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Playing cards Virtual Agile Games to Strengthen Distributed Teams

While many games and related materials have been created for collocated team-building activities, there is a need for more of these artifacts in virtual form to support distributed teams. These three authors developed a set of virtual agile games that can be downloaded and played remotely, for team-building with newly created teams or as a fun activity with established teams.

Metal gears 6 Steps for Succeeding with Test Automation in Agile

Lots of test automation efforts in agile software development fail, or at least do not maximize their potential. This article looks at two main reasons test automation may not live up to the expectations that testers and other stakeholders in the agile development process have, then outlines six steps to avoid falling into these traps. Here's how to succeed with test automation in an agile environment.

Bas Dijkstra's picture Bas Dijkstra
Man holding a lit light bulb How to Get Value from Measuring Agile Team Health Metrics

One common metric in agile measures team health or team happiness, but creating a way to measure this that is valued by the team is not an easy task. It’s having clarity on the reason you’re measuring these metrics and who benefits from it that gives you real value. Here are some ways you can measure this elusive quality, as well as how to make sure you're gaining useful information.

Vic Bartash's picture Vic Bartash
Person holding a smartphone 5 Ways to Tackle Mobile Development Problems Early with Scrum

Using Scrum for mobile application development can be difficult due to various challenges inherent to building mobile applications. Environmental dependencies, platform limitations, service outages, ownership and access issues, and short sprints can all derail your agile development. Here are some tips for overcoming these five common mobile application development issues early by using Scrum.

Ajeet Singh's picture Ajeet Singh
Ship's helm The Agile Advantage for Last-Minute Changes

Companies using heavyweight development processes manage change by limiting or locking down scope, but this has negative consequences for our products and our customers. Agile takes a different approach by recognizing the value of last-minute changes and making it inexpensive and straightforward to make changes to software, even late in the development cycle, using continuous integration.

David Bernstein's picture David Bernstein
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
Four yellow pipes Continuous Delivery Is Not a Pipeline

Pretty much everything you hear about DevOps mentions “the pipeline.” Continuous delivery is not really about the pipeline, however. Continuous delivery is about two things: testing strategy and branching strategy. The pipeline is important; it is an integral part of DevOps. However, the central element is the practice of testing continually using automated tests.

Clifford Berg's picture Clifford Berg
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

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