Entries by thinklo4

Tug-of-War: Balancing Out Scrum and Fixed-Price Contracts

Finding Common Ground: Scrum and Fixed-Price Contracts Unpacked Navigating the waters of fixed-price contracts in an Agile environment is much like a ship sailing through a storm—exhilarating yet fraught with peril. Fixed-price contracts present a host of challenges that seem at odds with the Agile philosophy inherent to Scrum. It forces a square peg into…

Mastering the Balance: Best Practices to Prevent Burnout in Scrum

Beyond the Sprint: Addressing Burnout in Scrum Frameworks Sprint cycles have become a cornerstone of the Agile methodology, promising deliverables within short, focused periods. While effective, there are instances when these cycles become unduly relentless, posing challenges to team members’ mental health. This article delves into the possible repercussions of this relentlessness and underscores the…

From Sceptics to Advocates: How to Win Over Non-Agile Stakeholders

How To Convince and Engage Non-Agile Stakeholders Efficiently Working in an Agile framework often feels like driving a high-speed train—everything is coordinated, quick, and efficient. But what happens when non-Agile stakeholders aren’t on board this fast-moving train? Whether it’s because they are unfamiliar with the best practices or skeptical of the framework’s benefits, these individuals…

Dysfunctional Daily Scrum? Here’s How to Get Teammates Talking

Silent No More: Reclaiming Your Dysfunctional Daily Scrum We’ve all been there: the daily stand-up that’s awkwardly one-sided, where the conversation flows like molasses and the silence becomes palpable. If you’ve faced this scenario, then you’ve encountered a dysfunctional Daily Scrum. Silence from team members is more than just an uncomfortable pause; it’s a symptom…

Debunking a Common Scrum Trap: No Silver Bullets Here

Reality Check: Overcoming the Common Scrum Trap of The ‘One-size-fits-all’ Concept There’s a pervasive myth circulating in the Agile community that Scrum is a cure-all for every organizational ailment. This notion, what we’ll term the “Scrum is a Silver Bullet” mindset, is a common Scrum trap even experienced professionals fall into. In the below sections…

5 Tricks To Make The Most Out Of Your Daily Scrum Standup

According to the Scrum Guide, the Daily Scrum (also referred to as Stand-Up Meeting) is a 15-minute, at which the Development Team plans work for the upcoming 24 hours. Consequently, meetings are held every single day during each Sprint. This well-known agile method is used by 86% of Agile Teams based on the findings of…

Your Most Frequent Agile Software Development Questions Answered

As you may know, for most companies today, rapid software development is essential, given the environment of ever-changing expectations. More and more companies realize the value of Agile. In contrast to traditional methods, this methodology allows for fast adaptation to customers’ expectations; provides a framework for products of the highest quality and helps to develop…

Improving your code quality

Do you know what’s common in the universe and customers’ expectations? Both of them keep growing at an increasing speed. You might even argue that neither of them has any apparent borders, but this might not be true for the former… Anyway, if you and your team want to keep up with the ever-increasing demands…

Common Habits That Keep You From Sustaining A Healthy Product Backlog

A product backlog orders tasks into a list and prioritizes them, so the developers know which items to deliver first. The roadmap and its requirements provide the foundation for the backlog, which usually consist of the following elements: user stories, bug fixes and features. Although the whole scrum team works jointly on the product backlog…

Efficient Sprint Planning: 10 Tips That Can Be A Real Gamechanger

Sprint Planning is one of the most significant elements of the Scrum Framework. Essentially, it’s a session, that’s held after the Sprint Retrospective and is deemed the first day of the next Sprint. Since better planning results in a substantially higher chance to reach the Sprint Goal, it’s a factor not to be neglected.  Below…