agile

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An orange with a blue painted outside Redefining the Project Manager Role in Scrum

Scrum teams are meant to become self-sustaining, so it’s natural for project managers to wonder how they will fit into this new environment. But they still have important skills. Their new role may—and probably will—look different from the traditional project manager role they’ve been used to, but there are still plenty of opportunities to provide real value to their new Scrum team.

Pratik Kothari's picture Pratik Kothari
A variety of tools on a workbench For Distributed Agile Teams, It’s Not All about the Tools

Many managers and distributed team members think that if they just had the right tools, they could make some agile approach work. Maybe, but tools only enhance the work of a collaborative agile team. Before you select tools, make sure you have people who can work together and have enough skills and capabilities for your distributed team. Tools do not make the team; they support the team.

Gold-plated leaves Build Just Enough of a Feature with ATDD

Developers have a tendency to overbuild their code. This is frequently due to not knowing exactly when they're done and not knowing how robust a feature needs to be. Acceptance test-driven development (ATDD) is a great way to avoid this practice because when the acceptance test passes, the developer knows they're done building that particular feature.

David Bernstein's picture David Bernstein
A piece of plain paper laid over a pile of other paper with typed words Overcoming Challenges to Good Test Documentation

Getting good test documentation is a consistent challenge. Agile proposes that you should go very light on documentation, and while test documentation does not need to be heavy, it does need to be clear and cover all that the product is intended to do so you can ensure testing is consistent and results are recorded. Here's how to overcome some major barriers to getting good test documentation.

Steven Penella's picture Steven Penella
Woman facilitating a Scrum meeting with her agile team 8 Scrum Meeting Mistakes to Avoid

Scrum meetings aim to increase productivity and reduce rework by improving and enhancing the level of daily communication. Doing so helps teams stay on the same page, properly break down work into small and manageable tasks, and keep everything running smoothly. However, Scrum meetings can go wrong very quickly if they are not done properly. Here are eight common mistakes you should try to avoid.

Freddie Tubbs's picture Freddie Tubbs
Person playing the piano Using Agile to Learn Anything

Acquiring new skills is always admirable, and it can even help you find new opportunities in an increasingly competitive job market. By going in with a plan and organizing your self-improvement activities, you’ll be learning new skills in no time. Agile can help. Here's how forty-five minutes a day and a structured approach using kanban can set you up for success.

Shakeel Muhammad's picture Shakeel Muhammad
Agile team discussing portfolio investments Software Portfolio Management Simplified for Agile

Software portfolio management involves deciding which products and features to invest in to stay competitive and increase profit. But traditional portfolio management has infrequent assessments and isn't very flexible to market needs. When teams are agile but the portfolio process is not, we can't maximize business value. Here are some ways portfolio management can be adjusted to address this challenge.

Pratik Kothari's picture Pratik Kothari
Test pyramid with the base unit test layer eroded The Eroding Agile Test Pyramid

The test pyramid is a great model for designing your test portfolio. However, the bottom tends to fall out when you shift from progression testing to regression testing. The tests start failing, eroding the number of working unit tests at the base of your pyramid. If you don't have the development resources required for continuous unit test maintenance, there are still things you can do.

Wolfgang Platz's picture Wolfgang Platz
Coach guiding a team Empower Your Agile Team in 4 STEPs

New agile teams often start projects after some brief training on the Agile Manifesto and agile frameworks. But without additional coaching, these teams will struggle to deliver continuous value to their clients. Teams should be coached on how to tackle unexpected Situations, use appropriate Tools, conduct agile Events, and adopt appropriate agile Practices—four agile STEPs.

Ajeet Singh's picture Ajeet Singh
Arrows scaling upward 7 Key Factors for Scaling Agile in Large Organizations

Agile adoption has grown from a small number of agile teams within an organization to many agile teams, larger teams, and entire organizations themselves, bringing a new set of challenges and complexities. Regardless of the framework, some important factors play a major role in making large-scale agile adoption successful. Here are seven aspects you should consider when scaling agile across an organization.

Pooja Wandile's picture Pooja Wandile

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