The Agile Compass
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13 Simple Hacks to Improve Your Agile Trainings Right Now
Take your agile trainings to the next level with these 13 expert facilitation hacks. Engage participants and make your training memorable.
Improve Workshops and Retrospectives with 1-2-4-All
Engage all participants and encourage profound insights with the liberating structure 1-2-4-All. Create inclusive workshops.
The Hidden Flaw in Your Agile Transformation: It’s Not What You Think!
Learn how building the inner structure of individuals within organizations is crucial for fostering agility and collaboration.
The Surprising Truth About the Definition of Done (DoD)
Explore the concept of the Definition of Done (DoD) in agile practices and its impact on team success. And understand the the pitfalls.
The Surprising Way Daily Stand-Ups Foster Deep Work
Achieve deep work and increase productivity by tackling constant interruptions. Discover how the daily stand-up can help you focus.
Why T-Shaped Professionals Are the Key to Agile Success
Why are T-shaped professionals crucial for agile success? Explore how their deep expertise and broad understanding foster collaboration.
Is Scrum anti-agile because it can’t be changed?
Demystify Scrum and its perceived rigidity. Understand how Scrum allows teams to personalize their work process and maximize efficiency.
The Danger of the Detached Product Owner
Uncover the importance of an engaged product owner for developers. Learn how delayed responses can hinder progress and demoralize teams.
Heartwarming Lesson: Kindness Is The Key To Winning At Work
Nice guys finish last – or do they? Discover how kindness and empathetic leadership led to the rapid construction of the Empire State Building—and why putting people first can be the key to winning at work. Hello Reader, today we will talk about people again. Because leadership and agility are more about people than about processes, organizations or frameworks.Here are a few other articles that also focus on the human aspect: How to overcome resistance to…
Why Agile Spikes Can Hurt You – And How To Master Them
What is a spike in agile? Why can it be dangerous? And how can your team use it for to reduce uncertainty?
How to give feedback that works
How to actually change behavior with feedback: make it sincere, specific, and selective. Learn how in this article.
How To Abuse Story Points And Mess Up Everything
The most common ways story points are misused—and how you, yes you, can stop the madness
Slow Down to Speed Up: Why Observation is the Secret Weapon of Successful Agile Coaching
In agile coaching, it’s tempting to dive in headfirst—implementing new frameworks, reorganizing teams, and scrapping old processes that seem inefficient. But what if I told you that charging ahead without fully understanding the existing systems could actually do more harm than good?
Unlock Agile Velocity: Boost Your Team and Avoid Costly Mistakes
Learn how to use velocity to improve your agile team’s predictability and avoid common pitfalls that can derail your progress. Get actionable tips and insights now!
The Truth About User Stories: Unlocking Their Power in Agile Development
Discover how user stories improve communication, focus on user needs, and boost agile team success with practical insights & actionable tips.
The Boss-Worker Game: Empower Your Agile Teams and Transform Leadership
Discover how the Boss-Worker Game can help agile coaches and leaders empower their teams and transform leadership styles. This hands-on activity vividly demonstrates the power of servant leadership and team autonomy, making it a must-try for any workshop or training. Learn to boost productivity, trust, and team dynamics through this engaging exercise.
💪 How to motivate people: Autonomy, mastery & purpose
We’ve all been there: Trying to figure out what really gets people moving, what truly makes them tick. And if you’re like most people, you might think it’s all about money, promotions, or perks 🤑🏆🛩️. But here’s the kicker: those things don’t work in the long run 😱. Shocking, right?
Real lessons on teamwork from the Marshmallow Challenge
Ever thought that a marshmallow could teach you a thing or two about building effective teams?
Why Not Understanding the Cybertruck is a Management Problem
This article isn’t about Tesla. It’s about leadership, innovation, and why too many managers fail to grasp the essence of how innovation really works.
How To Build Trust And Vulnerability In Teams With The Personal History Exercise
Agile coaches often face the challenge of nurturing trust and openness within teams. The Personal History Exercise, as presented by Patrick Lencioni in “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, offers a practical and effective approach to initiating this journey.
Why Managing Dependencies Is Dangerous And How To Do Better
When it comes to dependencies, most teams and managers immediately ask, “How do we manage these dependencies?” But are we asking the right question?
The Benefits of Setting Impossible Goals – Why Great Leaders Aim High
We all laugh when Elon Musk misses yet another audacious goal. But is he just a deluded lunatic billionaire or is there more behind him consistently missing his goals?
Why you should know the Ball Point game – and how to facilitate it
Every Agile Coach or Scrum Master should know this game! It’s the standard we use to ease people into the world of iterative development, especially Scrum. You likely played it when you learned about Scrum. If not, I urge you to check it out. And this article is about the Ball Point Game, how to facilitate it, and what it can teach us.
Are your Daily Scrums wasting your team‘s time?
The Daily Scrum is an often loathed Scrum practice. But it certainly wasn’t invented to waste your team’s time – so what are we missing? Why are some teams not getting value out of the Daily Scrum? And most important: How do we do better?
Boost productivity: Manage your energy, not your time! ⚡️
Did you know: The average worker is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes a day?
That’s a jarring 30% of an 8 hour work day. What happens the rest of the day? And why do we spend time “at work“, if we‘re not productive anyway?
The Power of TDD – it’s not just about testing!
To be agile we need to move and adapt fast. Software developers have come up with hands-on techniques to enable this speed. One of these techniques is test-driven development (aka TDD)
The Iron Triangle from an Agile Perspective
The Iron Triangle guides every project – agile or not. But how agile methods use that knowledge to make projects more successful and hit deadlines is a surprise! Intrigued?
Mastering Deadlines with Agile Methods: How to Deliver on Time and Within Budget
Have you ever been told that agile methods can’t meet deadlines or stay within budget? It’s a common myth that leaves many skeptical about the true power of agility. But what if I told you that agile methods are not only capable of meeting these constraints but often excel at it?
Don‘t ignore the hidden preconditions for Scrum
Don‘t ignore the hidden preconditions for Scrum Did you know that many organizations are not a great fit for Scrum? Scrum makes a few assumptions that are often ignored and not fulfilled. And when we naively start to implement Scrum, we wonder why it doesn’t seem to work as promised. Let’s uncover these hidden assumptions today! Hello Reader, you’re reading a free article of the Agile Compass. If you find my articles valuable, you might want to become a…
The Hidden Agile Killer: How Traditional Budgeting Methods Undermine Innovation
How agile can you be, if your budgeting process is still stuck in waterfall land? Sadly, many agile transformations are stopped in their tracks by the budgeting process. In order to fund a "project" (hint: it's most often actually a product development!), companies...