Our posts by Stefan Wolpers

Stefan Wolpers
Stefan—based in Berlin, Germany—has been working for 14-plus years as an agile coach, Scrum Master, and Product Owner. He is a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) with Scrum.org. He has developed B2C as well as B2B software, for startups as well as corporations, including a former Google subsidiary. Stefan curates the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter and organizes the Agile Camp Berlin, a Barcamp for coaches and other agile practitioners.
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The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021 Has A Job Opening

TL; DR: The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021 Has A Job Opening

I am looking for someone (m/f/x) to support me in running the Agile Camp Berlin 2021; use the form below to apply for the job.

The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021 Has A Job Opening — Age-of-Product.com

The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021

The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021 (ACB21) will take place from May 27 to May 29, 2021, from 1 pm to 7 pm CEST. You can find all information on the event here: Virtual Agile Camp Berlin from May 27-29, 2021.

As of 2021-04-10, we are 130-plus participants, and I expect the number to grow to probably 200. Since we are not giving away free tickets, I expect a high show rate among the attendees.

The Job Opening at the Agile Camp Berlin 2021

I am looking for someone (m/f/x) to support me in running the Agile Camp Berlin 2021. For example, your tasks would cover:

  • Admitting attendees to the event
  • Inviting attendees to the ACB21 Slack channel
  • Pointing attendees to where they can find more information
  • Updating the public schedule.

Generally, it is about addressing questions and issues that attendees might have and supporting them to have the best experience possible.

Your main working hours would be:

  1. May 27, 2021, from 1-7 pm CEST: Day 1 of the Agile Camp Berlin 2021.
  2. May 28, 2021, from 1-7 pm CEST: Day 2 of the Agile Camp Berlin 2021.

On May 27 and May 28, I will host the live-stream of the ACB21 from 2-6 pm. Hence, I won’t be able to support you full time during these sessions. (Please note: You won’t be able to attend any session on either May 27 or 28. Feel free, though, to join the sessions on May 29, 2021.)

Remuneration will be in the ballpark of USD 500/€450; our accountant is still working on the details. (For residents of Germany, we plan to go with a mini-job.)

If that sounds interesting to you, please spend five minutes on the following application form:

Visit the form directly on Google Forms.

App Prototyping with Absolute Beginners – Creating a Shared Understanding of How Empiricism Works

TL;DR: App Prototyping with Absolute Beginners

Yes, even absolute beginners can prototype an app. And learn a lot about agile product management, Scrum, empiricism, product design, and user experience along the way.

If you intend to live up to Scrum and agile product development’s full potential, creating a shared understanding of how empiricism works among all co-workers in your organization is essential. This low-cost exercise of creating clickable prototypes will significantly improve your organization’s agile transformation.

App Prototyping with Absolute Beginners – Creating a Shared Understanding of How Empiricism Works — Age-of-Product.com
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Food for Agile Thought #286: Rethinking Bad Decisions, Scrumban Is Not a Mere Hybrid, Product Discovery Excuses, Metrics Maturity

TL; DR: Rethinking Bad Decisions, Metrics Maturity—Food for Agile Thought #286

Welcome to the 286th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,802 peers. This week, we figure out how rethinking bad decisions may work; we learn why postponing the decision on who will work on something is beneficial for Scrum teams, and we suggest starting Scrumban with either Kanban or Scrum and then add some flavor from the other practice.

We then learn more about common anti-patterns with product discovery, from ‘there is no demand’ to ‘we don’t have time,’ and we delve into the learnings from the book ‘Working Backwards’ on Amazon’s way of creating products. Also, we suggest a way to figure out whether our team is genuinely evidence-driven.

Lastly, we cherish a board design that elicits questions, for example, to guide qualitative research.

Food for Agile Thought #286: Rethinking Bad Decisions, Scrumban Is Not a Mere Hybrid, Product Discovery Excuses, Metrics Maturity — Age-of-Product.com
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Product Backlog Defense – Common Patterns of Stakeholder Interference

TL; DR: Product Backlog Defense

Make no mistake: Your Product Backlog is the last line of defense preventing your Scrum Team from becoming a feature factory; hence Product Backlog defense is vital: Figure out a process that creates value for your customers. Moreover, have the courage — and the discipline — to defend it at all costs.

Product Backlog Defense — Age-of-Product.com
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Food for Agile Thought #285: Taleb’s ‘Antifragile,’ Agile Meets Beyond Budgeting, Product Management Design Partnership, Managing Ideas at Scale

TL; DR: Agile Meets Beyond Budgeting, Managing Ideas at Scale—Food for Agile Thought #285

Welcome to the 285th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,736 peers. This week, we delve into Nassim Taleb’s ‘Antifragile.’ Also, we detail why Agile meets Beyond Budgeting may represent two roads to the same end: creating greater business agility. Additionally, we point at the importance of questioning our knowledge and opinions in the face of new evidence.

We then enjoy the Head of Design at Stripe’s deep dive into the ideal collaboration between design and product management. Moreover, we share the fundamental principles to enable ideation and innovation at scale, from accessibility to simplicity to discoverability and innovators’ community, and we suggest four ways to track product discovery efforts.

Lastly, we learn how a team can use internal data to create usable forecasts, thus inspiring trust among stakeholders by improving predictions’ quality.

Food for Agile Thought #285: Taleb's ‘Antifragile,’ Agile Meets Beyond Budgeting, Product Management Design Partnership, Managing Ideas at Scale — Age-of-Product.com
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Scrum Master Interview Questions (4): From Agile Metrics to Scrum Kick-off to Scrum Anti-Patterns

TL; DR: Scrum Master Interview Questions (4)

Some time ago, someone on Reddit asked whether there would be any other profession that requires attending a 2-day training class and would then pay as well as a Scrum Master job. This attitude is precisely why the 47 Scrum Master Interview Guide exists: Prevent imposters from slipping through the hiring process and causing damage.

If you are looking to fill a position for a Scrum Master (or agile coach) in your organization, you may find the following 47 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my fourteen years of practical experience with XP as well as Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master as well as interviewing dozens of Scrum Master candidates on behalf of my clients.

So far, this Scrum Master interview guide has been downloaded more than 19,000 times.

Scrum Master Interview Questions (4): From Agile Metrics to Scrum Kick-off to Scrum Anti-Patterns — Age-of-Product.com
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