Agile – Maja Ferle

Workshop: Agile planning in practice (Together in Excellence 2020 conference)

11 June, 202030 October, 2024 by Maja FerleNo Comments

One of the myths about agile is that in agile there is no planning. This myth probably stems from comparison with waterfall approaches, where detailed up-front planning is the norm. In agile, there is still a need to plan over a long period of time, commit to a completion date, plan resources, and align the product to a strategic vision. But instead of detailed planning at the beginning, agile planning is spread throughout the entire development process, and it involves all team members, not just one individual who is the designated project manager. Agile planning and estimation breaks down development into small units which can deliver value to a customer. Teams plan for what they can accomplish to satisfy a customer in a short period of time. Some examples of agile planning are during daily standups, during sprint planning meetings and during release planning. In this workshop, delivered at the Together in Excellence 2020 conference, we covered topics related to agile planning...

The Great ScrumMaster

18 June, 20199 October, 2019 by Maja FerleNo Comments

In her book The Great ScrumMaster, author Zuzana Šochová reminds us that we may have lost our way in understanding the role of the ScrumMaster in agile. She describes the role using the #ScrumMasterWay concept which, according to the author, finally provides ScrumMasters the answer to their most common question: “What will the ScrumMaster do once the team is self-organized?” She starts by stating that the ScrumMaster is one of the most undervalued roles in Scrum and agile. Particularly new agile teams don’t understand the value that a ScrumMaster brings to the high performing team. In my opinion, this belief that the ScrumMaster is just a secretary to the team actually comes from some of the training materials that I remember from when I was preparing for my ScrumMaster certification. I remember learning that the ScrumMaster role is not a full-time role and that a ScrumMaster may either be shared across more than one Scrum team or that the ScrumMaster may...

Hybrid project management is the answer to the agile vs. traditional dilemma

6 December, 201814 January, 2019 by Maja FerleNo Comments

When it comes to choosing either an agile or a traditional project management methodology, we don’t necessarily have to pick either one. Hybrid project management is a better answer, because it combines the best of both worlds and it allows a smoother transition from traditional to agile as compared to making the transition in one leap. Many organizations that use waterfall methods do want to transition to agile but organizational change does not happen overnight. There is always a warming-up period during which stakeholders adapt to the agile mindset. They may start new projects in the agile way while existing projects still continue in waterfall or in a combination of waterfall and agile. In my experience, waterfall continues to be used for high level planning, budgeting, defining milestones and setting expectations. It is the safe and known way of doing business as compared to agile which is new and less known to the organization. Using the waterfall approach is fine when requirements are...

Moving data into production at the click of a button

24 February, 201824 July, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Alongside with DevOps, which ideally means deploying code into production with the click of a button through a well-defined process, data professionals are thinking about a similar concept for moving data into production. What if a business user wants new data in an analytical application, can we do it with the click of a button? Despite new technology that can handle vast volumes of data at lightning speed, organizations are still struggling with implementing analytics in a timely manner, with good quality data and before the results become obsolete in the constantly evolving environment. Roadblocks There are misconceptions about what it takes to capture, store, organize and analyze data and eventually get it into a productive environment. While tool vendors want you to believe that it all happens at the click of a button, the reality is that data typically can’t be used without prior knowledge and understanding of what it represents. Data often has errors that must be recognized and dealt with,...

Comparing PMI-ACP and Scrum Master certifications

19 October, 20175 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

As a practicing agile professional and a holder of both the PMI-ACP and Certified ScrumMaster certifications, I will share my insights on how such agile certifications compare in order to help you decide which one is better for you. The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner certification or PMI-ACP is issued by the Project Management Institute. I wrote a post about preparing for the PMI-ACP exam here. There are several ScrumMaster certifications. I hold the Certified ScrumMaster certification from Scrum Alliance. Another agile certification with which I am familiar is the Professional Scrum Master I certification from Scrum.org. Following is a high-level overview of each of these certifications. PMI-ACP issued by PMI Difficulty and time commitment: High (substantial study time required) Cost: Medium-High (the choice is yours what trainings you attend and at what cost) Scope: Covers all aspects of agile, including Scrum, Lean and Kanban as well as organizational aspects of agile project management Requirements: Prior experience on agile projects, contact hours in agile project management...

PMI should not be a synonym for waterfall

30 September, 20172 October, 2017 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Whenever I hear that someone refers to PMP or PMI as a methodology, I want to tell them that neither of these is a project management methodology (PMP is a certification and PMI is the name of the organization that issues the certification). The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is also not a methodology but a standard. In addition to misusing these abbreviations it is even more disturbing that they are used as synonyms for waterfall project management. True, PMBOK was historically all about waterfall project management. But PMI has been adding agile to the PMBOK for many years now and the most recent 6th edition is more agile than ever. To explain how waterfall and agile can be combined, PMBOK now has an appendix about the continuum of project life cycles. PMBOK has always stated that it is the nature of projects to evolve as more detailed and specific information becomes available and that the project life cycle needs...

Being Agile in a Waterfall World

22 April, 20173 July, 2017 by Maja FerleNo Comments

There are various opinions on mixing agile and waterfall. On one hand, there are strong arguments against mixing agile and waterfall, for example the term scrummerfall was coined to denote a combination of the two approaches and defined as “the practice of combining Scrum and Waterfall so as to ensure failure at a much faster rate than you had with Waterfall alone.” Surveys suggest that “pure agile projects are more successful than those that use a combination of agile and waterfall.” On the other hand, organizations often start doing agile projects by introducing agile approaches into their traditional waterfall methodologies. The term water-scrum-fall is one example of a methodology that combines waterfall with agile and although this approach is not ideal, it is useful in organizations that are transitioning to agile and want to maintain some waterfall while attempting to go agile. The book Being Agile in a Waterfall World by Joseph Flahiff unveils a completely different perspective on the agile vs. waterfall debate....

How I passed the PMI-ACP exam

12 February, 201730 August, 2017 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Recently, I was approached by a colleague who is preparing to take the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) to share my experience. It has been almost 5 years since I passed the exam and I would probably have forgotten many of the details, were it not for this article that I wrote for the PMI Slovenia Chapter newsletter soon after the exam. I dusted off the article and am publishing it here for anyone else who is interested in the process. When PMI first announced the agile certification, I knew immediately that I wanted to take it. I had become familiar with agile a few years earlier and I was already practicing it in my consulting work. Becoming certified in agile seemed a logical next step. Eligibility requirements To apply for the PMI-ACP certification, I had to meet the following eligibility requirements: 2,000 hours of general project experience working on teams. I automatically fulfilled this requirement because I am PMP certified. 1,500 hours working on agile...

Agile delivery of data models

13 January, 201713 April, 2017 by Maja FerleNo Comments

Agile methodologies typically focus on software development. It may appear as if writing code is the only aspect of agile delivery. But we know that most applications use data and this data must be stored somewhere, preferably in a database. This is an integral part of any application. The question then becomes: how do we develop the data model for the database in an agile manner? The book The Nimble Elephant: Agile Delivery of Data Models using a Pattern-based Approach by John Giles addresses this question and gives in-depth advice on how to make it work. Choose a data model pattern How do we come up with a data model quickly in order to allow iterative development to start? The author of the book John Giles suggests to use industry-standard data models or data model patterns as a starting point and customize them as you go. He says that off-the-shelf proven data model patterns may go a long way towards bridging the speed versus quality...

The current state of Scrum: it’s all about coaching

19 October, 20165 December, 2018 by Maja FerleNo Comments

While my memory is still fresh after attending the Scrum Gathering in Munich 2016, the first thing that comes to mind is that it's all about coaching. My impression was that the main purpose of the conference was to come together so that independent consultants who offer coaching services can have access to a huge pool of potential clients. Or perhaps I was just unfortunate to run into too many such individuals, some more pushy than others. Note to Scrum coaches: not all conference attendees come because they want to buy your services. The second impression I have from the conference is that it’s not about the Scrum methods or tools or techniques; it’s not even about case studies or success stories. It’s about soft skills and personal development. The current buzzwords are responsibility, mindfulness, emotional intelligence and more coaching. Sure, I get it, you want a self-organizing team and to do that, you want the team members to be responsible and mindful...