Using Trello for team retrospectives
Retrospectives are an important tool for Agile teams like ours. They allow the team to reflect frequently (usually at the end of an iteration) on work habits and processes, and agree how to improve them. We hold…
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How we name our sprints
Should you name your Agile sprints, and if so how? I argue that while sprints are transient, it can be fun and provide a useful way to help keep track of sprints between project boards.
Notes for sprint ‘Vladimir Karpets’ (29 February to 11 March)
The work in this sprint took place from Monday 29 February to Friday 11 March 2016. We had reached sprint K, so this two weeks’ sprint was named after Russian cyclist Vladimir Karpets. Born in Leningrad in September…
DSDM Agile project management cheat sheet
Just over a year ago I was sitting in a classroom learning about and sitting two exams on DSDM Atern Agile project management. Something that I wished had been available at the time was some kind of cheat sheet that…
Velocity and why it’s important
Velocity is an important tool in Agile. Let me explain a little about what it is and why we find it useful. Speed = distance over time One of the challenges when planning each two weeks’ sprint is working out how much…
Iterative improvement with Agile
Since the digital communications team were trained in the DSDM Agile method of project management at the beginning of last year, we’ve talked to a lot of people about what Agile is and what it means for the projects…
Planning poker—why and how we estimate
When creating a plan—whether it be a big project release plan or a smaller two-weeks’ timebox plan—you essentially need to know three things: Tasks —What are the requirements? What do you need to do? Size — How big are…
Agile release planning with multiple projects
One of the biggest challenges we faced when we started down the Agile path was how to accommodate working on multiple projects concurrently. This is a little insight into how we are currently managing ourselves across…
The challenges of resource management in our Agile team
Over the last year, as we’ve been formally trying to work in a more agile way, one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a project manager is resource management. In other words, How do we know how much time each…
Why we collaborate
More collaboration equals more value Part of the agile methodology the University is adopting for project work is about building collaborative, multi-disciplinary project teams. Gerry McGovern highlights why…