Jul 3, 2021How to spot and fix issues with a cumulative flow diagramA cumulative flow diagram (CFD) is a visual representation of how your system is performing. A CFD is a powerful tool, and it can tell you much about the health of your system. …Lean5 min readLean5 min read
Jun 27, 2021How to read a cumulative flow diagramAdopting Kanban ways of working can help to enhance your Scrum. If you want to learn more about Scrum with Kanban, a great place to start is by reading Scrum.org’s recommended reading list for their Professional Scrum with Kanban training. One of the benefits of flow-based systems is the real-time…Scrum5 min readScrum5 min read
Jun 27, 2021How I passed Scrum.org’s Professional Agile Leadership I CertificationThe Professional Agile Leadership I (PAL I) from Scrum.org is one of two certifications in their agile leadership stream. Scrum.org …Scrum4 min readScrum4 min read
Jun 8, 2021Why a definition of ready?A definition of done (DoD) is an essential requirement for a Scrum team. The Scrum Guide says that a product backlog item (PBI) becomes an increment once it has met the DoD. Put simply: PBI + DoD = increment After spending time as a team working to define our DoD…Scrum3 min readScrum3 min read
Jun 8, 2021Why a definition of done?Our team recently moved over to a new way of working, bringing Kanban into our Scrum. As we reviewed our entire working processes, one question came up quite early on in our discussion: why and when should we create our Definition of Done (DoD)? Some of the team wanted to…Scrum4 min readScrum4 min read
Apr 28, 2021How I passed Scrum.org’s PSPO III certificationThe Professional Scrum Product Owner III (PSPO III) certification is Scrum.org’s top certification for Product Ownership. It’s both hard to pass and quite different in style from the others in its family. I found this a very tough exam. At the time of writing, there are only 365 holders of…Scrum4 min readScrum4 min read
Apr 28, 2021How we transformed our Scrum with Kanban (part 3)In the last two blog posts, I described how we transformed our Scrum with Kanban — adding in these new ways of working made our team better. We improved customer outcomes and saw lead time improvements of close to 30%. …Kanban6 min readKanban6 min read
Apr 18, 2021How we transformed our Scrum with Kanban (part 2)Bringing Kanban ways of working can supercharge your Scrum. In this next part, we’ll look at how to limit and manage the work in your system. You can build a Kanban system around six general principles. All of them are compatible with Scrum and will even enhance it. Defining and…Kanban3 min readKanban3 min read
Mar 31, 2021How we transformed our Scrum with Kanban (part 1)When I look back at my agile journey, two facts were true on the first day I became a product owner (PO), which are still true now. First, Scrum has a clear guide with key concepts which make it effective. If you ignore those concepts, you will lose out on…Kanban6 min readKanban6 min read
Mar 29, 2021The story a sprint burndown chart told meThey say a picture can tell a thousand words. If you understand what a sprint burndown chart means, a thousand words might not be quite enough. In my case, it wasn’t. Yet, at the same time, a few short words can also enough to start asking questions. ‘Something’s not right’…Sprint8 min readSprint8 min read
