Agile Mashup

 
“Selflessness gives one center. Center creates order. When there is order, there is little to do.”
 
From the Tao of Leadership by John Heider, adapted from the teachings of Lao Tzu

Uncategorized Agile Leadership, Agile Transformation, culture, Process, Scrummaster, Teamwork

Series: Agile Transformation Anti-patterns

I remember that day like it was yesterday. The click of the camera, the awful picture, the waiting for what seemed like hours and finally, that moment where I was handed, still hot off the lamination machin…

Uncategorized Agile Leadership, Agile Transformation, culture, Experimentation, Process, training

Series: Agile Roles and Responsibilities Series
Many pundits preach that the agile organization will not have managers – that teams will self-manage and can carry out all responsibilities of traditional functional management. This includes HR respon…

Uncategorized Agile Leadership, Agile Roles and Responsibilities, culture, Experimentation, Organizational Structure, Process, Scrummaster, Soapbox, Vertical Slicing

One of the most misinterpreted and misapplied terms in our Industry is the term ‘empowered’. I hear it used over and over from organizations that are new to Agile concepts and have usually know just enough to be dangerous – and dangerous they beco…

Uncategorized Agile Leadership, Agile Roles and Responsibilities, culture, Process, Soapbox

Series: Agile Roles and Responsibilities Series
Anyone who knows me knows that I love ScrumMasters.  My family had to get used to the idea of being second in line, but they’ll get over it.  Why the love affair? Simple.  They are th…

Uncategorized Agile Roles and Responsibilities, Organizational Structure, Process, Scrummaster

Cross-posted from the personal blog of David D. Parker: A Changemaker in the Making I am engaged in a learning process with a charity that has undertaken to implement a new model of volunteer coordination based on OpenAgile, an open source agile method.  We recently held an orientation with our new volunteers.  In the hopes [...]

Uncategorized Agile, agile beyond software, Agile Case Studies, agile management, Consulting, How-To Apply Agile, Innovation, Interesting, Learning, management, OpenAgile, Process, Team, Teams

One question I am often asked is “Does testing add value?” Many people who ask this question are development or Q/A managers who are trying to figure out how testing fits within an agile environment. My simple answer is: “No, it does …

Agile Testing Organizational Structure, Process, Technical Skills, Vertical Slicing

It is almost guaranteed that when I work with new organizations, one of the first questions that comes up is “How does the development organization work with the Q/A organization?” This question is a stinker. A seemingly simple question act…

Agile Testing Organizational Structure, Process, Technical Skills, Vertical Slicing

Series: Agile Roles and Responsibilities

It always bewilders me to think about the amount of teams out there who designate the ScrumMaster as a ‘Task Master’. In these teams, the ScrumMaster’s role is often seen as that of an administrator. This ScrumMaster schedules, plans and runs the meetings, including the Daily Scrum.    His job is to make sure all the perceived overheads of the iteration are completed so that the team can focus on their “real” job. “Come around and get our hours every day so we don’t have to input them,” the team may say. “And while you’re at it,” they may add, “be a dear and handle any interruptions that come our way, would you?” However, this is a mistaken notion.

ScrumMasters are called what they are for one very simple reason: They own the process of Scrum.  They have one of the most complex and difficult jobs in the development organization: To create and maintain the processes by which we work. In short, they need to be change agents. 

I don’t mean to imply that ScrumMasters don’t work within the team. On the contrary, they work intimately as a part of the team to help create and adapt processes within the team. However, they aren’t the ones that manage the team and the team’s meetings and events – the team itself does that. It is perfectly fine for the ScrumMaster to perform those activities when working with a newly formed team but with the understanding that those are owned by the team and will be transitioned to the team as soon as possible.

What, then, should the ScrumMaster be doing once those items are transitioned? Everything else that falls under the ‘own the process of Scrum’ category. This includes working with Product Owners just as intimately as the team, to help with release planning and tracking, bridging the gap between the Product Owner and the team. This also includes working with existing management to solve deeper organizational issues that is beyond each team. Finally, they are responsible for working with other ScrumMasters to maintain a coherent process across the organization. In the end, a well balanced ScrumMaster will work in equal parts with the team, the Product Owner and the organization. 

This may be a good time to mention that the role of the ScrumMaster is a full-time one, but that is another blog entry.

Uncategorized Agile Leadership, Process, Scrummaster

OpenAgile is similar to Scrum in many respects. Both are systems for delivering value to stakeholders. Both are agile methods. Both are frameworks that deliberately avoid giving all the answers. So why would we choose OpenAgile over Scrum?

Scrum, Uncategorized Agile, Business, culture, Innovation, new work, open source community, OpenAgile, Process, Professional Development, Reference Information, Scrum, XP and Lean, Scrummaster, Teams, Theory of Agile, Truthfulness, value delivery, Work