Transformation – Page 3

PostIt as a Yellow Card

In this series of Blog posts on 5 unique uses of PostIt notes, so far we talked about using Post It for Doodling and Visual note taking. Let’s talk about another unique way to use it.

In the (controlled) chaotic world of Agile, we are always looking for ways to have everyone participate in the ongoing discussions in the room. We are looking to have collaborative sessions where everyone brings in their view points.

When you have more than two people in the room, it is very easy to get off-track. We need a ‘referee’ to keep things moving in the right direction and stay the course. Unlike Soccer where only referee can raise the Yellow flag, we can empower entire team with this Yellow card.

This acts as a visual indicator and anyone in the room can raise it, if they feel that:

the conversation is off-track and we are wasting everyone’s time
conversation does not help us get to the goal we set out for in the beginning of the session
the conversation is going into ‘weeds’
S/he needs to break the conversation to give everyone a pause and ensure being on track

The team member has to briefly explain the reasoning for raising the Yellow card and request the team to get back to the appropriate discussions.

Often times, the out come of raising a Yellow card is additional items going on to the Parking Lot. Agile teams generally should have yellow Post It notes handy, and being agile, you make the most of what you are given. So, I came up with this idea of (re) using yellow Post It notes as Yellow card.

In a collaborative session that we want to have, you need every one to actively participate, yet stay on the central topic of the discussion. it is easier said than done! This is a simple concept, yet, very effective tool to aid the team and keep the communication and collaboration on the right track, making the sessions more productive for the team.

It improves productivity, enhances collaboration within team, as well as helps build the chemistry and trust among team members. It also helps those who are ‘soft spoken’, those ‘introverts’ in a sense that it provides them a tool to voice their concerns.

Go ahead, and make your next session very productive. Don’t be afraid to use it!

[bctt tweet=”Use this Yellow Card to keep your #collaboration sessions on track! pic.twitter.com/LSVuPV7TPo #scrum #transformation”]

Doodling and Visual note taking on ever extending canvas

We talked about Post It notes as my Swiss Knife tool, and I introduced you to the first and THE most important use; that being the Note taking tool.

Today, I want to talk about using it as a Canvas. I have two passions in my life: the Agile Transformation and the Art. The artist within me likes to doodle, and I often come up with some quick illustrations to provide visuals on a topic that I am going to be discussing or presenting. As they say, Picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some of my Agile Doodles.

And, if you are into visual note taking, PostIt notes can also morph into an ever extending canvas. Here is an example.

Visual Note taking with (ever extending) Post It canvas

This was done by a student in one of a workshop on ‘Jump start your Agile teams’, capturing notes about what is Agile and Scrum, all using Post It notes and Visual note taking.

All right, let’s summarize: We discussed three uses of the Post-It notes so far:

Taking notes during discussion and conversations; while still actively participating in them
Canvas for doodling
Ever extending canvas for Visual Notetaking

Go ahead, start doodling! And, share your many ways you use Post Its in the comments section below.

#makeTheShift: Start using MMPs and MVIs

Too long we have used the terminologies such as Projects and Phases. It’s time to make the shift! Let’s overhaul our dictionary and start using terminologies such as MVPs and MVIs. Why such a big fuss about terminology itself?

The terminology, the words we use influence our actions. The words that we use to describe things, to ourselves and our partners, affect that way we think. The thoughts affect our actions and eventually, the words have the influence on the Results that we seek. We do not want the handoffs, from one stage gate to other stage gates. Instead, we want to drive our efforts to put something, even a smaller increment of the product, in the hands of our Customers.

Shift the focus from Phases and onto creating Value. Identify the deliverables, no matter how small a product increment, that brings value to a customer. As Maryellen Weimer ( @FacultyFocus ) writes in her article, language has tremendous power to influence our thoughts and actions.

In his list of 7 Habits, Steven Covey recommends starting with an end state of mind! Identify MMP and MVIs and let them drive your development and deliveries.

[bctt tweet=”Identify MMP & MVIs-Let them drive your development & deliveries #makeTheShiftpic.twitter.com/KDPimPEkPg”]

Scrum Master Standard Work

Scrum Masters - Grab this checklist and Improve your Scrum Ceremonies

We talked about the Standard Work for Product Owner in my earlier post. Now, let’s look at the other important role in Scrum: The Scrum Master (SM).

Scrum Master wears many different hats while working with the Team. I like to say that Scrum Master has many faces. He is a Facilitator and ensures the Scrum framework is followed; as well as he is the Protector of the Team. He is a partner with Product Owner and other players in the organization, as well as he is the ‘Terminator’, eliminating Impediments so that team can continue making progress. I can go on and on.. but let’s keep that for a separate post.

Standard Work: Scrum Master
Let’s start identifying the activities that the Scrum Master is carrying out to ensure the team continues to create and deliver Value for customers. Here is my recommended list of activities, categorized into Daily, Weekly, by Sprint, by Release, and so on. I also have listed activities that Scrum Master has to do to ensure a successful launch of a new Scrum Team.

[tabby title=”Standing up a new Team”]

Ensure the team has gone through Agile training
Working with the team, collectively, come up with a ‘Scrum Calendar’ to ensure that all the events are discussed, time and locations are agreed upon. Use this activity ‘Scrum Calendar’ to facilitate this discussion.
Ensure the team has a good understanding of the roles. Use this activity ‘Start with Y’ to bring everyone on the same page and have a common understanding, expectation about each role.
Ensure that PO has shared and discussed the Vision and Roadmap with the team
Use ‘Agile Bingo’ to Ensure that the team has worked on and collectively agreed upon: [Download Agile Bingo here http://bit.ly/agileBingo
- Working Agreements
- Office Hours
- Definition of READY
- Definition of DONE (for User Story, for Release)
- Dependencies and Risks has been discussed and identified/acknowledged
- Make it Fun! Ask the team to create their own identity; come up with a name that reflects their collective identity and purpose
Ensure all the events have been scheduled and show up on appropriate stakeholders’ calendar. Send out the invites for next two to three months
Get more details on Agile Bingo and other activities mentioned here at http://bit.ly/improveScrum

[tabby title=”Daily”]

Attend and facilitate the daily Scrum event.
Rigorously ensure the rules of Scrum are followed.
Provide updates on impediments and dependencies reported by the team.
Update and post the task burndown and story completion charts.
Update the Scrum board and other information radiators to make work and progress visible
Be the ‘Sherlock Holmes’: Look for unidentified impediments and work towards removing them, even before they have a chance to distract the team
Work to remove the impediments identified by the team and escalate them to stakeholders as required.
Represent the team to outside parties.
Protect the team from distractions.

[tabby title=”Each Sprint”]

Ensure that the team is ready for next sprint
- The User Stories have been identified and are READY
- The Dependencies have been identified and ‘separated’ from User Stories slotted for the sprint
Facilitate sprint planning
Facilitate Daily Scrum, and ensure that it finishes within the allotted 15 minutes (use the Productivity Hacks we discussed earlier such as Parking Lot, Yellow Card, After Party, ..)
Ensure that team is adhering to their Working Agreements as well as the Definition of Ready and Definition of Done
Ensure that the team follows their WIP limits. Challenge team to finish the work, before starting new work (user stories)
Ensure that various tracking charts are updated and posted in the area where they are visible.
Ensure the Team conducts ‘Backlog Refinement (Grooming) event while in the sprint, focused on getting stories READY for the future sprints. The team should have a pipeline of READY stories that will keep them busy for at least n+2 sprints.
Own the impediments, track progress on resolving them, and provide regular updates to the Team on each one of them. Ensure that team has worked around to continue making progress until the impediment is resolved.
During the Sprint, ensure that Story Burn up chart and Task burndown charts are updated daily
Pay attention to the Story burn up chart, and work with team to avoid the Hockey Stick
At the end of the sprint update:
- Release Burnup chart – This chart should show the “top line” scope, actual velocity for completed sprints, predicted velocity for future sprints (Trend line using 3 sprint average), and the planned release date. Identify the gaps (between the predicted points and the desired “top line” points) and start having conversations around it with Product Owner and the team.
- Feature completion – This chart should show the progress toward all features as well as the priority/sequence order that features are to be built. Highest priority features should be on the left side. Ensure that there is activity on the feature at Left.
- Identify and keep a running list of ‘Features at risk’. Lowest priority features are “at risk” if the predicted velocity doesn’t intersect the “top line” by the planned release date.
- Continue to have a discussion around them with Product Owner.
- Business value completion – Work with the Product Owner to produce the desired graphs (e.g. business value points per story point, story point burn-up, the breakdown of business stories vs. enabling stories, etc.).
- Update the Team velocity chart and Say: Do ratio based on the completed sprint.
Facilitate Sprint Demo (Showcase) and Sprint Retrospective events.
While team is focused on the current sprint, spend some time and energy on getting things lined up for and ready for next sprint
- Update Team Calendar, incorporating vacation times and holidays. This will help in predicting team’s capacity for the upcoming sprint.
- ensure that various events are planned, scheduled and on the calendar. Various events such as Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Backlog refinement, Sprint Retrospective.
- Work with Product Owner to ensure backlog items are identified and READY for next sprint
Communicate sprint/release progress to stakeholders
Communicate Impediments to stakeholders

[tabby title=”Each Release”]

Facilitate Agile Planning / Release Planning
Collaborate with Product Owner to ensure that:
- Backlog Items are identified and prioritized for the Release cycle
- Highest priority backlog items have gone through ‘Backlog Refinement (Grooming)’ activity and are READY
- Dependencies have been identified

[tabbyending]

Would it help to have your standard work documented? Can it help you – the Scrum Master, your team improve the productivity and deliver more VALUE for your customer?

Go ahead and document your Standard of Work. Start with this list, update it, refine it, and put your team on the “hyper Productivity” lane!

Get your FREE copy of Standard Work Today!

In essence, Standard Work helps you in minimizing waste and maximizing value delivery
Click here to Download your FREE copy

5 unique uses of PostIt notes

Many uses of Post Its

What is so special about this simple, non-assuming tool? Do you know these unique uses of PostIt notes that can help you improve your effectiveness and Productivity?

PostIt note pad is my Swiss Knife as I help enterprises transform to Agile. They can help you in delivering an impactful message that increases creativity and collaboration, leading to higher productivity.

As Simon Sinek, author of the book “Start with Why“, let’s explore the reasons why this is a very compelling tool and why I am so passionate about it 🙂

the WHYs of PostIt

In the world of smartphones and smartwatches, you might have overlooked this simple, not so sexy tool. I would, in fact, argue that you don’t want smart tools, instead, you just want to use a tool smartly. Here are some of the reasons why I am so passionate about it.

[bctt tweet=”Many uses of PostIt.. pic.twitter.com/Rvrf6km9eM #transformation #Agile #scrum”]Are you using this ‘secret’ tool effectively?

Over the next few days, through a series of posts, I want to re-introduce you this tool. I promise you that you will learn many sides of it that you have not even thought of using it for.

Disclaimer:
Post It is a registered trademark of 3M. And, no, I do not own stocks of 3M. 🙁

Next Article in this series:

Visual note taking

PostIt as Yellow card

Note taking with PostIt pad