TL; DR: Accurate Estimates, Remote Productivity—Food for Agile Thought #240
Welcome to the 240th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 26,317 peers. This week, we revisit the fallacy of accurate estimates; we delve into a study revealing massive increases in the cycle and release time metrics of development teams since going remote, and we enjoy a view at a different world of agile testing and quality.
We also learn about product management by nagging; we tackle feature request handling, and we analyze the essence of a decent Sprint Goal.
Lastly, we check the latest recommendations of the Dark Side of Agile; this time, they can ensure the productivity of your now remote workers. (Won’t we all want to be that confident?)
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #239?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Accurate Estimates
: If Estimates Were Accurate, We'd Call Them Actuals
Rob Wortham goes back to an old-time favorite of the agile community—estimating and estimates.
Agile & Scrum
(via DZone): Productivity Data From 50 Dev Teams
Ori Keren presents survey data on the change in performance of 50 now remote development teams.
: The defect funnel – systematically working towards high quality
Michael Küsters takes a look at the ideal world of agile testing and quality.
(via McKinsey & Company): Revisiting agile teams after an abrupt shift to remote
Low and Behold, the Dark Side is also competent about how to ‘ensure’ that your knowledge workers are ‘effective now that COVID-19 has forced them to work remotely.’
📅 🖥 Online Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I: May 25-28, 2020
This guaranteed online Professional Scrum Master training is an official Scrum.org class that leads to and includes the industry-recognized PSM I certification. The training is designed as a live virtual class of 4 hours per day and will be offered in German.
Additional services for this online Professional Scrum Master training:
- Part of this virtual PSM training is also the free participation in the Distributed Agile Masterclass for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and agile coaches by appointment.
- On request and for an additional charge of € 299 incl. 19% VAT, it is also possible to take part in a classic PSM training class.
Learn more: 📅 🖥 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I — Online: May 25-28, 2020.
Product & Lean
: The Nag Metric: You got what you wanted… but at what cost?
As a product mensch, Julie Zhuo reflects on feeling pestered to do something, versus feeling free to make that choice.
: Tackling Enterprise Customer Requests
Sean Sullivan shares his approach on how to deal with “feature suggestions” from enterprise clients.
(via The Liberators): Examples Of Real Sprint Goals
Christiaan Verwijs analyzes how to create useful Sprint Goals.
📯 Remote Agile (Part 7): Sprint Review with Distributed Teams
We started this series on remote agile with looking into practices and tools; we explored virtual Liberating Structures, and how to master Zoom. We had a look at common remote agile anti-patterns, and we analyzed remote Retrospectives and Sprint Plannings based on Liberating Structures. This seventh article now looks into organizing a remote Sprint Review with a distributed team: How to practice the review with virtual Liberating Structures, including and giving a voice to team members, stakeholders, and customers.
Read more: Remote Agile (Part 7): Sprint Review with Distributed Teams.
📅 Scrum Training & Event Schedule
You can secure your seat for Scrum training classes, workshops, and meetups directly by following the corresponding link in the table below:
| Date | Class and Language | City | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 15-29, 2026 | Guaranteed: Claude Cowork BootCamp (English; Live Virtual Cohort) | Live Virtual Cohort | $149 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 April 22-23, 2026 | Guaranteed: Professional Scrum Product Owner – AI Essentials Training (PSPO AIE; German; Live Virtual Class) | Live Virtual Class | €799 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 May 19-20, 2026 | Guaranteed: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) | Live Virtual Class | €1,299 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 28 to June 25, 2026 | Guaranteed: AI4Agile BootCamp #7 (English; Live Virtual Cohort) | Live Virtual Cohort | €499 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
See all upcoming classes here.
You can book your seat for the training directly by following the corresponding links to the ticket shop. If the procurement process of your organization requires a different purchasing process, please contact Berlin Product People GmbH directly.
📺 Join 2,175-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
- 🆕 Remote Agile (1) Replay: Practices and Tools for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Product Owners.
- Scrum Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns.
- Scrum Master Anti-Patterns.
✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Accurate Estimates: Join the 7,525-plus Strong ‘Hands-on Agile’ Slack Community
I invite you to join the “Hands-on Agile” Slack Community and enjoy the benefits of a fast-growing, vibrant community of agile practitioners from around the world.
If you like to join all you have to do now is provide your credentials via this Google form, and I will sign you up. By the way, it’s free.
