The decision on what types of tests to run within a sprint is the subject of much debate within the Agile community and organizations implementing Scrum. The methodology supports writing acceptance criteria for each unit of work (story) that defines when that item is “done”. That criteria is used to create a validation plan that […]
DevOps and test automation are important elements of an effective software development organization. Some organizations are having difficulty justifying the investment in test automation, particularly for legacy systems that were not automated from the beginning. This article describes some benefits and a financial model that has been used to justify investment in test automation. I […]
This is a survey that can be given to your development teams to assess how much of the Agile principles are in practice. This survey is based on the tenets of the Agile Manifesto and Scrum. The employee will be asked to answer in the form of agree/somewhat agree/somewhat disagree/disagree with the validity of the […]
Most teams that have adopted Scrum have established a pattern for running their stand up meetings. The traditional standup consists of asking each team member three questions. What did you do yesterday? What will you do today? Is there anything blocking you? These are reasonable questions and can provide insight into a team member’s activity. […]
One of the tenants of scrum is the team’s ability to create a sprint backlog and work in a committed fashion to complete this backlog. If teams are not able to complete their work and meet their goals consistently, it is useful to look at trends over time to understand the underlying factors. If they are […]
This is a quick introduction to the Microsoft Team Foundation Server that is part of their Visual Studio suite of products. If you are starting your implementation of Kanban and want to dip your toe in the water, Microsoft Team Foundation Server may be the answer. Microsoft offers this as a free service, along with […]
Agile is a step forward for implementing software systems. But, I have seen teams struggle with several quality challenges when they move to Agile. While Agile provides more freedom in the implementation of stories, it can be more limiting in the amount of time spent during the specifying and test planning phase. The methodology rewards lean […]
Organizations taking on agile almost always struggle with estimating. Years and decades of experience has taught the typical project manager that work is proportional to the difficulty of the task. This complexity is then expressed in hours to determine how long the project will take and how much it will cost. Expressing a small project forecast […]
Employee complaints: you can’t live with them, can’t live without ‘em! But what do they tell you about your organization? It has been my observation that people complain when they don’t have control over a situation. If they had control, they would do something about it rather than complain. Any situation that has the potential […]
Coaching is one of the most inconsistently used terms that I have heard recently. It conjures up visions ranging from doing winds sprints with someone blowing a whistle in your ear to lying on a couch telling someone about how your parents treated you. Coaching has been used to mean teaching, discipline, motivation, personal discovery, […]
streaming Agile 