Why Agile Teams Miss Deadlines (And How to Fix It)
Agile isn’t broken—but your delivery system might be.
If your team keeps missing deadlines, struggling with carryover work, or battling dependencies, the issue isn’t commitment—it’s clarity, focus, and flow. This post breaks down the real reasons Agile teams fall short—and how to fix them without burning out your people.
Engaging Stakeholders During the Sprint
Connecting Scrum teams and stakeholders drives value and alignment. Transparent communication fosters collaboration and trust. Hold Sprint Reviews and retrospectives for open feedback. Encourage active stakeholder engagement to influence product direction. Success isn't just about deliverables—it's about strong partnerships that fuel innovation.
How Many People Should be on One Scrum Team? #AskArtisan
I'm often asked about the ideal number of people on one Scrum Team, but maybe a better question is why and how any number becomes too many?
Outcomes Focused Teams and Why Sprint Goals Are Critical!
Gearing a Team for Maximum Outcomes
Creating a maximum outcome team is every ScrumMaster’s goal, but you must first understand how great teams form and what YOU need to do to create a great team.
Jim's 10 Tips for Scrum Development Teams
With COVID-19 forcing us all to learn about working from home, we're re-publishing our list of "Jim's 10 Tips for Scrum Development Teams," UPDATED for 2020!
Simplify Your Work by Slicing
When slicing a backlog item, we're taking a complex problem and paring it down into smaller problems, which are easier to solve and build.
Should Scrum Teams be Dedicated to a Single Product?
Should Scrum teams be dedicated to a single product? The truth is, there's times when you want a dedicated team and times when you don't. Let me explain!
Creating the Skills You Need for Agility
When beginning the transformation to Agile Development, it's hard to know exactly what skills the organization needs to adapt to the new way of working.
What Do Testers REALLY Do On a Scrum Team?
Analysis, design, coding, and testing are done constantly rather than in phases, meaning testing ISN'T just a phase but an ongoing part of Agile Development.
Self-Managing Teams
When I teach or coach people about Scrum, we talk about self-organization, but the importance of self-organizational principles cannot be understated.
The Specialist Bottleneck: A Real Challenge in Agile Teams
Scarce specialists like technical writers, DBAs, and UX analysts often become overloaded in Agile environments. Assigning them to multiple Scrum teams seems like a fix—but leads to delays, frustration, and poor outcomes. This article offers 5 proven strategies to solve the specialist bottleneck while improving flow, reducing risk, and enhancing learning across teams.
Ground Rules for Your Team
Some initial “rules” that everyone agrees to follow will help your team avoid misunderstandings and deliberate misconduct.
DONEness Definitions (DoD)
What's the one thing YOU could do as a Scrum Master to improve your team's reliability, quality, and productivity? Read on and find out!
Sprint in Trouble? Here’s What Great Scrum Teams Do Next
In Scrum, it’s not enough to deliver high-quality work. Teams must also take ownership of how the work is done and how they respond when things don’t go as planned. This post outlines five actions Scrum teams can take when they realize the Sprint Goal is at risk—and how to develop the habit of self-correction before it’s too late.
Why You Should Think Twice Before Changing Sprint Content
High-performing Scrum teams thrive on focus, commitment, and trust. Yet one of the fastest ways to erode that performance is to repeatedly change the Sprint after it’s begun. While Scrum allows flexibility, it’s not a license for chaos. In this article, we explore why scope changes during a Sprint are so damaging—and what leaders can do instead to protect team focus and boost long-term performance.
What to Do Instead of Extending a Sprint
Scrum Sprints provide empiricism, part of the Agile core beliefs, which is why extending a Sprint is never a good idea!
Keep Your Daily Scrum Short
Many Scrum events seem simple, but aren't. The Daily Scrum seems to be the event that causes the most problems for teams.
Swarming Backlog Items
Teams that "Swarm" backlog items find it's a better way to get work done than approaches that lead to handoffs and continuity loss.
Measuring Scrum Team Productivity
Measuring Scrum Team productivity is something nearly every organization wants, but performance metrics should really only be created under two conditions.