Sprint Anti-Patterns

TL; DR: Sprint Anti-Patterns Holding Your Teams Back

Welcome to Sprint anti-patterns! This article covers the three Scrum accountabilities (formerly roles) and addresses interferences of stakeholders and IT/line management with this crucial Scrum event. Moreover, I added some food for thought. For example, could a month-long Sprint be too short for accomplishing something meaningful? And if so, what are the consequences?

Sprint Anti-Patterns Holding Back Scrum Teams — Age-of-Product.com
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Dysfunction Mapping — Michael Lloyd at the 58. Hands-on Agile Meetup

TL; DR: Dysfunction Mapping w/ Michael Lloyd

In this fascinating talk, Michael introduced the concept of dysfunction mapping, a tool developed over years of trial and error aimed at creating a repeatable way to find, theme, and ultimately solve organizational dysfunction.

Dysfunction Mapping — Michael Lloyd at the 58. Hands-on Agile Meetup — Age-of-Product.com

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The Scrum Trap: How Unfit Practices Will Harm Return on Investment

TL, DR: The Scrum Trap

Scrum is a purposefully incomplete framework. Consequently, it needs to be augmented with tools and practices to apply its theoretical foundation to an organization’s business reality: what problems shall be solved for whom in which market? Moreover, there is an organization’s culture to take into account. However, the intentional “gap” is not a free-for-all to accept whatever comes to mind or is convenient. Some tools and practices have proven highly effective in supporting Scrum’s application and reaping its benefits. And then there are others — the Scrum trap.

Let’s look at what practices and tools for collaboration and team building are not helpful when used with Scrum.

The Scrum Trap: How Unfit Practices Will Harm Return on Investment — Age-of-Product.com
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Escaping the Feature Factory

TL; DR: Escaping the Feature Factory — Refocussing From Output to Outcome

The feature factory fate is not inevitable; there is hope to avoid becoming a mere cog in the machinery. Learn how!

In many large organizations, Scrum teams fall into the ‘feature factory’ trap, focusing more on churning out features than creating real value. It’s too bad that this shift undermines Agile principles and hampers long-term success and innovation. Let’s discuss how and why this happens and what we can do to break the chains of the feature factory.

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Overcoming Common Product Backlog Management Traps — David Pereira at the 54. Hands-on Agile

TL; DR: Overcoming Common Product Backlog Management Traps w/ David Pereira

How teams manage their Product Backlog often makes or breaks their value creation chances. Poor backlog management leads to a feature factory trap, while a mindful strategy enables the team to drive value steadily. During the 54th Hands-on Agile meetup, David Pereira shared tried and tested practices to avoid the feature factory fate.

Overcoming Common Product Backlog Management Traps — David Pereira at the 54. Hands-on Agile

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Useless Agile Metrics

TL; DR: Useless Agile Metrics

Ideally, a metric is a leading indicator for a pattern change, allowing your Scrum team to analyze the cause in time and take countermeasures. However, what if you picked the wrong metrics? What if these useless agile metrics lead you in the wrong direction while providing you with the illusion that you know where your team is heading?

Learn more about useless agile metrics, from individual velocity to estimation accuracy to utilization rates.

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