Afagh Zadeh

2 more days until my next online talk. Lern about how to get new inspiration for your agile journey or private challenges. Looking forward to it and see many of you in the session!

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A checklist - What makes a successful team? #m30 #Management30

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Agile Doesn’t Cure Incompetence Agile is often seen as a magical solution to all organizational problems—better team collaboration, faster delivery, higher customer satisfaction. But let’s be clear: 🛑 Agile is not a remedy for incompetence. As Agile practitioners, we emphasize adaptability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. However, none of these principles can compensate for a lack of fundamental engineering competence. 🚨 Symptoms of Incompetence If your development team struggles with: 💻 Writing clean, maintainable code 📂 Adhering to basic coding standards 🔁 Version control best practices ✅ Test-driven development or basic testing principles 🏗️ Understanding system architecture or scalability Then no daily stand-up, retrospective, or sprint planning session will magically fix these issues. --- The Reality Check ⚡ Agile is a framework for managing work, not a substitute for technical excellence. It’s like having a state-of-the-art race car but no qualified driver. The car may look fantastic, but it won’t win any races unless the driver has the skills to control it. --- 💸 The Cost of Ignoring Technical Excellence Teams lacking basic engineering practices might end up: 🔧 Delivering low-quality, buggy products that frustrate users. ⏳ Accumulating technical debt so overwhelming that innovation halts. 💸 Wasting time and resources fixing avoidable issues, delaying value delivery. --- 🔑 What Agile Actually Demands Agile thrives in an environment where teams: 1. 🏅 Commit to excellence. Agile’s principles (like “Technical excellence enhances agility”) are a foundation. 2. 📚 Invest in skill-building. Regular training, code reviews, and mentorship are essential. 3. 🚀 Adopt a growth mindset. Continuously improving technical expertise is as critical as improving Agile practices. --- 🚀 A Call to Action If your Agile transformation is stalling, ask yourself: ❓ Do we have the right technical skills in place? 📖 Are we fostering a culture of learning and excellence? 🛠️ Are we enabling teams with the tools and time they need to do their best work? --- 🔄 Agile Isn’t a Cure-All It’s a powerful tool, but only when paired with the right mindset, skills, and practices. Let’s stop expecting Agile to do the impossible. Instead, let’s invest in building competent, empowered teams capable of turning Agile principles into meaningful outcomes. 💬 Your Thoughts? Have you seen Agile initiatives struggle due to gaps in technical competence? Share your experiences in the comments! #Agile #SoftwareDevelopment #Scrum #EngineeringExcellence #ContinuousImprovement #Leadership

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Did you hear them say: "Agile teams cannot keep deadlines"? It's a common misunderstanding of agile methods. In fact, agile methods are better at keeping deadlines than traditional methods! 👇 This article explains how to deliver on time with agile methods https://lnkd.in/ehnGycDU #agile #deadline

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Are you still managing dependencies? Maybe it’s time to think about a different and more agile approach. I write about it in the Agile Compass: https://lnkd.in/gZBYnrSt #agile #projectmanagement #dependencies

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Join us at our next #Agile #Coaching Exchange with Jan Neudecker. His talk is 'Agile is a lifestyle'. You can find out more about the session here: https://lnkd.in/edp75fjZ See you there!

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I'm excited to initiate a discussion about Supervision coaching within the agile framework. It's important to clarify that Supervision is distinct from Intervision (Kollegiale Beratung); it focuses on coaching with a broader perspective encompassing Me, We, and Us. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to attend the EMCC Training led by Virginia Anderson, MBA, PCC, ORSCC, CAC, CPCC, which aimed at enhancing the Certified Agile Coaching curriculum. Agile has very little to do with methods and tools. I will explain during these days?

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Did you know the "Manifesto Most Organizations Live By"? While we all know and love the agile manifesto, here is the secret manifesto most organizations ACTUALLY live by 😅 Enjoy! #agile #mindset

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"Story points are crap! Stakeholders want hours, days and dates!" Do you hear that sometimes when you propose estimating in story points or t-shirt sizes? Some managers misunderstand story point (SP) estimates as a simple kinda esoteric layer to disguise real person hour estimates. This often ends in them establishing a fixed "exchange rate" between SP and person hours. But that completely misses the point of story points and relative estimation! Yet, stakeholders are right to demand specific date ranges instead of abstract SP. They need something to plan with. And the bridge between abstract story points and specific date ranges is the concept of 👉 VELOCITY Understanding velocity lets agile teams make pretty precise predictions of when stakeholders can expect to get certain features. I explain the concept and quirks of velocity in this article in the Agile Compass: https://lnkd.in/ekzHibJQ #agile #velocity #productmanagement

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Writing articles for agile practitioners in the Biergarten 🍻 My Agile Compass has helped many agile practitioners to improve their daily work. I’m proud that my writing has an impact. Today I’m writing in a Biergarten in Munich. If you’re not receiving the Agile Compass yet, you can start here: https://lnkd.in/ePnQUGMv Prost! #agile #agilecoach #scrummaster

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When it comes to dependencies, most teams and managers immediately ask, “How do we manage these dependencies?” But are we asking the right question? #agile #dependencies

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Why a Lake? and why do you find it useful to train, mentor and coach Scrum as a Lake? Scrum is a framework, an eco-system for our work, it can support deep practice, but we need to look after the ecology of the system. We have the practices, the visible body of the Lake, 3 Accountabilities, 5 Events, 3 Artifacts, 'the doing bit' of Scrum. Under the lake we have what supports us, being agile, and in the case of Scrum, embodying 5 Scrum Values, our Bedrock and Sediments of Scrum Theory, without which our practices aren't supported. It is this special combination of doing Scrum, core and complementary practices combined with being agile, living values, inspecting and adapting that makes it powerful. We are being disciplined with our practices, we embody the Scrum Values, things become more empirical and trust builds for all. Trust is like oxygen in the lake, it enables the lake to live, and enables ever-deepening practice. Without trust people are left gasping for air, our lake is not living. Scrum Core Practices - Body of Lake - 1 Scrum Team and 3 Accountabilities - 5 Scrum Events (1 Sprint and 4 events within the sprint) - 3 Artifacts and 3 Commitments to (the Goals) Scrum Values - Bedrock - Commitment - Courage - Focus - Respect - Openness Scrum Theory - Sediments - Empiricism - Lean Thinking Do Scrum, be Agile, and Build Trust for all and why is it useful to mentor, train and coach scrum as a lake, using Scrum Lake? It is *much* easier to see how it all fits together in this visual form, we can see how it fits and works together. come join our next workshop, for tickets see scrumlake.com #scrum #agile #communityofpractice

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Who has not played the Ball Point game yet? Despite its omnipresence and its simplicity, I love how much learning this game packs into a short amount of time! Getting teams started on fundamental Scrum and general agile concepts is fun and easy that way. Within a few minutes they not only learn, but really grasp important Scrum and agile concepts: 🎾 Scrum sprints with plannings and retrospectives 🎾 Estimating 🎾 Continuous improvement 🎾 Time-boxing 🎾 Sustainable pace Let alone enjoying team work, failure culture and fun! When have you last played the Ball Point Game with a team? #scrum #agile #games

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𝗜𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗲? Understand the bumps! 🌊 🤔 Do all team members (and stakeholders outside the team) share the same vision and goals?  🤔 Are you openly discussing challenges during your retrospectives? If you feel lost, don’t hesitate to seek expert guidance for clarity and direction! 🧭 We meet you where you are with tailored training, coaching, mentoring, and focused skill sessions. 🎓✨ Let’s set sail together for smoother sailing! ⛵️ Become a fellow Agilista: https://www.agilistas.at/ #Agile #Scrum #Coaching #Teamwork #ContinuousImprovement #AgileTransformation #Leadership #Mentorship #Collaboration

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🎙️ Dear Scrum Master... Are you focusing only on your team? You're missing 80% of the bigger picture! In this game-changing Agile Matrix Podcast episode, Bob Galen 🇺🇦 breaks down why the true impediments to your team's success aren't within the team—they're around the team. Bob Galen 🇺🇦 dives deep into systemic coaching and how it transforms your approach, whether you're a junior Scrum Master or a seasoned pro. Listen to the full conversation and get inspired: https://lnkd.in/eH38NEqf or on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eVXSqCDm If you're ready to unlock the real opportunities for improvement and learn how to coach the entire system, not just the team, this is the episode you can’t afford to miss. #AgileCoaching #Leadership #PersonalBranding #ContinuousImprovement #SelfMastery #Podcast #AgileTransformation #BobGalen #kanban #scrum #scrummaster

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Did you know: Employees do not always go for the best solution? …and that‘s not because they‘d be stupid, lazy or mean, but it‘s because of company culture. How you can change this is what I describe in this article in the Agile Compass: https://lnkd.in/e-_jvin3 #agile #productivity #leadership

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Once a year I’m offering a training program for Agile Coaches. The ACE program teaches what makes agility and agile transformations successful. It goes far beyond reciting frameworks and dives into the human aspect for lasting impact. If you want to become an Agile Coach or improve your Agile Coach skills, you can sign up here: https://lnkd.in/exmb_YND #agile #agilecoach

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Next questioning games for Agile, We already have scenario questions as Scrum Master & Product owner, Now let's move outside. Imagine you are the CEO of a company, you are just start the Agile implementation or transformation. You plan to hire an Agile coach to assist your team in understanding and implementing Agile. What's the option you will take? A. Hire a full-time Agile coach B. Hire a professional part-time Agile coach it was a debating question, I know some believe in Agile coach, not a full-time job.. some believe Agile coach should be full-time. Don't forget to put your why. 😉

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As an agile coach, especially if scrum is involved, I often hear that there are too many rituals and meetings. This is a common issue in any organization. It's not just a scrum problem. The problem is often not the number of meetings but how they are structured, leading to lengthy, unproductive discussions. Some meetings are so poorly managed that you'd prefer a root canal at the dentist's. So below are a few general tips that will improve how you and your organization manage meetings. The result will be higher productivity and employees attending meetings without sour faces. 1. If you get an invitation, accept or decline it (if declining a reason given is friendly and polite) By the way, tentative should only be an option if you are an optional invitee! 2. If you decline a meeting where you are needed, provide a deputy or, if not possible, inform the inviter. 3. Create or ask for an agenda. 4. Ask the person inviting you if there is a need for you. 5. Be aware of the fear of missing out (FOMO) 6. Ask the person inviting you if you can prepare something. 7. Ask the person if you are needed only for part of the meeting to go first and then leave. 8. Ensure the meeting ends 5 Minutes early (you can set Outlook to do this automatically) so people can be on time for the next meeting. Tell everyone that you have to leave 5 minutes before the meeting ends to make it on time to the next meeting. 9. Turn the screen off when you leave the meeting and give fresh air some chance to enter (the next team does appreciate it) 10. Remove anything you drew on a whiteboard or flip chart. 11. If you are running late and the following party knocks on the door, get up immediately and make room for them. 12. If actions are to be taken, ensure you have a name and a due date. 13. Make sure you prepare one-to-one whatever you can before the meeting. 14. Have fun at the meetings.

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