Software Process And Measurement Cast

SPaMCAST 296 features our interview with Jeff Dalton we talked about Agile and resiliency. If Agile is resilient it will be able spring back into shape after being bent or compressed by the pressures of development and support.  In the conversation Jeff and I discussed whether Agile was resilient and how frameworks like the CMMI can be used to make Agile more resilient. Jeff is Broadsword’s President, Certified Lead Appraiser, CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster and author of “agileCMMI,” Broadsword’s leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement.  He is Chairman of the CMMI Institute’s Partner Advisory Board and former President of the Great Lakes Software Process Improvement Network (GL-SPIN).  He is a recipient of the Software Engineering Institute’s SEI Member Award for Outstanding Representative for his work uniting the Agile and CMMI communities together through his popular blog “Ask the CMMI Appraiser.”  He holds degrees in Music and Computer Science and builds experimental airplanes i

SPaMCAST 295 features our essay on Test Driven Development (TDD). TDD is an approach to development in which you write a test that proves the piece of work you are working on, and then write the code required to pass the test. You then refactor that code to eliminate duplication and any overlap, then repeat until all of the work is completed. Philosophically, Agile practitioners see TDD as a tool either to improve requirements and design (specification) or to improve the quality of the code.  This is similar to the distinction between verification (are you doing the right thing) and validation (are you doing the thing right). We also have a new entry from the Software Sensei, Kim Pries. Kim addresses cognitive load theory.  Cognitive load theory helps explain how learning and change occur at personnel, team and organizational levels. Next week we will feature our interview with Jeff Dalton. Jeff and I talked about making Agile resilient.  Jeff posits that the CMMI can be used to strengthen and reinforce Agile

SPaMCAST 294 features our interview with Sean Robson. We discussed his book, Agile%20SAP: Introducing flexibility, transparency and speed to SAP implementations" target="_blank">Agile SAP: Introducing flexibility, transparency and speed to SAP implementations. SAP and Agile, some say it can’t be done and they would just be wrong. Sean’s bio reads:Sean Robson, MBA, PMP, CSM, has been working with SAP software since 1998.  He started as an ABAP Developer then moved into configuring the Enterprise Asset Management module.  From there he transitioned to Business Warehouse and Portal support and later consulting where he worked as team lead, test manager and project manager. A Project Management Professional and Certified ScrumMaster, with wide consulting and industry experience, Sean has managed a variety of SAP project types and sizes. He has worked on projects in several industries throughout North America, including manufacturing, utilities, insurance, health care, aerospace and defense, and the public sector.

SPaMCAST 293 features our essay on the Test Maturity Model Integration (TMMi). The TMMi is a maturity model focused on improving both the process and practice of testing! The TMMi covers the entire testing environment not just typical dynamic testing. The essay begins: “All models are wrong, but some are useful.”  - George E. P. Box Information Technology (IT) has many useful models for addressing the complexity of developing, delivering and running software.  Well known models include the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®), the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) and the Test Maturity Model Integration (TMMi®) to name a few. The TMMi delivers a framework to help practitioners and IT executives understand and improve the quality of the products they deliver through better testing.To listen to the rest listen of the essay on the Software Process and Measurement Cast 293. Thanks for the feedback on shortening the introduction of the cast this week. Please keep your feedback coming.

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 292. SPaMCAST 292 features our interview with Dr. Ginger Levin. Dr. Levin and I discussed her book, Implementing Program Management: Templates and Forms. Dr Levin and her co-author Allen Green wrote their go-to reference for program practitioners, colleges, universities, and those sitting for the PgMP. Ginger provides great advice for program managers who are interested in consistently delivering value to their clients. Note the audio is not perfect this week however the content is great. I hope you can stay with the interview! Dr. Ginger Levin is a Senior Consultant and Educator in project management with over 45 years of experience. Her specialty areas are portfolio management, program management, the PMO, metrics, and maturity assessments. She is a PMP, PgMP (second in the world), and an OPM3 Certified Professional. She presents regularly at PMI Conferences and conducts numerous seminars on various topics. She is the editor, author or co-author of 20 book

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 291. SPaMCAST 291 features our essay on splitting user stories. User stories are a powerful tool used by many Agile teams to conceptualize the value they will deliver. Generally when stories are captured they can range from granular units of work that can be accomplished in a day to gargantuan features that will require multiple sprints to complete (epics). Epics are very difficult to work with therefore all Agile teams need techniques for splitting user stories into smaller units of work. We also have another of Steve Tendons great Tame The Flow columns. Steve continues to discuss constraints, bottleneck, lean and hyper-productivity! I have shortened the introduction of the cast this week. I would like your feedback. Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our interview wit

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 290. SPaMCAST 290 features our interview with Jan Beaver, author of The Agile Team Handbook. Jan’s book provides team members with the resources needed not only to become Agile but to practice Agile. Jan Beaver is a Ph.D. educator with over 25 years of experience in the software industry. His experience covers the gamut of management, development, QA, and technical writing. His first practical exposure to Scrum was a dramatic eye-opening experience that for the first time demonstrated that there really was a better way not just to develop software, but a better way to work in general. Jan is an expert Agile trainer and coach who has worked with a wide variety of companies in an equally wide variety of industries including telecommunications, medical, insurance, financial, media, utilities, and smart-grid energy. He specializes in bringing Scrum and broader Agile and Lean principles and practices to teams, helping them to become effective, productive, and sel

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 289. SPaMCAST 289 features our essay on sprint planning.  The essay begins: It is often said that well begun is half done. In other words a good start contributes to a good finish (at least according to Mary Poppins). In Agile projects sprint planning is an important first step towards delivering value effectively. The planning process provides teams with an understanding of what needs to be delivered in the next increment of time and provides a platform for deciding on the approach they will take based on the up-to-date knowledge they developed during the previous sprint. Well started might not be the whole battle but it certainly makes the rest easier. Listen to the rest of the essay on the SPaMcast 289. Also on the SPaMCAST 289 Kim Pries is back with his “The Software Sensei” column. In this installment Kim’s essay is titled Schedule Cycles.  In the essay Kim talks about tasks and scheduling. I have shortened the introduction of the cast this week. I woul

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 288. SPaMCAST 288 features our interview with Susan Atkinson on Agile contracts, governance and trust.  Quite a set of topics that get at the heart of why governance of Agile projects requires different tools than we use today. Susan Atkinson is a Consultant Solicitor at Keystone Law. She is a commercial lawyer, focusing on IT, outsourcing, e-commerce, intellectual property and payment services. She has over 15 years of legal experience, and has typically worked on high-value, complex commercial contracts, primarily in the technology, financial services and public sector, and often in an international context. Email:   susan.atkinson@keystonelaw.co.uk Twitter: satkinson42 Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our essay on sprint planning. If you don’t start a sprint well y

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 287.  SPaMCAST 287 features our essay on Scrum. Scrum is the nearly ubiquitous project management process that has become the face of Agile to many people. The essay begins: When most people think of Agile, they really mean Scrum.  Scrum is a fairly simple framework whose origin is attributed to Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber. There are numerous overviews of the history and evolutions of the framework; those at Scrum.org and Scrumalliance.org (where my CSM certification comes from) are two good ones.  The framework is simple. In its basic form it is comprised of three roles, five events and four deliverables. We also have the next installment of Steve Tendon’s column, Tame the Flow.  Steve revisits constraints and bottlenecks. Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our in

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 286. SPaMCAST 286 features our interview with Brian Wernham, author of Agile Project Management for Government. Agile government does not have to be an oxymoron. Brian Wernham has more than 30 years of experience in adaptive change program leadership.  He is an independent consultant and works in both the public and private sector.  He has extensive international experience in the USA, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany and offshore development in Bangalore. By the time that the term ‘Agile leadership’ was first coined, Brian had already been successfully leading iterative, adaptive projects for over 10 years on both sides of the Atlantic.  He works as a hands-on program director and has real-world implementation expertise together with a comprehensive understanding of the related international research.  He has consulted for major strategic international organizations such as Deloitte, PwC, Gartner Group, the National Audit Office in London and Seer Technologie

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 285. SPaMCAST 285 features a compilation of frequently asked questions of a consulting kind.  Working as a traveling consultant, podcaster and blogger provides me with a fabulous mix of experiences. Meeting new people and getting to participate in a wide range of real life experiences is mind expanding and invigorating. Many of the questions that I have been asked during a client engagement, on the blog or in response to a podcast have similar themes. Since most of the answers were provided in one-on-one interactions I have compiled a few of the questions to share. If these questions spark more questions I promise to circle back and add to the FAQ list! The SPaMCAST 285 also features Kim Pries’s column, The Software Sensei. In this edition, Kim tackles the concept of failure mode and effects. Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 284. SPaMCAST 284 features our interview with Evan Leybourn, author of Directing the Agile Organization. We had a wide-ranging discussion on Agile business management. Agile is not just for IT anymore! Evan’s Bio Evan is an experienced leader, coach and published author in the developing field of Agile Business Management; applying the successful concepts and practices from the Lean and Agile movements to corporate management. Evan has a passion for building effective and productive organizations, filled with actively engaged and committed staff while ensuring high-levels of customer satisfaction. Evan's experiences when holding executive and board positions in both private industry and government has driven his passion for lean business management. His background in Agile Project Management and Business Intelligence informed his understanding of the need for evidence-based decision making and quantitative analysis, to measure corporate success. As well as w

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 283. The SPaMCAST 283 features our essay on user stories.  A user story is a brief, simple requirement statement from the user perspective. User stories are narratives describing who is interacting with the application; how they are interacting with the application and the benefit they derive from that interaction. If you would like to read the original blog entries that formed the basis of this essay they can be found at: User StoriesCardsEpics, Themes and IssuesProblemsSame as Use Cases and Traditional Requirements? Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog. Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing and rating it on iTunes. It helps people find the cast. Like us on Facebook while you’re at it. Next week we will feature our interview with Evan Leybourn author of Directing the Agile Organization. We discussed agile business management. Agile is not just for IT anymore! Upcoming Events QAIQuest 2014 I will be facilitating a ½ Day tutorial

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 282. In the SPaMCAST 282 we feature our interview with Ben Linders and Luis Gonçalves.  We discussed retrospectives and their great new book Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives - A Toolbox of Retrospective Exercises. Retrospectives power the continuous improvement all projects and organizations need to deliver more value over time. Luis Gonçalves is an Agile Coach, Co-Author, Speaker and a Blogger. He has been working in the software industry since 2003, being an Agile practitioner since 2007. Luis is the co-author of “Getting Value Out of Agile Retrospectives” and a co-founder of a MeetUp group in Munich called High Performing Teams. He likes to write and share ideas with the world and this made him passionate blogger. You can follow his blog: http://lmsgoncalves.com. People can find Luis on twitter: @lgoncalves1979 Ben Linders is a Senior Consultant in Agile, Lean, Quality and Process Improvement, based in The Netherlands. Co-author of Getting Value

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 281. SPaMCAST 281 features our essay on value chain mapping. Value is generated through the transformation of raw materials into a new form, which is represented by a value chain. Driving effective change requires an understanding of your organization’s value chain. Value chain mapping is a representation of how an organization transforms raw materials into a product and then delivers that product to its customers.  Value chains are developed so that the organization can get a full understanding of the process to see how they can generate the greatest possible value for the organization and the customer.  Once you understand the flow, it is far easier to improve it. Value Chain Mapping is a lean technique. Like Kanban, which focuses on the flow of work and which steps add business value, Value Chain Mapping helps to target process improvements. Listen to the rest on SPaMCAST 281. The SPaMCAST 281 also features Kim Pries’s column. The listeners have spoken an

Listen to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 280. SPaMCAST 280 features our interview with Mark C. Bojeun, author of Program Management Leadership: Creating Successful Team Dynamics (Kindle version). Mark makes a very strong case that project and program managers can impact team culture and dynamics. The team’s culture is directly linked to productivity, quality and morale. Mark’s Bio Dr. Bojeun has more than 20 years experience in providing strategic management and leadership through portfolio, project and program management. His experience includes developing and managing multi-million dollar portfolios, programs and projects, facilitating the achievement of strategic objectives, and creating best practice processes for program and project management efforts. Dr. Bojeun has designed and implemented multiple Enterprise Program Management Offices (EPMOs) for domestic and multinational firms and has extensive experience in organizational change management through transformational leadership, strategic s

Check out Software Process and Measurement Cast 279. SPaMCAST 279 features our essay on Agile and risk management.  Many think of Agile and risk as an oxymoron.  However, we will show how Agile Risk Management can be used to improve the value projects deliver. Has the adoption of Agile techniques magically erased risk from software projects? Or have we just changed the mechanism and timing of how we recognize and manage risk? Or more frighteningly, by changing the project environment through adopting Agile techniques, might we trick ourselves into thinking that risk has been abolished when it really still exists?   The charts referred to in the podcast can be found below:Agile and Risk Management: Prioritization Techniques, Part 1Agile and Risk Management: Prioritization and Measurement Techniques, Part 2 Other risk related blog entriesRisk Class Structure (Sort Of)Classic to Agile Risk Management ComparisonA Framework for Evaluating Agile Risk ManagementAgile and Risk Get in touch with us anytime or leave a

Check out Software Process and Measurement Cast 278. SPaMCAST 278 features our interview with Diane Zajac-Woodie discussing the role of the business analyst (BA) in Agile.  Scrum is mute on the topic of the BA, does that that mean the BAs should pack their bags and look for re-training options?  Single word answer, no. The BA role is an important driver of facilitation and communication.  Diane clearly lays out not only what the BA should be doing in an Agile project but what is possible with a little facilitation. Diane Zajac-Woodie (also known as @agilesquirrel on Twitter – explained in the podcast) has spent the last six years redefining the business analyst role as more than a requirements dictator. Through open and honest conversations, Diane guides her business partners toward creative solutions that solve problems and eliminate waste. She shares this same approach with her technical teams, facilitating communication, cooperation, and continuous learning to ensure success. Diane craves knowledge almost

Check out Software Process and Measurement Cast 277.  SPaMCAST 277 features our essay on Scrumban. Scrumban is the combination of Kanban (lean) and Scrum (Agile) techniques. Each contributes different things to the hybrid framework. Kanban contributes a focus on flow, while Scrum contributes a focus on people and timeframe. Together, both focuses bring value to process improvement. The understanding of how these two sets of techniques and philosophies can be combined provides change agents with another powerful arrow in their quiver of available options. Also in SPaMCAST 277 Steve Tendon discusses the limitations of Scrum.  Many people believe Scrum is a silver bullet for every situation.  Steve will attempt to dissuade you of that opinion! Remember to register for the "Influential Agile Leader" events led by Johanna Rothman and Gil Broza.  Check out the full details at www.InfluentialAgileLeader.com   Get in touch with us anytime or leave a comment here on the blog.  Help support the SPaMCAST by reviewing