Software Testing Blog | Zenergy Technologies

Three Things Not to Worry about in your Digital Transformation

A common question for leadership is… What keeps you up at night? I hear it asked all the time. And the reactions run the gamut from thoughtful and deeply reflective to reactive and highly emotional. One of the common factors I nearly always hear is fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Which is why I wanted to share this article with leaders considering or engaging in a Digital Transformation. I’ll begin with three things that are often misconstrued and cause sleeplessness on the part of many...

May 6, 2021 Agile, agile leadership roles, Digital Transformation

Velocity: the Number’s not Important… the Learning Is

Back in 1996 I took up golf. I was terrible at it. Like most people who take up a new hobby, I spent a good bit of time (and money) trying to improve.

April 13, 2021 agile technique, Agile, agile leadership roles

Zombie Scrum Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them

What is Zombie Scrum? Example #1: Zombie Scrum Standup (Standup Led by the ScrumZombie) Example #2: Scrum Zombie and the Lack of Sprint Goals Example #3: Sprint Review and Retrospective Zombies That’s a Scrum Zombie Wrap! Once again, I have the pleasure of welcoming October. Soon it will be cooler and more colorful here in North Carolina. The holidays are coming, and many of my neighbors have already decorated for Halloween. I have been pondering what sort of ghoulish surprise I could...

October 20, 2020 Agile, being agile, backlog grooming, agile leadership roles, ScrumMaster, sprint planning

What Do ScrumMasters Do Besides Facilitate Meetings?

When I first received my ScrumMaster certification, I regularly asked the senior ScrumMasters I worked with what I was supposed to do, besides facilitate Scrum events, enforce Scrum rules, and remove impediments. I tried to be a good ScrumMaster and worked with multiple teams, so I stayed busy, but I had heard that great ScrumMasters could only handle one team at a time. I didn’t understand what could take up that much time. As I gained more experience as a ScrumMaster I began reviewing...

July 20, 2020 Agile, agile leadership roles, ScrumMaster

Agile Horror Stories: Trick or Treat

Differences Between agile and Agile Wearing the Agile Costume The agile Mindset: Don't just go through the motions!

October 14, 2019 Agile, agile leadership roles, agile team roles

How an Old Test Lead Got Agile

1. Seek Out Advice from the Experts, Inside and Outside 2. Communicate Often and To a Wide Audience 3. Know What the Risks Are and Call Them Out ASAP 4. Get to Know Your Product Owner 5. Don’t Get Caught Up in What You Think You Know 6. Get to Know Your Developers 7. No More Multi-Tasking 8. Embrace the Retrospective 9. Slow Down (a Little) and Enjoy the Ride I spent eighteen years testing before I ever worked withagile. When I suddenly found myself transitioning to an agile team...

August 17, 2017 Agile, waterfall to agile, agile leadership roles

The Agile Project Manager - Please Sir, May I Have Some Help?

A seasoned director of software development was championing agile adoption at her company; it was a moderately scaled initiative, including around 100 developers, testers, project managers, BAs and the functional management surrounding them. They received some initial agile training, seemed to be energized and aligned with the methods, and were set loose to start sprinting. Six months later things were in shambles. Managers were micromanaging the sprints and adjusting team estimates...

November 18, 2016 Agile, agile leadership roles, agile project manager, agile team roles, failure in agile

The Agile Project Manager - Fail NOW as a Strategy

Coaching to Avoid Failure Agile Exposure The Notion of ‘Failing Forward’ Wrapping Up – But, I’m a Bit Strange… I was at a conference not long ago speaking on and sharing variousagiletopics. After one of my presentations, a young man stopped me to ask a few questions. We struck up a nice conversation that eventually discussing sprint dynamics within Scrum teams. I mentioned that I usually coach teams toward declaring their sprints a success…or (pause for meaningful effect) …a failure.

October 24, 2016 Agile, agile leadership roles, agile project manager, agile team roles, product owner roles

Category Archives: agile leadership roles