The Agile Daily Standup - AgileDad

Who would have thought that I would craft a Friday episode around a quote from Katy Perry? Standing For Nothing = Falling For Everything! Do not let the world around you influence who you are and or how you feel. Stand above the clouds and do what you can to make a difference! 

As a kid, I enjoyed visiting my grandparents. My dad’s parents were an eight-hour car trip away but we’d make the trek a few times a year. On many of those trips, my grandmother would host extended family dinners, usually with quite a crowd in attendance. She served a great many dishes for those dinners, including some things from “the old country.” And some of those dishes looked quite unappealin...

I frequently get asked about Agile Contracts and how we should fund/budget for Agile products and projects. Let this no longer be a mystery! This 'no crystal ball' required approach will lead you to the how and why behind Agile Budgeting practices. 

How important is the definition of done and what kind of things should in include? How about:  Acceptance criteria are verified during testing Code creation tasks completed Testing completed and signed Regression testing has been reviewed and passed Code reviews conducted Defects are in an “acceptable” state to the Product Owner User story accepted by the product owner Regression tests run an...

What is a release plan and why is it such an important part of our Agile implementation? Join V. Lee Henson, President and Founder of AgileDad as we did deep in the archives and discuss how release planning can make or break your implementation. 

What can we learn from a bundle of sticks? Join V. Lee Henson from AgileDad as we share an inspiring story about a man, his 4 sons, and a bundle of sticks that was unbreakable! 

Why are the Scrum Values so important? Is it critical that we memorize these and share them with our teams? Join V. Lee Henson, President and Founder of AgileDad as we discuss why the Scrum Values ADD Value! 

This is the age old question... Which practice works best? Which is the silver bullet solution ?Join V. Lee Henson as we discuss the 4 phases to complete a product or project and the importance of investing in each. 

Are data driven retrospectives really a thing? I suppose they are, but I see this as an opportunity to really demonize and weaponize metrics to force a renewed push for equalization and optimum efficiency instead of focusing on outcome and impact which are the real 2 metrics we should be tracking. 

Here are the Top 10 Tricks:  Have a clear purpose objective and intent for the meeting Invite the right people to your meeting Prepare a detailed agenda Nail the logistics Always start on time Stay on Track Define how decisions will be reached Make certain outcomes and conclusions are clearly stated Assign action items and Stick to timelines Follow-up after the meeting

Sam and Tom were identical twins. They were so identical that even their mother found it difficult to distinguish one from the other. But apart from their looks, the two boys couldn’t be any more different. The first young boy, Sam, had no problems making friends. Meanwhile, the other little boy, Tom, was bad at keeping them. Sam loved sweets but Tom loved spicy food. Sam was mommy’s pet and Tom w...

Learn with AgileDad as we explore an article published by Ted Bauer - Most Execs Don't Know What Strategy Is where we discover the importance of the Agile Press release and how the AgileDad Leadership Agility Playbook allows leaders to gain focus onto what is most important. 

What are the top 5 concerns every product backlog should address?  People : The agile team and stakeholders( how we can improve peer-to-peer communication, reduce stakeholders’ interference, improve the team morale, create a better working agreement, etc.) Product : The product Increment, features, bug fixes ( any issue needed to build, improve the actual product, etc.). Process : The agile a...

As the story goes...  Carl is a Product Owner. He works with three Scrum Teams. He’s concerned about the productivity of one of the teams because the Velocity is lower than the Velocity from other teams. This is why he decides to raise this with Sarah, the Scrum Master. What does he do to solve the issue? 

Finally!! The team at MentorMate have acknowledged and discussed the differences between a PO and a BA and why BOTH are important to your Agile implementation.  https://mentormate.medium.com/product-owner-vs-business-analyst-the-importance-of-both-d813c31320d5

Are you quick to judge? How can we become a people with less bias and focus on the talents and gifts of others? Join V. Lee Henson for this uplifting episode where we formulate how the world can be a different better place. 

In this episode we review an article by John Hartley where he is petitioning for organizations to stop using velocity to measure teams. While I understand the intent of what John is proposing, I feel there must needs be a better way, such as... Using Velocity! 

Here are the top 3 things you should avoid saying as a PM:  1) Saying Yes Straightaway 2) Saying No Straightaway 3) Becoming a Taskmaster Without Context https://johnmicahreid.medium.com/3-things-to-avoid-saying-as-a-product-manager-4b0d37e9e56

Agile Burndown charts are the WORST! They force us to focus on output instead of outcome and or impact. Join V. Lee Henson as we discuss why this is an issue and what you can do to better track sprint progress. 

How does QA work in your organization? Are they a separate team? Do they assign a single individual to the team? Or are your teams completely cross-functional? Join V. Lee Henson as we explore how teams and QA should co-mingle and learn how QA is supposed to function. 

How can we spread more joy in this world that is filled with so much negativity? Tell a Dad joke.. AgileDad is VERY good at those. 

Help teams engage by learning to do what in the trenches:  1) Understand and leverage Team Working Agreements 2) Identify Silos and work through them 3) Implement Team John for honing of skills 4) Allow the Agile Coach to remove obstacles that the team cannot remove themselves 5) Allow teams to create a common purpose and goal 6) Incentivize teamwork & Collaboration 7) Let teams decide ho...

In This Episode of Agile In The Trenches we focus on the best ways to help teams embrace change:  1) Commit to goals, not plans or scope 2) Try pair programming, peer review, and mob programming to increase collaboration 3) Allow team members space to breathe 4) Try 'no meeting zones' 5) Do not overfill sprints. Leave space for innovation 6) Make certain backlog items are sliced very small 7)...

In this Agile In The Trenches episode we learn how to overcome imposed deadlines and how to regain our focus:  1) Demo or deliver value more frequently 2) Avoid the middle man 3) Stop over or under planning 4) Provide incremental and iterative value 5) Use failure as a chance to adapt 6) Bring teams and planners together 7) Build products and services together a s partners 

In the United States, we celebrate Memorial Day on the Last Monday in May each year. What is Memorial Day? How did it start? Why do we celebrate this day in history? Join V. Lee Henson, President and Founder of AgileDad as we explore and learn more about this topic.