Tag: Scrum

This ubiquitous thing called “Scrum” is an oppressive tool for micromanagement. It’s all about story points and velocity. It has earned the utter contempt of developers, designers, product managers, and middle managers alike. T...

The better part of my career has been spent working on software products. Most recently, however, I had the opportunity to spend a few months with business teams in the healthcare industry, coaching Scrum and other Agile ways of developing healthcare products. I took some time to reflect on what I l...

One of my favourite quotes about the Scrum framework comes from Craig Larman and Bas Vodde when they discuss why Scrum has been so popular. The conclusion they land on is that: Scrum hits an ideal balance between abstract principles and concrete practices. Scrum is beautiful in its simplic...

Have you ever logged into a weekly standup where your Scrum Master didn’t arrive for 5 minutes? Every time I do, it’s usually just the same 2 questions going around in circles — “Hi X, how are you?” — “Good, how are you?” As the meeting progresse...

The daily stand-up event is an essential component of the Scrum framework. Unfortunately, many people dislike it, and it can become a source of frustration for team members. Although almost all teams conduct daily scrum, only a few teams adhere to the correct format, causing team members to feel ...

Scrum ceremonies are important elements of the agile software delivery process. They are not just meetings for the sake of having meetings. Rather, these ceremonies provide the framework for teams to get work done in a structured manner, help to set expectations, empower the team to collaborate effe...