Social Contracts for Agile Teams
Team member cohesion is an important factor in building a high-performing team, however achieving this cohesion is often easier said than done. Social Contracts are a tool I’ve used to build cohesion quickly and effectively within teams.
Git and GitHub for Scrum Masters
Scrum Masters generally don’t need to have the same depth of technical skills as the software developers on their team. However if your team is using Git for source code version control, then you as the Scrum Master or Iteration Manager, may find yourself bamboozled by terms such as HEAD, Master, Squash and Pull Request. This […]
Five tips for passing the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) exam
I recently passed the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) exam and wanted to share some tips to help others with this exam. As with other PMI certifications, you’ll need in-depth knowledge of the subject matter to pass this exam. You should not underestimate the difficulty of the PMI-ACP exam. If you’ve passed your Certified Scrum […]
Inaugural Scrum Coach Retreat Sydney
The Scrum Alliance is hosting the inaugural Sydney Scrum Coach Retreat from May 5 – 7 in Coogee. It’s 2 1/2 days of deep-dive learning combined with many opportunities to extend professional relationships within the community. Sounds like a bargain at just over $500. Register now and I’ll see you there.
Four free Agile resources that you should know about (but probably don’t!)
There are lots of free Agile resources on the internet. However, not all information is created equal. Frankly, a lot of the stuff out there is just click-bait designed to get you to buy a product or service. But there are many good sources information out there. I’m going to assume that you’ve read the Agile Manifesto […]
Agile Tour Sydney 2016 – call for facilitators
The Agile Tour Sydney is on again on November 14. For 2016 there’s a change of venue to the Aerial UTS Function Centre in Sydney. So only 40 sleeps to go before the big day. The call has now gone out for nominations from those who would like to run a workshop on the day. So if you’ve […]
How popular are Agile Certifications with employers?
Certifications can be a controversial topic. Get a bunch of Agile practitioners together, and if the topic should turn to certifications, then a heated debate often follows. Some folks love certifications and see much value in them. Others don’t think that they’re worth the paper they are written on. Regardless of your personal opinion about […]
The Rubber Chicken and other ways to get Agile meetings started on time
In a typical Agile or Scrum environment if there’s one thing that reduces productivity and efficiency, its people being late for meetings. Valuable minutes, which soon add up to hours and days, are lost while the team waits for the stragglers to arrive. Waste = bad Waiting is one of the sevens wastes of Muda, as categorized by Taiichi Ohno […]
Agile and The Black Swan
The Black Swan concept is based on an ancient saying which presumed black swans did not exist. People mistakenly thought that the fact that no-one had even seen a black swan, meant that they didn’t exist. (The saying was rewritten after black swans were discovered in the wild!) Nassim Nicholas Taleb popularized the term in his […]
Highlights from Scrum Australia 2016
Scrum Australia 2016 was a fantastic event. Hats off to the organizing committee for running the event in such a professional manner. Although there were a number of stand-outs, four highlights stood out in my mind. Steve Denning’s opening keynote Aattendees Buzz Bas Vodde’s closing keynote Steve Denning’s opening keynote Steve Denning, the well-known author […]