So you like the idea of a Kanban board and you want to set one up. But how do you know how many columns you need? Or what to label each column? These questions can be answered by mapping out your team's value stream: the series of transformations an item has to go through to be converted from its raw form into a deliverable valuable form. In this episode, go beyond “to-do, doing, and done” and learn about the value behind having the right columns on your board so you can optimize your team's flo...
Apr 24, 2023•25 min•Ep. 33
The cornerstone of any relationship—at work or elsewhere—is trust. But unfortunately, it's something that many software teams lack, causing a whole slew of problems including dysfunction and inefficiency. In this episode, we let you in the two biggest ways we build and maintain trust at our organization and how you can do it in yours too.
Apr 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 32
Ever get the feeling that the traditional “project” paradigm for software isn't quite fitting with agility? That trying to estimate the cost of the project versus the value of the project is just not ever working out the way you thought? Us too. And that's why we're proposing a different way to look at software projects—in a flow paradigm, where software is delivered in a stream, not a box. In this episode, learn what we mean by a “flow paradigm” and how it can change the way you plan, monitor, ...
Apr 10, 2023•23 min•Ep. 31
We know we're supposed to be dividing our work into small, deliverable chunks and reflecting that on our boards. But what should we do with the occasional tasks that don't exactly have a tangible deliverable at the end of them (e.g. research, proof of concept)? In this episode, we're helping you build a policy for when spikes and research stories come along so you can stop trying to retrofit abstract tasks into user stories and keep your board flowing with deliverable value.
Apr 03, 2023•15 min•Ep. 30
As soon as work begins, the clock starts ticking and work items start aging. But when work sits longer than it needs to, it throws off your flow of value and increases the chances for the work to change. In this episode, learn why should we care about work item age and what you can do about it so that your team delivers a consistent stream of value.
Mar 27, 2023•19 min•Ep. 29
We'll spare you any more suspense after reading this click-bait title—in this episode, we're talking about throughput. Throughput reveals chaos happening on your team, helps you plan, and can show you where to improve. That's why this is one metric you need to track if you aren't already. Learn how you can easily start tracking your team's throughput and how you can use it to make your team better at getting valuable software out the door.
Mar 20, 2023•20 min•Ep. 28
Building software requires a lot of bringing lots of different pieces together. But when some of those pieces depend on others outside your team, there's more opportunity for bottlenecks and inefficiencies. But while dependencies are unavoidable, there are ways to avoid it becoming a bigger problem. In this episode, we're going over two ways to handle cross-team efficiencies—even when the dependency isn't significant enough to justify adding a new person to the team.
Mar 13, 2023•21 min•Ep. 27
Agile Coaching as a professional seems to be going through a shift right now. Recent headlines show large companies laying off large numbers of Agile positions. Some Agile coaches are rebranding what they do. It all raises the question: What is the value of an Agile coach and are we as coaches delivering on it? In this episode, we're giving our two cents what we see causing this shift and how Agile coaches can stay ahead of it by proving and owning real value for their clients.
Mar 06, 2023•19 min•Ep. 26
If you're implementing any new practice (and that includes Agile practices), you're likely to come up against some obstacles. At first, the practice might not work out the way you imagined it to. But an obstacle doesn't mean it's the wrong thing to be doing. In fact, obstacles are often the mechanisms by which we ultimately find success. They can be the signs that help us find what the right direction is In this episode, we're talking about how to approach and not just overcome, but USE obstacle...
Feb 27, 2023•20 min•Ep. 25
Does your sprint planning include sprint goals? Sprint goals are a “newer” addition to the Scrum Guide (if 2013 counts as newer), yet many Scrum Masters seem unfamiliar with them. Broken down, the sprint goal is an explanation to stakeholders of why this sprint is valuable. It's what guides the decisions on what a team will work on for the next sprint. In this episode, discover how to create good sprint goals that can positively impact your process, get everyone on your team on the same page, an...
Feb 20, 2023•15 min•Ep. 24
Budgeting in an Agile world is difficult. We request money upfront but don’t know what the project contents will be or how it will turn out. This makes it hard for both internal budgeting processes and firms to quote prices. Throughput accounting is a great solution, but not every organization is ready to make that switch. But there is a way to start the transition from big batch, cost-based funding to more value-stream-based funding—using MVPs to budget. In this episode, we're giving you an ins...
Feb 13, 2023•17 min•Ep. 23
Why do we try to size user stories in software development? And how are we supposed to accurately make guesses about how long our work is going to take? In this episode, we're breaking down a couple of popular approaches to sizing user stories and then talking about how we can forecast projects without doing any sizing at all.
Feb 06, 2023•18 min•Ep. 22
What are user stories supposed to be? And who should write them? Product Owners? BAs? Devs? Users? ChatGPT? Despite the ways many people have convoluted and complicated user stories, the answer is in the name. They are stories that users tell you about the things they need to get done and why it’s important to do them In this episode, we're sharing with you the no-nonsense way to approach user stories so you get the information you need and users get what they need out of the product....
Jan 30, 2023•15 min•Ep. 21
Blockers are something that almost all of us have to deal with at some point. When, for one reason or another, a work item gets blocked in the middle of the flow, how does your team handle it? In this episode, we're talking about what makes an item "blocked," how to effectively represent them in your workflow, and some helpful tips to create an effective policy for blocked work items in your team. Contact us at integrityinspired.com...
Jan 23, 2023•15 min•Ep. 20
If your demo has become a meeting just to check off a box and cross your fingers hoping no significant changes get brought up, you're missing out on a lot of value. In this episode, we're sharing with you why we see demos as a time to gather better requirements and build trust with users.
Jan 16, 2023•20 min•Ep. 19
Building software requires a balance of solid planning but also the availability to pivot and adapt. So how far should you be planning ahead for your projects? To answer this question for your team, you have to ask yourself 1) how likely your plan is to come out wrong, and 2) how quickly your team completes work. Because the time you're using to make a plan that's likely to change anyway could be time better spent doing what needs to be done now, giving you the right information for your next mo...
Jan 09, 2023•14 min•Ep. 18
What does it even mean when someone says they " do Agile"? And why does " doing Agile" automatically mean using Scrum (apparently)? There's a lot of conflation when it comes to the terms "Agile" and "Scrum." And in this episode, we're clarifying the difference between the two and how using them synonymously can limit the potential of Agility.
Jan 02, 2023•17 min•Ep. 17
People often say a focus on process means you don’t care about people. But it's actually the opposite—Agile done well is really about caring for people. When you improve processes, you are improving the lives of people. You empower them to reach their potential and feel fulfilled in working with dignity rather than dysfunction. It's caring for people that makes us passionate about processes. That's why we work the way we work at our own software development company, and it's also why we made our...
Dec 26, 2022•16 min•Ep. 16
Imagine being able to predict with a high degree of accuracy when your team is going to complete a project. How would knowing that information change what you're doing right now? By running Monte Carlo simulations, using completion rates from your team's past, you can peek ahead at your project's risk and the probability of possible completion dates—helping you make better decisions while you still have the chance to affect the future. If you're not already running Monte Carlo simulations for yo...
Dec 19, 2022•18 min•Ep. 15
As an organization grows in its agility and gets rid of old models, what happens to the role of traditional project management? What do you do with the skill set, knowledge base and rich experience that our project managers bring to projects? Before you go making your project managers into Scrum masters, we're telling you the ways that project managers bring their own value to the table within a team pursuing agility.
Dec 12, 2022•14 min
If you're on LinkedIn at all, you've seen the classic "Efficiency vs. Value" dichotomy. While stating that teams should focus on delivering value and not efficiency makes for a punchy post, elevating one while ignoring the other doesn't make sense. Caring about efficiency doesn't mean you don't care about value. If you care about producing value (which you should), one of the best ways you can do this is by increasing your efficiency, thus getting things into the hands of users more quickly and ...
Dec 05, 2022•14 min•Ep. 13
Despite how "limiting" limits on work in progress sound, they're actually an excellent tool for improving your team's flow and speed. WIP limits optimize your team for FINISHING rather than starting. And that cuts down the time work spent in progress, getting features in the hands of users faster and you receiving feedback sooner. In this episode, we're showing you the value of WIP limits (whether you're using Scrum or Kanban) and sharing approaches and tips to get the most benefit out of them....
Nov 28, 2022•16 min•Ep. 12
People tend to have a lot of mixed feelings associated with metrics. They can seem intimidating and like a lot of extra work—or even an oppressive tool used by some managers. But when used properly, metrics can be the guiding star on your path to Agility. In this episode, we're showing you the value metrics can bring (hello, better projections and team improvements!). Plus, we're giving you three simple metrics you can start using with your teams right now. And trust us—once you start, you won't...
Nov 21, 2022•20 min•Ep. 11
So you've got an idea that you think will make your team's lives easier, but the only way it will be implemented successfully is if they all get on board. So how do you convince those involved to accept, and better yet, support the vision? In this episode, we're breaking down strategies for getting buy-in. And *spoiler alert* — it's not always about it being your idea .
Nov 14, 2022•20 min
Before you write this episode off as another anti-Scrum talk, hear us out—Scrum is not a bad system, but a lot of the teams using it are not who Scrum was made for. Scrum was meant for exploratory development—the kind of development when you don't even know the next piece you'll be building—and most software development teams don't fall into that category. So why are so many dev teams trying to fit a round peg into a square hole with Scrum when another system would be so much more valuable? And ...
Nov 07, 2022•18 min•Ep. 9
Happy, Halloween, Agile Spooks and Ghouls! In this special episode, we're sharing three truly chilling Agile horror stories about the Middle Management Slasher, a shadowy project with no owner, and the treacherous Pit of WIP. So gather around, grab your emotional-support sticky note pads, and get ready to hear some bone-chilling software tales of Agile terror.
Oct 31, 2022•11 min
If you've been listening to our podcast, you know we're not the biggest fan of themed retrospectives (see Ep. 1 "Retrospectives That Work"). But not everyone shares the same opinion, and some find them to be a valuable tool for their team. In the spirit of sharing valuable knowledge and continuing the longstanding debate of themed retros vs. non-themed retros, we've invited a guest with a compelling argument for spicing up those retro meetings. Hear from Chris Stone , an Agile coach who is an ad...
Oct 24, 2022•30 min
Too many stand-ups (or daily Scrums, for our Scrum friends out there) have turned into status updates, and that's hardly valuable for anyone. Say goodbye to everyone going around the circle, proving that they've been staying busy. Use your stand-ups as an opportunity for your team to come together and come up with their plan of attack for the day to stay on track as a group and reach team goals. Connect with Agile Bites Host Phil Ledgerwood on LinkedIn Visit our website...
Oct 17, 2022•20 min
Despite the coder stereotype, programming is not best done alone in a dark room. Building software is a team sport, and features are best tackled by tackling them as a group (aka swarming). Swarming is one of the most powerful and effective ways to increase your team's throughput. But so many teams struggle to execute it. Find out how simple swarming really can be for your team and how it can not only increase efficiency but also morale.
Oct 10, 2022•17 min
100% utilization rates— we know it doesn't sound like the most exciting thing to hear about, but it could be the key factor that's slowing you down. What if we told you that the people working on your project should not be as busy as possible ? Sounds crazy, right? But if delivery is your ultimate goal, optimizing your system for everyone to be "busy" could be working against your flow and decreasing your delivery rate. Connect with Agile Bites Host Phil Ledgerwood on LinkedIn Visit our website...
Oct 03, 2022•16 min
