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Is It Really ‘Us vs. Them’? Teams often view executives as being "against" them and making decisions that are clueless at best or nefarious at worst. Usually, neither is the case, but there's no way of knowing true motivations if there's no discussion. Teams and directors need to repair their communication rift. This is a tale of two perspectives. |
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What’s the Problem with User Stories? Agile projects focus on very lightweight, simple requirements embodied in user stories. However, there are some problems with relying solely on user stories. They often don't contain enough accuracy for development, testing, or industry regulations. There's a better way to write detailed requirements that are still agile. |
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How to Make a Fixed-Scope Contract More Agile Establishing a contract that genuinely supports agile methods can be a significant challenge. By its very nature, a contract that specifies detailed, upfront deliverables contravenes the principles of flexibility and adaptation that are at the heart of agile. But it is possible—both parties just need to focus on results. |
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The Real Value of Cross-Functional Agile Teams Agile teams know that cross-functional collaboration is central to the methodology, but there are often barriers to fully embracing this idea. If teams are used to handoffs, it may seem like it makes sense to maintain the status quo. Try collaborating on something small to realize the true value of cross-functional teams. |
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Leave No Tester Behind Creating comprehensive automated tests within a sprint can be a challenge. If the testers don't finish the automation and the rest of the team moves on, testers get left behind and can't catch up. You need some techniques to keep everyone together and ensure that all essential work is accomplished—including test automation. |
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An Agile Mindset Teaches the Lessons We Need for COVID-19 Since we can't control the COVID-19 situation besides following safety protocols, and updates change almost daily, our circumstances necessitate agility from everyone, from employees to company leads. Let’s look at the practical agility lessons COVID-19 is teaching us and why an agile mindset is even more important now. |
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Code Integration: When Moving Slowly Actually Has More Risk Many decisions about code branching models are made in the name of managing risk, and teams sometimes pick models that make integration harder in the name of safety. Moving slowly and placing barriers to change can seem safer, but agile teams work best when they acknowledge that there is also risk in deferring change. |
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Helping People Respond to Change Why do people respond differently to change? There are lots of possible reasons, and the degree to which people embrace or reject change also varies greatly. But if your company is going through a change and some employees interpret it as significant, it doesn't matter what you think of it—you have to help them deal. |