ten tales of positive change
DESCRIPTION
These tales relate successful attempts at making improvements. They are described mostly in the order in which they occurred, from my time working in an Agile culture. The tales are about: Creating the Motivation to Pair Program, Staying Focused at Stand-up, Keeping Progress High and Questions Low, Reassigning Points to Validate Estimation, Admitting to the Real Date, Dealing With an Overwhelming Amount of Work, Gauging the Rate of Progress, Figuring Out How to Construct Teams, Finding Predictability in the Velocity, Allowing for Cross-Functional TeamsTRANSCRIPT
Ten Tales of Positive Change
Creating the Motivation to Pair Program
the first tale
worked solo and practiced code review
the situation
TDD had little effect
the problem
bought a big monitor
the action
to create a pair room
the cause
became a team
the effect
Staying Focused at Stand-up
the second tale
stand-ups took too long
the situation
extended stand-up discussions
the problem
note who spoke about what
the action
to show impediments
the cause
worked together as an organization
the effect
Keeping Progress High and Questions Low
the third tale
established a cadence
the situation
questioned Sprint progress
the problem
spent time designing retrospectives
the action
to work without distraction
the cause
routine practice andcontinuous learning
the effect
Reassigning Points to Validate Estimation
the fourth tale
tended to the Product Backlog
the situation
Product Owner questioned estimates
the problem
Resized stories, refined some
the action
reassigning points is useless
the cause
had some tough discussions
the effect
Admitting to the Real Date
the fifth tale
trusted relationship
the situation
miss the contracted date
the problem
worked together
the action
launch when predicted
the cause
eventually acquired
the effect
Dealing With an Overwhelming Amount of Work
the sixth tale
ScrumMaster switched jobs
the situation
no common thread
the problem
see everybody’s tasks
the action
to limit work-in-progress
the cause
increased flow
the effect
Gauging the Rate of Progress
the seventh tale
coaching many different teams
the situation
Product Backlogs were not being estimated
the problem
played team estimation
the action
to keep the Product Backlog sized
the cause
backlog refinement
the effect
Figuring Out How to Construct Teams
the eighth tale
Scrum mandated
the situation
created shared component teams
the problem
to create feature area teams
the action
to let the teams decide
the cause
continuously working software
the effect
Finding Predictability in the Velocity
the ninth tale
defects on the Product Backlog were not being estimated
the situation
couldn’t establish a consistent velocity
the problem
relatively size defects
the action
relatively size for cost
the cause
decided how to invest
the effect
Allowing for Cross-Functional Teams
the tenth tale
prepping for release planning
the situation
teams were not set upto deliver features
the problem
put release planning on hold
the action
to use the matrix
the cause
increased productivity, quality and engagement
the effect
What is in common?
started as an idea that led to a small change
What ideas do you have?