CollabNet Scrum and Agile Blog

In his previous three video blogs, Certified Scrum Trainer Jimi Fosdick defined the Scrum framework in terms of what it is, what it isn’t, and the benefits it yields for teams that practice it. In this fourth installment, he explains how all this adds up to an approach to project management that is dramatically different [...]

In his previous two video blogs, Certified Scrum Trainer Jimi Fosdick has defined the Scrum framework both in terms of what it is and how it differs from other project management models. In this latest installment, “Why Do Scrum?,” he outlines the benefits that Scrum delivers for teams that practice it.

Watch the rest of Danube’s [...]

In this video blog, Certified Scrum Trainer Jimi Fosdick takes a different approach to defining the Scrum framework–namely, by explaining what Scrum isn’t. Since Scrum marks a dramatic departure from traditional management methods, highlighting the practices and values absent in Scrum can illustrate how it leaves many dysfunctional aspects of traditional management behind.

Watch Jimi’s previous [...]

In the first edition of Danube’s new video blog series, CST Jimi Fosdick starts with the basics by answering “What Is Scrum?” Click below to watch and be sure to check back for more video blogs soon.

One question that seems to come up again and again, with unfortunately greater frequency given the realities of lay offs in the current business climate, is: “How do we use Scrum to measure individual performance?” The short, and admittedly unsatisfying, answer is: “We don’t!” The team is a single unit in Scrum that succeeds or [...]

I make ScrumMasters… sort of…
Actually, I teach a CSM course for those who want to become ScrumMasters. I make a point of telling my students that a CSM course is only the beginning. Most of the work required to become a ScrumMaster (or at least a good ScrumMaster) happens during the daily battle to facilitate [...]

One of the things we advocate in Scrum (and really most agile proponents do as well) is small cross-functional teams. I discussed what we meant by cross-functional and some of the reasons why in a previous entry. Now I’d like to look at why we recommend small teams.
Two of the key principles of Scrum are [...]

An interesting discussion that frequently crops up when introducing Scrum to certain organizations and individuals is the argument that they don’t have time for backlog grooming because they have “work” to do. I get this argument a lot during coaching engagements when I tell team members they need to spend five percent of their time [...]

One of the main myths of traditional project management relates to measurement precision. Traditional project managers have numerous statistical tools in their arsenal. Such measures as earned value or cost performance indicators etc. are touted as providing a precise scientific measure of how we’re doing. All of this points back to a Tayloristic view of [...]

One of the principle practices in Scrum (and in fact most if not all agile methods) is the use of “cross-functional” teams. Somewhat surprisingly, there is often resistance at the team level to creating these cross-functional teams, but sometimes this is a result of misunderstanding what we mean when we say that a team is [...]