by Shiv Sivakumar | Aug 6, 2023 | Chow
Upon reading the blog Relative Size – 4 tips, the Scrum Master (SM) of a team I am working with as coach came to me with a question: Why are you emphasizing more time invested in backlog refinement to prepare for the next sprint instead of spending a lot of time in...
by Shiv Sivakumar | Aug 6, 2023 | Agile
There has been a great deal written about relative size estimation and its many benefits: simplicity, speed and adequacy commensurate with the level of planning. Despite all that, we find that adopting relative size and story point estimates by teams is not without...
by Shiv Sivakumar | Aug 17, 2022 | Chow
Agile think tanks recommend that the modern-day organization should be a cluster of empowered teams, an entity that is like an organism able to adapt itself and thrive. Alas, when agile consultants walk into a new customer engagement, chances are what they see appears...
by Shiv Sivakumar | Aug 17, 2022 | Agile
Ok, folks, the title of the post and the picture are a dead giveaway, aren’t they? Yes – the picture is stark and clear to everyone except Miss.Piggy! And, oh, I forgot – Old MacDonald who owns her thinks that the picture, while not perfect, can still be...
by Shiv Sivakumar | Jul 22, 2022 | Agile
Many of us agile coaches are familiar with the INVEST (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small and Testable) criteria that stories should meet after refining them. Almost a maxim if you will, supported by text book examples in the classroom. Participants...
by Shiv Sivakumar | Jul 21, 2022 | Agile, Chow
As agile coaches, we have all had our initial travails, cutting our teeth in the first engagement and at times learning the hard way. One can walk down memory lane, maybe with a rueful smile! Here is a quiz of three questions which may make you reminisce! For those...
by Shiv Sivakumar | Jun 21, 2022 | Chow
Photo by Conor Luddy on Unsplash You are coaching an eight-member team in Pune, part of a large multinational in the tech sector. The team is self-sufficient with the Product Owner & Product Management also being located in Pune. The team is now facing a...
by Shiv Sivakumar | Jun 21, 2022 | Agile
Many of you would be familiar with the expression “eat your own dog food”. Eating your own dog food or “dogfooding” is the practice of using one’s own products or services. Dogfooding is not exactly new. Here are some examples: In February...
by Shiv Sivakumar | May 19, 2022 | Agile, Project Management
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA Scrum as an Agile approach is now center-stage worldwide, a goliath occupying a staggering 66% of all agile adoptions. The distant second is Scrumban, a mere 9% and the third at 5% tied between Scrum/XP Hybrid...
by Shiv Sivakumar | May 19, 2022 | Chow
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC Priyanka is the coach for a team making firmware and software for ECUs (electronic control units) and app layers above. Due to the number of fragmented technologies in the solution and the workload, the...
