The Agile Compass

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Are you afraid of user feedback?

Are you afraid of user feedback?

While sprint reviews or system demos are meant to focus on feedback from users, so that you can deliver more value… …some PMs and POs are afraid that user feedback could challenge their plans/backlogs. What I see play out almost every week is the struggle to adopt an...

Have the damn guts to walk out on a meeting!

Have the damn guts to walk out on a meeting!

Take responsibility for your own productive time! Agility is about autonomy. Autonomy means you‘re responsible for your time. Sitting through meetings just because somebody invited you is not a responsible use of your time. 👉 Have the courage to decline meeting...

Transparency is damn misunderstood by many!

Transparency is damn misunderstood by many!

🚨 Transparency doesn't mean that management can see everything the team does. Transparency means: 👉 The team can see everything management does. 👉 The team can see everything it does itself (reflection). Transparency is supposed to EMPOWER teams, not to control them!...

Leadership is a relationship 🙌

Leadership is a relationship 🙌

Leadership is not something one person does! It's a relationship between leader and follower. A leader without a follower is not a leader. If you want to be a great leader, ask the people who you want to follow you what they expect from you. Then act accordingly....

The simple 7-step guide for awesome Retrospectives 🙌

The simple 7-step guide for awesome Retrospectives 🙌

Retrospectives often end up as “letting off steam” or “endlessly discussing problems” events. That’s not helpful. Retros should help a team continuously improve! They should feel positive and have impact 🚀 Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough;...

What makes or breaks an Agile Transformation?

What makes or breaks an Agile Transformation?

Is it the framework you pick? Is it the tools you use? Is it how many teams dutifully exercise their sprints? I often see significant focus on choosing a scaling framework, teaching people how to do method xyz and picking "agile" tools. 🤔🤨🧐 But that is only...

The Surprising Benefits of Walking Meetings

The Surprising Benefits of Walking Meetings

Who said that meetings have to happen in a room or at a desk? Like with so many things in life we hardly ask about why we do meetings the way we do. And there is a lot to be said about meetings, but I want to focus on one innovative technique today: walking meetings....

Scrum vs Kanban

Don‘t fret too much over the right agile framework for your company. Focus on an agile culture instead. Establishing an agile culture is the key to success. Without it, none of the frameworks will deliver decisive improvements. Matthias Orgler (Agile Coach)

Is Scrum a too rigid framework?

Is Scrum a too rigid framework?

Countless teams have moaned over Scrum being too rigid and not really suited for their particular domain. As an agile coach responsible for countless agile transitions I strongly disagree. Why do teams claim Scrum would be too rigid? There are several reasons and the...

“We tried Scrum and it didn’t work”

“We tried Scrum and it didn’t work”

I hear this statement a lot recently. Companies claiming they tried to do Scrum, but even after a year or more it didn't work for them. I disagree – let me tell you why. Scrum is one of several agile frameworks you can use to set your company up for a VUCA world. It...

Understand Sprint Burn-Down Patterns

Understand Sprint Burn-Down Patterns

A Scrum team can learn a lot form sprint burn-down charts. I want to help you recognize typical patterns, understand what causes problems and how to resolve these issues. For continuous improvement in Scrum you need to be able to read the patterns in your burn-down charts.

What is a Sprint Burn-Down Chart?

What is a Sprint Burn-Down Chart?

The burn-down chart is a tool in the agile Scrum framework to unearth inefficiencies in a team and improve towards greater agility. In an agile team or organization you should know about this chart and how to construct it.

Scrum will not make you agile!

Scrum will not make you agile!

Or: Would you trust a Geiger counter to save your life? Disclaimer: I love Scrum — it’s an awesome framework! But too many people believe that Scrum would make their company agile; this is wrong and this is why I wrote this article. Enjoy. When I went to Chernobyl, a...

How to split a user story between two teams?

How to split a user story between two teams?

Do you have user stories that need the expertise of more than one team? How do you organize this? The situation Your specific situation might be slightly different, but here is a common situation I have seen: The company organizes around a few technical platform teams...