Top 3 Impediments to Product Agility
Agile transformations are often initiated by production teams that believe Agility will empower them to deliver better products in a shorter time. Organizations speak of “faster time to market” and “higher quality.” They look at the cost and green-light the proposed transformation. Reality is that often these teams successfully decrease …
A Scrum team needs one (and only one) Product Owner
Recently, I presented some of my conclusions after attending (again) the Professional Scrum Product Owner training. As I wrote, the Product Owner’s role remains the vaguest in the Scrum Guide, because it is very dependent on the company in which he evolves. It reads: “The Product Owner is responsible for …
The place of the architect in an Agile organization, it’s complicated?
The following type of question is often asked to convinced agilists: “What is the role of [insert role here] in Agility?” The role that is most often inserted architect. But as for all experts, the answer is globally always the same. What does the Manifesto say? One of the underlying …
Building software products is not complicated!
Until recently, we have misjudged the nature of creating IT products. It was believed to be “complicated.” As a result, unsuitable methods for creating software have been developed, but in fact building software is not complicated at all… In 2000, David John Snowden, known as Dave Snowden, finalized Cynefin. It …
The Importance of Requirements Management
The concept of “Agile Development” can have different meanings depending on who you are asking. For some, it is about adopting a more pragmatic delivery approach and departing from traditional rigorous planning. For others, it is more about a rigour of a different kind that is implemented to tackle the …
Introduction to Kanban
To begin with, let me specify that the Japanese word Kanban means signboard or billboard. By extension, it is a management method developed by Taiichi Ohno in Toyota factories during the ’50s and ’60s. It is based on certain basic principles: The workflow is displayed and highlighted visually. The focus is …
Is there a PO in the room?
Within the context of product development, the fact that Agile planning is based on business value emphasizes the essentiality of the role of the Product Owner (PO). In this regard, we wish to present considerations that can be useful when choosing the person who will play this key role. …
Discussion about acceptance criteria
Acceptance criteria are essential to Agile frameworks. They are at the center of any discussion about the work that needs to be done. However, as important as they are, little time is being dedicated to them in most Agile trainings. Here, I will try to remedy the situation by shedding …
Improving collaboration with user stories
As you probably already know, among the values and principles promoted by Agile approaches, there is collaboration; that is, collaboration between the various contributors who take part in the development, marketing, and use of the product. Although user stories are way too often overlooked and misunderstood, they play a critical …