The Agilist Field Guide

Motivation

What is agility?

1. Agility is about people
2. Agility is about embracing change
3. Agility is about outcomes

Daily stand-up

Help! The participants in my stand up are distracted

1. The participants don’t have a shared goal they’re working towards
2. The stand-up time is inconsistent
3. The stand up is at the wrong time

Help! My stand up is way too long

1. There are too many in-depth discussions
2. The participants are oversharing
3. There are just too many people

Help! The stand up has turned into a progress report

1. You’re stuck trying to answer the three questions
2. You require everyone to have a turn
3. There is an attention magnet in the room

Planning

Help! Planning takes too long

1. You plan in too much detail
2. Your planning session doesn’t have a clear purpose

Help! We always overcommit

1. Not making all the work visible
2. The team is frequently interrupted

Retrospectives

1. Retrospective happen at regular intervals
2. The team reflects on how to be more effective
3. Adjusting behavior accordingly

Help! My retrospectives lack participation

1. The team doesn’t feel safe
2. The retrospective is repetitive
3. There isn’t anything to talk about

Help! Our action items never get done

1. The action item doesn’t have an action that can be tracked
2. There is no clear driver
3. You are out of your depth

Leading agile teams

Help! The team does not feel safe

1. There are camps in your team
2. Teams are not allowed to fail

Help! The team has stagnated

1. There is no spark
2. There is fear that you cannot go back
3. The team is experiencing change fatigue

Facilitation fundamentals

Watch out for

1. The superstar crutch
2. Projector interference
3. Late Larry

The toolkit

1. Setup & Clean up discussions
2. Doorknob discussions
3. Blind voting activities

Acknowledgment, thanks, and references

1. References