Transition

Articles

Agile Values Five Common Pitfalls When Organizations Neglect Agile Values

As agile development has erupted over the software landscape, its core philosophy often has been neglected as organizations hurry to implement cherry-picked practices in the name of pragmatism. By avoiding these five common pitfalls, companies can better realize the true benefits of agile: high productivity, great software quality, and happy customers.

Victor Szalvay's picture Victor Szalvay
Agile Planning The Five Levels of Agile Planning

Contrary to popular belief, agile projects require as much planning as any other project type. It is the timing of this planning and how we attempt to minimize wasted effort that is different from other approaches. This article attempts to explain the different levels of agile planning and how we utilize them in an ongoing project.

Paul Ellarby's picture Paul Ellarby
Technical Practices Accelerating the Adoption of Technical Practices

Agile teams are supposed to take responsibility for how they work and how they learn. But what if you need to jump-start that learning? Agile transformation is about making this happen rather than waiting for it to happen. You need to get your team to learn the technical side of agile, and soon. Here are some effective approaches.

Scott Barnes's picture Scott Barnes Clifford Berg
Natural Agile Agile: Don’t Worry, It’s Natural

Although the idea of repeatedly exercising the full development lifecycle on smaller chunks of the requirements is newer to the software industry, it isn’t at all new to many other aspects of life and nature. We have been agile practitioners for quite some time, and the software development industry is just catching up. John Ryskowski addresses a few examples.

John Ryskowski's picture John Ryskowski
Agile Process Rollout Overcoming Resistance to an Agile Process Rollout

Many engineering leaders and agile coaches believe that transitioning to agile is simply a matter of process training and expert advice. But frequently, it means that deeply ingrained habits need to be changed. This article identifies eight steps that address the wider organizational shifts implied by agile and will help create buy-in from your team.

Jonathan Levene's picture Jonathan Levene
No Quick Fix Management Myth 33: We Need a Quick Fix or a Silver Bullet

A new approach to projects or a new tool is not a quick fix or a silver bullet. Too often, you have ingrained, systemic problems that require a cultural change. That doesn’t mean a new approach or a new tool won’t help. It can. But you also need to adjust the environment that caused the problems in the first place.

Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman
Agile Product Backlog A Different Approach to the Agile Product Backlog

When one organization first shifted to agile, the team had trouble with maintaining the product backlog. No one could agree on priorities for items, they didn't know which item should be groomed next, and the backlog wasn't transparent to everyone. This team found a better method that works for them.

Jennifer Carder's picture Jennifer Carder
Important Retrospectives Why If I Could Do Only One Thing, It Would Be Retrospectives

Introducing a full agile framework can be daunting and cumbersome. Instead, try beginning with the method's core focus: continuous improvement. Retrospectives are the starting point of your agile journey and can help you solve the most immediate problems in your process, leading you down the road of process improvement.

Sune Lomholt's picture Sune Lomholt
Don't Shoot Agile in the Foot How to Plan and Execute Programs without Shooting Agile in the Foot

Program planners in IT organizations have a dilemma: On one hand, their agile teams tell them that if requirements are defined up front, agile teams cannot operate; but on the other hand, the program’s budget and scope need to be defined so that resources can be allocated and contracts can be written for the work. How does one reconcile these conflicting demands?

Clifford Berg's picture Clifford Berg
Implement Agile A Case Study in Implementing Agile

This case study serves as an example of how adopting agile can be extremely beneficial to an organization, as long as situational factors are considered. Adopting a new development method is a strategic, long-term investment rather than a quick fix. As this article shows, making deliberate, fully formed decisions will ultimately lead to better outcomes.

Taylor Putnam's picture Taylor Putnam

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