The Rules of Scrum: Every Sprint includes Sprint Planning

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

The Sprint Planning meeting is the start of the Sprint and is the opportunity for the Scrum Team to discuss what they will build during the Sprint and how they will build it. The focus of the meeting is on choosing Product Backlog Items (the goal for the Sprint) and then breaking those Backlog Items down into a detailed list of tasks (the Sprint Backlog). In Sprint Planning, choosing who will do the work is strongly discouraged. The value of Sprint Planning comes at three levels: first, setting a concrete goal helps with team cohesion and enables high-performance teamwork, second, the planning work helps set expectations with stakeholders and develop a team’s understanding of its own capacity, and third, the time set aside for planning gives the team a chance to think systematically about how to respond to feedback from the previous Sprint.

The Rules of Scrum: The Intention of Every Sprint is “Potentially Shippable” Software

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

The phrase “potentially shippable” has a very simple meaning: the features built in a Sprint and all the related activities are done to such a degree that ONLY business considerations are involved in the decision to ship or to not ship at the end of the Sprint. Every Sprint should start with the intention of getting a small set of features to this ideal state. Of course, teams make mistakes and have obstacles to doing their work to this level of doneness. The intention to make potentially shippable software is designed to help teams see and expose obstacles to actually shipping. These can be technical obstacles, dependencies, or bureaucratic obstacles. Failing to have this intention removes this beneficial pressure from the team. This lack of pressure can in turn lead to acceptance of “the way things are” and a team that never reaches a high-performance state.

The Rules of Scrum: There are no Breaks Between Sprints

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

Each Sprint that a Scrum Team does is an opportunity for learning through “inspect and adapt”. If there is a break or a pause between Sprints, the Scrum Team may forget what it has learned or fail to apply that learning in a timely manner in the next Sprint. Of course, many Scrum Teams end a Sprint before a weekend and start their next Sprint at the beginning of the next week. This non-working break is normal and acceptable. However, a break between Sprints during which some or all Scrum Team Members do other work is not acceptable.

The Rules of Scrum: Every Sprint is Four Weeks or Less in Duration

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

The length of a Sprint determines how quickly a Scrum Team can “inspect and adapt” to changing circumstances and learning. Scrum, as a tool for product development, sets an upper limit to the duration of a Sprint. In other words, Scrum sets a minimum for the frequency of the inspect and adapt cycle. This ensures that teams using Scrum get at least a certain minimum benefit. Scrum does not set a maximum frequency (minimum Sprint length). If a team has a five-week (or longer) Sprint, the benefits from Scrum rapidly drop off. In particular, you dramatically increase risks associated with short term planning, responding to change, team development, windows of business opportunity, and error detection. Having a cycle longer than four weeks is not Scrum and a team with such a cycle length should not claim to be using Scrum.

The Rules of Scrum: Every Sprint is the Same Length

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

The Sprint is the fundamental unit of work when using Scrum. Any product development effort using Scrum is, therefore, divided into Sprints. Sprints are fixed in length so that the team has a predictable amount of time available to them to do work, which in turn assists in both short and long-term planning. By making every Sprint the same length, the Scrum Team learns its own capacity for work. If the Sprint length changes, the rhythm of Scrum is broken and a team will have to re-learn its capacity which usually takes at least a few Sprints. If Sprints are rarely the same length, then the Scrum Team will struggle to do any reliable planning.

The Rules of Scrum: What is Scrum and Why is it that Way?

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

I am starting a new series of brief articles that go through the details of the Scrum process, artifacts and roles. These articles will be one or two paragraphs each and will have a razor-sharp focus on the fine structure of Scrum. I have found that many people know the broad strokes, but are often missing important details. I hope you find these articles enjoyable and informative.

Another Great Article by Mike Caspar

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

Many of you have heard that Scrum does not solve problems… it just exposes them! Mike Caspar has written a great in-depth article about why Scrum exposes problems (and why this is good!) with lots of great examples. I like his concluding remark:

Scrum does not have answers for not following Scrum.

Awesome Agile Article about the Retrospective

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

Glen Wang, a former student of mine, has written another fantastic article about Scrum called “The Retrospective: Know Yourself and Adapt to the World“.

I love Glen’s philosophical take on things! This article is strongly recommended to any ScrumMasters, Process Facilitators and Agile Coaches out there!

Agile: Cheating at Work

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

I just finished reading an excellent article about a UCLA prof who, for his game theory class, allowed the students to cheat

I strongly recommend reading this because this points to one of the big cultural barriers to using Agile methods effectively: we are focused on individual performance instead of the outcomes of a group (team) of people!

Coaching Agile Teams class – Toronto, Canada – June 17 & 18, 2013

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

Coaching Agile Teams course descriptionCoaching Agile Teams is a training experience that covers both the being and the doing of agile coaching. There’s a lot to learn, experience and practice! At the end of the course, you will be capable of applying many new tools and techniques, as well as your own mindset changes, to coach agile teams to high performance. As practical as it is provocative, the Coaching Agile Teams course challenges agile coaches to rise to the fullest expression of their role and offer simple, practical ways to get there.

Outcome
You’ll walk away from the course with your personal coaching improvement backlog – a tangible plan you can use to thoughtfully improve your coaching when you’re back in your daily circumstances. We use your real world situations and scenarios throughout the class allowing you to craft powerful ways to address the challenges you face. You’ll also have many new things to try with your teams and you will probably depart with a few provocative ideas to chew on (in fact, maybe wrangle with for a while). All of these outcomes add up to your ability to become the excellent agile coach your teams need.

Register for Coaching Teams Class here!
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6102981181?discount=Berteig_promo

OpenAgile London 2013 – March 18th – UWO!!!

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

OpenAgile London 2013 is the first annual conference focused on OpenAgile and how it is used in organizations by real teams. London was chosen due to the great learning environment with both the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College being located here. This conference is meant to help both students and professionals by providing learning and networking opportunities.
The purpose of OpenAgile is to create an environment in which people are free to express their true nature and capacities to contribute to the betterment of their organization.
We welcome you to participate in this informative and inspirational event that will give you the tools for the future of management!
For Registration and more info visit visit http://www.openagilelondon.com/index.html

Announcement: OpenAgile Conference!

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

Hi Everyone,

I’m pleased to announce that a mini-conference for OpenAgile, with some great speakers, has been planned and is ready to accept early-bird registrations! The conference takes place in London, Ontario (yes, there is an airport) at the University of Western Ontario on March 18th.

Check out the conference information at http://www.openagilelondon.com/

I will be one of the speakers, along with some great industry leaders! I look forward to seeing some of you there!

New Seminar: Certified ScrumMaster – Toronto – April 2013

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

The most popular Agile certification! This two day course gives you the foundations to be an effective ScrumMaster and contributes towards the requirements of the Scrum Alliance’s Certified ScrumMaster program. Delivered by Berteig Consulting’s own Mishkin Berteig!

By successfully completing this course you will be able to:

Remove obstacles that prevent teams from becoming high-performance.
Enable a team to follow the Scrum process to deliver great products and continuously improve their quality.
Describe Scrum to others including roles, meetings, artifacts and principles.
Fulfill the requirements of the Certified ScrumMaster program.

Days: April 3, 2013, April 4, 2013

Location: Courtyard by Marriott Toronto Downtown, 475 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON Tel: 416.924.0611 (Google Map: http://goo.gl/maps/EyFH4)

Audience: This course is ideal for those who desire to create high-performance product development teams. Team leads, project managers and functional or line managers all can benefit from understanding Scrum’s amazing transformational power and the critical role of the ScrumMaster. If you are a member of the Project Management Institute, this course counts for 16 PDU’s and as part of the requirements towards the PMI-ACP designation.

Price: $1400.00

Contact: Valerie Senyk at 1-905-868-9995

Phone: 1-905-969-9995 Email: valerie@berteigconsulting.com

Link to Register: http://www.worldmindware.com/Certified-ScrumMaster-Toronto-April-2013

100 Monkeys… great new blog

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig

Earlier today at the Inspirational Expo in London Ontario, I met two young, enthusiastic people: Brette Hamilton and John Preston. Brette and John told me that they had grown frustrated with working in traditional media and had started 100 Monkeys as a way to bring a positive focus to the world… to share stories that would help rather than hinder, discourage, or cause grief. Their tag line is “A positive media site”… I hope you take the time to visit them! Here is a photo from the event:

100 Monkeys - Brette and John

Thanks to Brette and John to a great attempt at building a professional career on something positive! I wish them well, and I hope you all visit them often, and help them out in whatever way you can! (Sharing the link is probably the easiest! Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or your own blog!)

Certified ScrumMaster – Mississauga – March 2013

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Mishkin Berteig