Browsing Tag

Agile

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An hourglass jumping out of a Box (i.e a timebox)
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Timeboxing, Getting value out of Timeboxing beyond the methodology you use.

Timeboxing is a vital practice in Agile methodologies, enhancing productivity and predictability. It structures work within iteration-based frameworks like Scrum and XP, creating urgency and facilitating planning. In continuous methodologies like Kanban, it maintains focus and allows for efficient process improvements. Overall, timeboxing drives measurable outcomes and sustainable productivity across various environments.

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The Problem with Long Deadlines

Extending deadlines in software projects often reduces productivity, as evidenced by the ‘Beginning, Middle, and End’ cycle. Adopting shorter two-week? iterations enhances focus, feedback value, and engagement, while maintaining a sense of urgency. This approach stabilizes team velocity and promotes effective breakdown of tasks, ultimately optimizing workflow and delivering quality outcomes.

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The Science Behind Planning Poker: Understanding the Theory That Makes It Work

Planning Poker has become the de facto estimation technique in agile teams. Like many agile practices, it elegantly packages theoretical concepts into a practical, easy-to-follow process. This post explores the hidden foundations of Planning Poker by combining three powerful ideas: measurement theory, research on cognitive anchoring effects, and the Delphi estimation technique. Understanding these underlying principles helps teams move beyond just following the process to truly mastering the art of collaborative estimation.

Two software engineers looking at graph
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Velocity: How to interpret it to improve your agile team productivity. 1 of 3: Flavours of Velocity

Velocity is a commonly used metric in agile teams. It is a great metric due to its apparent simplicity. However, I often see teams drawing the wrong conclusions for the metric, which results in decreased productivity. 
This post is the beginning of a three-part series to convey my understanding of how to make sense of the information that velocity, as a metric, can provide to an agile team. And use this information to improve the team’s productivity.