Some notes about “8 Best Practices to Start a Scrum Project” article

Regularly I read Barry Overeem’s notes because he gives practical advice about Scrum, always in a concise and understandable way. In this recently updated article, he demonstrates 8 practices to set up at the very beginning of a Scrum project: before and during Sprint #1. If you find his article too long to read, here are some notes to sum it up.

Although they are relevant insights to set up a successful Scrum Team, I bring some comments (framed with <NC></NC> tags) because in my opinion this is too close to an ideal world: a majority of organisations are not designed to enable such a way of working.

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Some insights about Scrum Master is the Master of Coaching

For a Scrum Master, ‘Coaching‘ is not the most exposed role (or ‘stance‘ as Barry Overeem talked about) in the current literature. So I would like to share a very interesting article: Scrum Master is the Master of Coaching written by Joshua Partogi. If you feel this is TLTR (Too Long To Read), here are the main insights.

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A Journey Towards Earning a Leading Safe® 4.6 Certification

This article was previously published on the KnowledgeHut blog.

Our blog regularly provides insights about the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®), like 4 main features that enable SAFe®. You can also go through the article stating the benefits to get the SAFe® 4.5 Certification which we published recently, and here we give some details about the Leading SAFe® 4.6.

What is SAFe®?

When any large organization wants to go Agile, it can hardly skip the Scaled Agile Framework ® (SAFe®). Now, this framework has become the world’s leading framework for companies that target to scale Agile. Also, SAFe® is described as the “Agile Enterprise Big Picture”, as it helps to apply Agile and Lean practices and principles to the whole organization, from the Team to the Portfolio level.

Benefits of the SAFe® certification

For any professional, being SAFe® certified brings recognition to be able to support all kinds of organizations in their Lean and/or Agile transformation. Indeed, SAFe® is the most used framework for scaling Agile, especially in big companies like the ones listed in the US Fortune 100. Consequently, holding a SAFe® certification makes a candidate profile very attractive compared to employers’ expectations.

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Learn from the Trenches – Lean, Scrum, XP and Kanban in a nutshell

Software development with Lean Scrum XP Kanban

I have recently the book “Learn from the Trenches” from Henrik Kniberg ( @henrikkniberg ). This is an outstanding “how to” build complex and robust software, delivered on time and with quality.

Here is an extract (pages 106-113) I would like to share because it gives a brilliant overview about Lean, Scrum, XP (Extreme Programming) and Kanban.

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Agility in Corporate

This article was originally published on LinkedIn.

agility in corporate collaboration

Following a presentation I did for my colleagues at Altran Belgium, here are some notes about my own perspective on Agile applied to the change in the way companies work today.

Agile is a mindset, a culture, some even say it is a philosophy, so it can be applied to all aspects in life. Specifying “Corporate” means how business and companies handle rapid changes and adapt successfully within their VUCA environment. When becoming Agile, a company’s structure and way of working can be highly impacted.

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How To Become A Certified Scrum Master – Exam Preparation And Guidance

This article was originally published on the KnowledgeHut blog.

How To Become A Certified Scrum Master

Introduction to Certified Scrum Master

Who is the Scrum Master?

In one of our previous blog posts, Rumesh Wijetunge wrote some relevant insights about the role of Scrum Master. Wearing different hats, coach, enabler, facilitator, team leader, problem-solver, s/he is in charge of giving right directions to team members so that they reach objectives. First promoter of Agile mindset, values and principles, the Scrum Master uses the Scrum framework to help a team understanding, working on and achieving a common goal.

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Everything you need to know about PSM certification

This article was originally published on the KnowledgeHut blog.

Everything you need to know about PSM certification

I) Introduction to Professional Scrum Master

Who is Professional Scrum Master (PSM)?

We partially give some elements in a previous article on our blog: “ How To Choose A Scrum Master? “. On top of that, it is important to highlight that the Professional Scrum Master wear different hats according to the context: s/he is a coach, facilitator, enabler, problem- solver, proxy. His/Her main characteristic is to embody Servant Leadership. And basically, as the first promoter of Agile in the organization, s/he truly has the Agile mindset and is more than willing to share it.

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Some notes about “Agile is not just about software” article

Leon Tranter provides solid reminders about why Agile is not just about software but requires change in the whole organisation: business, people management, funding, accounting, marketing, product and not project management, risk management, and of course software development and maintenance.

Below you find some extracts, that I think are the key points, from his article.

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Some notes about “Ten Agile Axioms That Make Managers Anxious” article

Steve Denning writes outstanding articles about Agile, and I would like to give you some insights: here are some extracts from Ten Agile Axioms That Make Managers Anxious published in June on forbes.com.

Most managers have themselves grasped the need to be agile: a recent Deloitte survey (PDF) of more than 10,000 business leaders across 140 countries revealed that nearly all surveyed respondents (94%) report that “agility and collaboration” are critical to their organization’s success. Yet only 6% say that they are “highly agile today.” So, what’s the problem? Why the 88% gap between aspiration and actuality.

It’s not lack of knowledge as to what is agile management or how to implement it. The Laws of Agile are simple but their implementation is often difficult. That’s in part because they are at odds with some of the basic assumptions and attitudes that have prevailed in managing large organizations for at least a century. For example, Agile makes more money by not focusing on making money. In Agile, control is enhanced by letting go of control. Agile leaders act more like gardeners than commanders. And that’s just the beginning.

That’s one reason why merely training staff on Agile processes and practices by itself won’t make a firm agile. Implementing Agile requires a mindset that is fundamentally different from the traditional preoccupations with profit maximization and a philosophy of controlism.

Let’s look at ten of the Agile axioms that leave managers apprehensive, agitated, even aghast.

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Some notes about the “Agile Development & Remote Teams – Six Powerful Productivity Hacks You Should Know” article

In the same way as the ‘An Appropriate Use of Metrics‘ and ‘Twenty Top Fails in Executive Agile Leadership’ articles, I propose here some extracts from an article published on the InfoQ website: Agile Development & Remote Teams – Six Powerful Productivity Hacks You Should Know.

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