TL; DR: Why Teams Estimate, the HiPPO Effect — Food for Agile Thought #343
Welcome to the 343rd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 35,304 peers. This week, we point to good reasons why teams estimate: ‘credibility, deeper thinking, prioritization, and insight.’ Also, we explore six ways of avoiding the 💩 sandwich when providing critical feedback, and we watch a classic: Henrik Kniberg visualizes the cost and consequences of moving from single-piece flow to simultaneously working on multiple work items.
Then, we suggest dealing with resistance from stakeholders, such as the sales folks, who fear meeting their quotas, and we highlight some of the ‘dysfunctions around decision making and offer ways to overcome them.’ Moreover, we delve into the strange effects of the highest-paid person’s opinion, from manifestations to impact to suggestions on how to deal with them. (High impact release notes may be one helpful tactic; learn how to author them.)
Also, we enjoy Sachin Rekhi’s take on Jeff Bezos’ June 2004 instruction: ‘From now on, your presentation software is Microsoft Word, not PowerPoint. Get used to it.’ Finally, ‘Programmers are also human’ celebrates McBoston’s Josh Doe, formerly Agile Consulting, Inc.
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🏆 The Tip of the Week
(via YouTube): 📺 Interview with an Agile Coach in 2022 - Sprint 1
‘Programmers are also human’ celebrates McBoston’s Josh Doe, formerly Agile Consulting, Inc.
➿ Agile & Scrum: Why Teams Estimate
: Four Reasons Agile Teams Estimate Product Backlog Items
Mike Cohn points to ‘four good reasons to estimate: credibility, deeper thinking, prioritization, and insight.’
(via Get Lighthouse): The 6 Best Ways to Give Feedback to Your Team
Jason Evanish explores six ways of avoiding the 💩 sandwich when providing critical feedback.
(via Parabol Focus): How to Write and Use a Sprint Goal (With 5 Templates)
Parabol Focus shares a guide on how to create Sprint Goals.
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🎯 Product
: My Sales Team Won’t Let Me Talk To Customers. What Now?
Teresa Torres suggests dealing with resistance from stakeholders, such as the sales folks, who fear meeting their quotas.
(via Mind The Product): 📺 How to Make Product Decisions with Transparency and Trust
In this video, Ellen Gottesdiener ‘highlights some of the dysfunctions around decision making and offers ways to overcome them.’
(via Atomic Spin): The HiPPO Effect on Customers and Product Teams
Tammy Pearson delves into the strange effects of the highest-paid person’s opinion, from manifestations to impact to suggestions on how to deal with them.
📯 21 Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns Impeding Scrum Teams
What event could better embody Scrum’s principle of empiricism than the Sprint Retrospective? I assume all peers agree that even the simplest form of a Retrospective—if only held regularly—is far more helpful than having a fancy one once in a while, not to mention having none. Moreover, I am convinced there is always room for improvement; just avoid dogmatism. Hence, learn more about 21 common Sprint Retrospective anti-patterns that will hold back your Scrum team.
👉 Learn more: 21 Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns Impeding Scrum Teams.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
: 📖 The Power of Amazon's Written Narratives
Sachin Rekhi on Jeff Bezos’ June 2004 instruction: ‘From now on, your presentation software is Microsoft Word, not PowerPoint. Get used to it.’
(via YouTube): 📺 Multiple WIP vs One Piece Flow Example
A classic: Henrik Kniberg visualizes the cost and consequences of moving from single-piece flow to simultaneously working on multiple work items.
(via Department of Product): How to Write Impactful Release Notes as a Product Manager
Richard Holmes advocates that ‘high impact releases deserve high impact release notes.’
✂️ Cutting Room Floor
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Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel to improve learning:
- 🆕 Hands-on Agile #40: The Best Team Ever with David Burkus.
- 🆕 Hands-on Agile #38: The Product Owner with Roman Pichler.
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- 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.
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