum Guide for guidance. (Or *look back* to the Scrum Guide, if they are an experienced team) Long story: A more complete way of saying this is: When teams struggle(whether they be beginner or experienced), it [...]

Bad Smells of the Sprint Backlog

Feel free to add your own bad smells in the comments below.  This article is my own opinion, and is based on my knowledge and Scrum Coaching experiences. Does your Scrum Team seem to lose focus in the current sprint? Do stories stay stalled  for several days?  Does your team have trouble finishing the amount [...]

Bad Smells of the Daily Scrum

Are your Daily Scrums not satisfying you?  Does something just feel wrong?  Maybe your Daily Scrum has a bad smell.  I define a “bad smell” as any symptom in a process that possibly indicates a deeper problem.  It doesn’t always mean the bad smell is indicative of a true problem, but most times it is. [...]