LeadingAgile SoundNotes: an Agile Podcast
 

LeadingAgile SoundNotes: an Agile Podcast

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LeadingAgile's resident Scrum trainer Dave Prior, hosts a weekly podcast that covers all sorts of topics about Agile, Scrum, Organizational Transformation and Leadership. No matter if you're new to Agile development or an Agile veteran, Dave and his guest are sure to make you think about Agile in a whole new way! Alexa knows us as Leading Agile Sound Notes.

Episodes

Surviving Agile 2019 with Priya Setuhuraman

Wednesday Jul 31, 2019

Wednesday Jul 31, 2019

We're just days away from the start of the biggest Agile event of the year. Agile 2019 begins in Washington D.C. on August 5th and LeadingAgile will be there in full force. In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Executive Talent Lead Priya Sethuraman joins Dave Prior to share some tips and advice for those attending the conference who want to make the most out of their time.

The Agile Conference is an intense week filled with hundreds of sessions and events focused on helping attendees level up their Agile game. Whether you're attending for the first time, or you're a seasoned conference pro,  this podcast will offer valuable recommendations to help you maximize the value you get from the time you spend in D.C.—and survive the conference intact.

If you're attending, LeadingAgile has two sessions you won't want to miss:

Mike Cottmeyer - Organizational Transformation
Monday, August 5 at 3:45 PM

Dennis Stevens - Assumptions and Ambiguity be Damned.
Develop a Strategy to Embrace Change.
Tuesday, August 6 at 9:00 AM

And please stop by our booth to say hi! If you are interested in joining the LeadingAgile team, make sure to connect with Priya and Rachel Howard who will be in the booth recruiting all week.

If you aren't able to make it to the conference, we'll be live streaming video podcast interviews with speakers and Agile thought leaders who are attending the show. So keep an eye on our Facebook channel throughout the week for live interviews from the exhibit hall floor of Agile 2019!

Contacting Priya Sethuraman

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

 

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Advice for New ScrumMasters and Product Owners w/ Kaely Hall

Wednesday Jul 24, 2019

Wednesday Jul 24, 2019

And now for something completely different…

Kaely Hall has been working in the capacity of ScrumMaster and Product Owner for the last 16 months. She recently took LeadingAgile’s Certified Scrum Product Owner training and in this episode of SoundNotes, Kaely shares how her work as a Product Strategist for Big Nerd Ranch requires her to play the role of ScrumMaster for some clients, Project Manager for some clients, and Product Owner for others. During the interview, Kaely also offers advice and tips or those just stepping into a client-facing an SM or PO role, and how important it is to raise your EQ and develop a rapport with your client as quickly as possible.

Blog Post

Contacting Kaely Hall

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

 

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Student QA: Can the ScrumMaster take on additional work? Should you re-estimate unfinished work? w/ Sarah Smith

Tuesday Jul 16, 2019

Tuesday Jul 16, 2019

This episode of SoundNotes features 2 questions recently submitted by students from our CSM and CSPO classes. LeadingAgile’s Sarah Smith and I respond to the questions, sharing our thoughts, recommended practices, and things to watch out for.

The two questions are:

1. Is it okay for the ScrumMaster to take on additional (non-ScrumMaster) work during the Sprint?
2. When you have unfinished work at the end of a Sprint, does it automatically carry over into the next Sprint, and should you re-estimate it before you begin working on it again?

In responding to the first question we discuss the potential impact of planning for the SM to take on non-SM work during the Sprint, how that can impact the team’s ability to deliver and, if the SM takes on additional work, what should that work be?

The second question focuses on the situation where you get to the end of the Sprint, you have partially completed work and many teams will automatically push that into the next Sprint. If you have partially completed work, let’s say it is a User Story that was originally estimated using Story Points, and it was an 8. If there are only a few minutes of work needed to complete that item in a future Sprint, why do some teams feel the urge to give it a new Story Point estimate (based on work remaining) and what impact does that behavior have on the Scrum Team’s velocity?

If you have follow-up questions for Sarah or Dave, here is how you can reach them:

Contacting Sarah Smith

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

 

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Should You Limit the Size of Work Brought Into a Sprint? w/ Scott Sehlhorst & Andrew Young

Thursday Jun 20, 2019

Thursday Jun 20, 2019

In this episode of SoundNotes, we tackle the question of whether or not it's a good idea for the Development Team to limit the size of work brought into a Sprint. Many teams consider this to be a valuable practice during Sprint Planning or when creating a Definition of Ready. The goal is to make sure that the Development Team is not committing work into a Sprint that they cannot complete during the course of a Sprint. This often shows up as something like “Nothing bigger than an 8” (for teams using Fibonacci to estimate User Story Points). While this practice can be valuable for the Development Team, it also has an impact on the Product Owner and how they prepare work for Sprint Planning.

During the podcast, LeadingAgile SVP and Executive Consultant, Scott Sehlhorst and Senior Consultant Andrew Young talk with Dave about whether or not this practice actually helps and how it can become an impediment for the Product Owner who is trying to plan out work for the Release.

Note from Dave: 

This conversation was very impactful for me in terms of how I think about “ready” and how I think about the work done by the PO in getting ready for the Sprint. Limiting the size of work brought into a Sprint has always been something I have advocated for because I think it helps the Development Team, but I’ve never taken the time to think about how it might create challenges for the PO, who may be far more concerned about the Release than the Sprint.

Links from the Podcast

 

Contacting Scott Sehlhorst

Contacting Andrew Young

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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The Benefits of Volunteering w/ Julianne Jones

Monday Jun 17, 2019

Monday Jun 17, 2019

Julianne Jones is a Principal Consultant with LeadingAgile. Her work includes interfacing with the leaders of high profile organizations and pairing with them in order to help Transform their organization to achieve true Business Agility. She's also someone who believes in giving back to the Agile community. Recently, Julianne spent a week serving as the ScrumMaster for the volunteers that helped put on the 2019 North American Global Scrum Gathering.

In this episode of SoundNotes, Julianne shares some details about her experience volunteering for the Scrum Alliance. She talks about the work she did in Austin acting as a servant leader for the many people who gave their time in order to make the North American Global Scrum Gathering one of the most valuable Agile events to take place each year. During the interview, Dave and Julianne discuss why volunteering for professional organizations is so important, the benefits you receive as a reward for your time, and what it’s like to spend a few days coming together with dedicated people who want to commit their time to ensure that the people who come to the Scrum Gathering have the best possible experience.

Note from Dave:

Volunteering for professional organizations like the Scrum Alliance and the Agile Alliance is one of the most powerful things you can do to develop your career. By offering your time, you get the opportunity to engage with people who are truly dedicated to Transforming the world of work. It's also one of the best ways you can develop a large network of like-minded individuals who you can turn to for support when you face challenging situations in Agile or when you are looking for a new gig.

Volunteering

For information on Volunteering for the Scrum Alliance:
https://www.scrumalliance.org/get-involved

For information on Volunteering for the Agile Alliance:
https://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/volunteer-signup/
(AgileAlliance membership is required)

To contact Julianne Jones

Web: https://www.leadingagile.com/guides/julianne-jones/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianne-jones-4042264/
Email: Julianne.Jones@leadingagile.com

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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Getting Stakeholders to Attend Your Sprint Review w/ Sara McClintock

Thursday May 30, 2019

Thursday May 30, 2019

In this week’s episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Senior Consultant Sara McClintock and Dave take on two topics submitted by students from our CSM and CSPO classes:

1. What can I do in an organization to grow and promote our Sprint Reviews?

2. Stakeholder demand for timelines or deadlines being an impediment for the team.

Sara and Dave discuss different approaches to helping leadership understand the importance of Sprint Reviews and why their participation is so necessary for delivering a successful product. They also explore different techniques for responding to requests/demands that include unrealistic timelines and ways to begin coaching leadership into prioritizing the work, so that if a date commitment is established, the team can maximize the value they can deliver by the deadline.

Contacting Sara McClintock

If you’d like to contact Sara you can reach her at:

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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What is a Well-Formed Backlog? w/ Jeff Howey

Thursday May 23, 2019

Thursday May 23, 2019

At LeadingAgile we believe that the ability to realize the benefits of an Agile approach begins with there core things: stable teams, a well-formed backlog, and the ability to consistently deliver working tested software.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Managing Consultant, Jeff Howey, spends time talking with Dave about what a “well-formed backlog” actually is. Jeff and Dave discuss characteristics of a well-formed backlog, how you know if you’ve got one and why that's so important. Along the way, they also explore the differences between Epics, Features, Themes, and Stories and how those terms might be used to break down all the work that led up to Marvel’s new film “Avengers: End Game”.

Note: Jeff recommends listening to the podcast at 1.5 normal speed. This will allow you to get through the podcast quicker, but the pace should still be okay for most listeners.

Contacting Jeff Howey

If you’d like to contact Jeff you can reach him at:

Email: Jeff.howey@leadingagile.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhowey/

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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Why You Need Empathy Maps w/ Scott Sehlhorst

Friday May 10, 2019

Friday May 10, 2019

When we develop products, we're responsible for maximizing the value we deliver to the customer. In order to do this, we have to understand who we're actually building the products for. We need to know who the customer is, what problem(s) we're trying to solve for them,  and any additional information we can gather that will give us more insight into their needs and how we can address them. We also need to have an awareness of where our assumptions about the customer may be introducing risk. Unfortunately, we often get so focused on creating and delivering that this area of focus doesn't receive the level of attention that's needed to ensure that we're solving the right problem(s) in the best way possible.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile SVP and Executive Consultant, Scott Sehlhorst makes the case for why this work is so important and why empathy maps are such a critical (and often ignored) aspect of this work. Scott and Dave talk through a step-by-step approach you can use to deepen your understanding of the customer and their needs, as well as how to make sure the solution you are working on is the right one and how to manage your risk by tracking and testing your assumptions and biases along the way.

If you're skeptical about the value that empathy maps provide, or how important it is to take the time to collect, analyze, and test information about your customer, this podcast is for you. And if you're looking for a detailed explanation of how to go about figuring all this out, this conversation may provide you with the blueprint you need to get started making sure you actually know who it is you're trying to “delight” with the products you create.

The graphic below is referenced throughout the podcast, you’ll want to have that handy as you listen.

Links From The Podcast

The podcast Scott and Dave previously recorded which includes a detailed walk through of how to create an empathy map can be found here:
Creating Empathy Maps with Scott Sehlhorst

You can find Dave Gray's Empathy Map template here: http://gamestorming.com/empathy-mapping/

Contacting Scott Sehlhorst

If you’d like to contact Scott you can reach him at:

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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Planning a System of Transformation w/ Mike Cottmeyer

Monday May 06, 2019

Monday May 06, 2019

When it comes to Agile Transformation, every organization has to deal with things in the system that are blocking them from developing an Agile System of Delivery. Impediments to Transformation exist at many levels: organizations, architectural, cultural, etc. Many of these impediments are common across companies and can be known and planned for ahead of time. In LeadingAgile's approach, there are 3 Things that are necessary for an organization to be capable of an Agile approach. Those 3 Things are stable teams, a well-formed backlog, and the ability to deliver a working tested increment of product on a regular basis. Anything that gets in the way of these 3 Things must be addressed as part of the Transformation.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Founder and CEO, Mike Cottmeyer, and Dave Prior discuss what a System of Transformation, some of the more common impediments to Agile Transformation, and ways to cope with those impediments.

This episode is a follow up to the podcast: System of Delivery vs. System of Transformation.

Contacting Mike Cottmeyer

If you’d like to contact Mike you can reach him at:

Contacting Dave Prior

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

And if you're interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified ScrumMaster or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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Understanding the Problem You're Trying to Solve with Metrics w/ Jessica Wolfe

Thursday Apr 25, 2019

Thursday Apr 25, 2019

Metrics are important. Tracking work is important.  “What gets measured gets done." But, if you don’t understand why you're measuring things, or what the problem you're trying to solve when you begin measuring things—no amount of metrics is going to help.

In this episode of SoundNotes, LeadingAgile Senior Consultant, Jessica Wolfe and Dave Prior talk about metrics and how important it is to understand what problem you're trying to solve when you begin using metrics to understand performance and improvement.  This interview is a follow up to a presentation Jessica gave recently at Agile Tampa called "Achieving Success with any Agile Planning Tool".

During the podcast, Jessica and Dave discuss some of the more common things organizations initially track when they're moving away from a traditional approach, what to be careful about when you begin using these metrics, how the metrics that you're focused on will evolve over time as you mature in your adoption of Agile, and what to do if you find yourself tracking information and you aren't sure why.

Additional Information

During the podcast, Jessica and Dave make a reference to how we design the tool to help the end users understand the new way of working in the LeadingAgile model, so we wanted to provide a couple of screenshots to assist you in seeing some of the possibilities. Here's an example of what the tool might look like at the Portfolio Tier on an Epic.

Image One: Problem Clarity

Image Two: Targeting

Contacting Jessica

If you’d like to contact Jessica you can reach her at:

Contacting Dave

If you’d like to contact Dave you can reach him at:

Send Us Your Questions

If you have a question you’d like to submit for an upcoming podcast, please send them to dave.prior@leadingagile.com

Upcoming Classes

And if you are interested in taking one of our upcoming Certified Scrum Master or Certified Scrum Product Owner classes, you can find all the details at https://www.leadingagile.com/our-gear/training/

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