Agile: It’s the business stupid!
It has been said that in a waterfall project you aim a rifle at the target, shoot, and then hope you hit the target. With agile methods, on the other hand, you aim the rifle toward the perceived center of the target, shoot, and then steer the bullet towards the actual center of the target. If the customer is not involved in steering the bullet, you will almost certainly miss the target. The question is, how do we ensure that the customer steers the bullet? This article offers several approaches for obtaining the customer commitment necessary for project success.
The Three-Headed Product Owner
What do you do when your team needs a committed product owner and no one is available? You don't have the resources to hire from outside and the internal candidates are either not perfectly suited to the position or cannot commit their time. Find out how one team solved this by selecting a committed product owner and then adding to his knowledge base with a committee and user proxies, creating a sort of three-headed product owner.
Scrum and Group Dynamics
Do theories of group dynamics offer insight into why some Scrum teams succeed while others seem only to struggle? Jörgen Fors thinks so. Find out why he believes learning more about FIRO and RAT could help your team.
Case Study: October 2007
Theories are illuminating and helpful, but nothing can replace real-world experience. Each month, we'll post a real-life, ongoing case study for your consideration. The author will monitor comments and may even try the remedies that you, the Scrum community, suggest. The results of these trials will be posted as a comment to the case study.
This case study is open for discussion. Join in.
Why switch a failing waterfall project over to agile?
The first in a five-part series, this article details the advantages of converting an exisiting project to agile, as opposed to only applying agile to new projects. The next article in the series will look at how you make that switch.
Success Factors for Scrum Implementation
One company's experience with implementing Scrum and the factors that helped them to succeed.
Agile Smells: Lack of Progress: Part One: Failings in Backlog Management
Progress smells often point to failings in one of three areas: backlog management, feature definition, and feature completion. This article analyzes what lack of progress means and describes remedies for weaknesses in backlog management. Parts two and three of this smell analysis will address feature definition and completion, respectively.