Tag / Agile Coach

by wtmmb

75% lower incident costs Locate your Scrum Master with your team

So for the scrum master to be a success , they need to not only run the standard ritual and walk through the processes, they need to share time with the team where open unofficial conversations take place, where team members feel free to share concerns that may not be so easy to do formally.  Most scrum masters will quickly start to pickup themes and trends in issues and be ablPicture2e to either address or escalate them before they are are problem. Typically prevention, cost and delay, disruption and management overhead is at least 75% cheaper than cure.  So have your scrum master on site, get them searching and removing issues before they trigger, save that time, remove that wastes effort on fixing preventable issues.

This is a big part of a good Scrum Masters job  I call SMBWA (Scrum Mastering by Walking Around) like GEMBA in Lean or others call it  “go see for yourself”. The difference here is in lean its about looking atthe problem, going in seeing it in SMBWA its about hunting down isses and killing them before they catch fire. An issue once it catches first  severely reduces effectiveness of the team and often  damages the product and the team moral. It better have some one looking for and resolving issues before they get expensive, that’s the role of the scrum master.

This is why the Scrum Master needs to be with the team, to walk the floor as they do there normal role, listing to background conversations, talking to people in coffee areas, taking the temperature. Many problem that can delay or derail project and programs exist in those grey areas for days or even weeks before they ignite and raise to the leadership level.  Yes if they are doing their job well you will save very significant amounts of time and money as the prevent incidents from ever happening and make sure they get resolved quickly.

by wtmmb

Today I need Courage- How Committed is your team

courageIn SAFe and Scrum at every PI planning and at every sprint planning I always ask the team about there  commitment to the delivery, I ask them if they are willing to make a promise to the  Sponsors, Product Manager and the Product Owner, and most importantly of all promise to each other that they will do everything within our power to get this done. Its important they think about this decision, one of the many benefits of the fist of 5 (widely used in in SAFe) is a  give them a pause for thought. What the vote, assuming its a free vote will tell you what they really think. Tell you what the probability of success is.

by wtmmb

Be a Constructive Irritant

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I am an agent of change, my job is move peoples world view, I do this by being a Constructive Irritant. 

This is what Dr. John Izzo says what you need to be as a Constructive Irritant. 

Here are some ways to be a constructive irritant.

  • Punch above your weight or formal position. Be creative and generate new ideas for products and innovations even it’s not your job description. Win customers for life even if it’s not your department, and generally go bigger than whatever your role says you MUST do.
  • Don’t complain, Bring Solutions! When you see a problem, bring it into the light and offer solutions. And when you hear others complaining, make a constructive comment to change the atmosphere.
  • State your intention. Write down how you want to change your workplace. Look for ways to influence in the direction of that intention all day long. Say things like “I am raising this issue because I care about this organization and our success.”
  • Never finger point. Take Responsibility. When you raise an issue say here is how I have contributed or here is what I can do to solve this. Begin with yourself.
  • Debate Up, Advocate Down. With your peers and those above you be known as someone who challenges things in a constructive way. To those who report to you always be a team player supporting decisions made by those above you.

http://www.drjohnizzo.com