TL; DR: Shape Up, Product Sense — Food for Agile Thought #334
Welcome to the 334th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 34,804 peers. This week, we share lessons learned on what it takes to succeed with Shape Up, Basecamp’s framework for running product development teams by collaboration and productivity. Also, we explore “the impact of hybrid work environments on Agile work,” and we delve into anything Spike-related, from purpose to common misunderstandings.
We then follow Jules Walter as he explains what ‘product sense’ is all about and shares actionable and practical advice on how to develop your product sense. At the same time, John Cutler summarizes the must-haves to get a product team started, from having some process to artifacts to tools. Moreover, we analyze why the collaboration between Product and Marketing may unravel, how to fix this issue, or—better—prevent it from happening in the first place.
Lastly, we reflect on the eleventh principle of the Agile Manifesto: “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams,” and we point at five estimation failures, from settling for the average to skipping the Definition of Done to fixing time to story points.
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #333?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Shape Up vs. Scrum
(via Medium): From Scrum to Shipping Work that Matters with Shape Ups
Mart Objartel shares lessons learned on what it takes to succeed with Shape Up.
➿ Agile & Scrum
(via Agile Alliance): 📺 The Future of Agile in a Hybrid World
In this video, the panelists explore “the impact of hybrid work environments on Agile work.”
(via Leading Agile): All About Spikes
In this podcast, Dennis Stevens and Stephen Cavaliere delve into anything Spike-related, from purpose to common misunderstandings.
(via Simple Thread): Agile Principles: Adaptive Self-Organizing
Al Tenhundfeld reflects on the eleventh principle of the Agile Manifesto: “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.”
🎓 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — March 29-April 1, 2022
Discover Scrum’s four success principles in this official Scrum.org Advanced Professional Scrum Master training class, leading to and including the industry-recognized PSM II certification. The training is designed as a live virtual class and will be offered in English.
Enjoy the benefits of an immersive class of four sessions with like-minded agile peers in the morning hours from 09:00 – 13:00 o’clock CET.
Learn more: 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — March 29-April 1, 2022.
Customer review: “Very hands-on class with lots of concrete takeaways to help in real world scenarios. Reinforced practices and highlighted things that helped in passing the PSM II exam but that was merely a bonus as the content of the class is so useful – certifications or not. Stefan Wolpers is an excellent trainer with broad practical and theoretical knowledge on the subject and his classes seem to have very good working atmosphere (this was a second class by him that I have taken).” (Link.)
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🎯 Product
and : How to develop product sense
Jules Walter explains what ‘product sense’ is all about and shares actionable and practical advice on how to develop your product sense.
: The Basics
John Cutler summarizes the must-haves to get a product team started, from having some process to artifacts to tools.
and (via Reforge): 3 Ways Marketing and Product Teams Can Improve Collaboration — And Drive Better Business Outcomes
Adam Fishman and Natalie Rothfels analyze why the collaboration between Product and Marketing may unravel, how to fix this issue, or—better—prevent it from happening in the first place.
📯 How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification — PSM I, PSM II, and PSM III
The first article of this mini-series established that you do not need a certificate to become good at what you do, for example, working as a Scrum Master. However, getting certified may be a piece of sound investment advice, as documented by the Scrum Master Salary Report 2022: There is a statistical correlation between your remuneration and the certificates you hold. If you want to take advantage of this signaling power that Scrum certificates seem to have, the question is how to pass the Scrum Master certification?
Learn more: How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification — PSM I, PSM II, and PSM III
🛠 Tools & Measuring
(via Medium): The Five Anti-patterns of Estimating User Stories
Jim Apodaca points at five estimation failures, from settling for the average to skipping the Definition of Done to fixing time to story points.
(via ProductLed): Activation Velocity: Why time-to-value wasn’t enough to measure user onboarding at Shopify
Adam Jarczyn shares lessons learned from his time at Shopify, leading the Solution Engineering for the retail merchant segment.
✂️ Cutting Room Floor
There are no entires in this category this week.
📅 Scrum Training Classes, Workshops, and Events
See all upcoming classes here.
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📺 Join 3,500-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel to improve learning:
- 🆕 Agile Camp Berlin 2021: The Power and Pains of Autonomy with Jimmy Janlén.
- 🆕 Hands-on Agile #31: The Zones of Value Framework with Valerio Zanini & Zeina Zeitouni.
- Hands-on Agile #35: Designing Powerful Questions to help you Coach & Create with Daniel Stillman.
- Hands-on Agile #34: Core Protocols for Psychological Safety with Richard Kasperowski.
- Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Adapt How You Lead for Agile Success with Johanna Rothman.
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