Book picks similar to
Project Retrospectives by Norman L. Kerth


agile
project-management
non-fiction
management

Kanban and Scrum - Making the Most of Both


Henrik Kniberg - 2010
    So how do they relate to each other? The purpose of this book is to clear up the fog, so you can figure out how Kanban and Scrum might be useful in your environment. Part I illustrates the similarities and differences between Kanban and Scrum, comparing for understanding, not for judgement. There is no such thing as a good or bad tool - just good or bad decisions about when and how to use which tool. This book includes: - Kanban and Scrum in a nutshell - Comparison of Kanban and Scrum and other Agile methods - Practical examples and pitfalls - Cartoons and diagrams illustrating day-to-day work - Detailed case study of a Kanban implementation within a Scrum organization Part II is a case study illustrating how a Scrum-based development organization implemented Kanban in their operations and support teams.

Accelerate: Building and Scaling High-Performing Technology Organizations


Nicole Forsgren - 2018
    Through four years of groundbreaking research, Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim set out to find a way to measure software delivery performance—and what drives it—using rigorous statistical methods. This book presents both the findings and the science behind that research. Readers will discover how to measure the performance of their teams, and what capabilities they should invest in to drive higher performance.

Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Thinking and Organizational Tools for Large-Scale Scrum


Craig Larman - 2008
    However, many groups have floundered in their practice-oriented adoptions. Why? Because without a deeper understanding of the thinking tools and profound organizational redesign needed, it is as though casting seeds on to an infertile field. Now, drawing on their long experience leading and guiding large-scale lean and agile adoptions for large, multisite, and offshore product development, and drawing on the best research for great team-based agile organizations, internationally recognized consultant and best-selling author Craig Larman and former leader of the agile transformation at Nokia Networks Bas Vodde share the key thinking and organizational tools needed to plant the seeds of product development success in a fertile lean and agile enterprise. Coverage includes Lean thinking and development combined with agile practices and methods Systems thinking Queuing theory and large-scale development processes Moving from single-function and component teams to stable cross-functional cross-component Scrum feature teams with end-to-end responsibility for features Organizational redesign to a lean and agile enterprise that delivers value fast Large-scale Scrum for multi-hundred-person product groups In a competitive environment that demands ever-faster cycle times and greater innovation, applied lean thinking and agile principles are becoming an urgent priority. Scaling Lean & Agile Development will help leaders create the foundation for their lean enterprise-and deliver on the significant benefits of agility. In addition to the foundation tools in this text, see the companion book Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Large, Multisite, and Offshore Product Development with Large-Scale Scrum for complementary action tools.

Agile Project Management with Kanban


Eric Brechner - 2015
    You open the box and right on top is a quick-start guide. Being a novice, you follow the guide, and quickly get up and running. As you become more experienced, the other box contents address common advanced issues you'd face, like right-sizing teams, estimation, hitting deadlines, transitioning from Scrum or Waterfall, deploying components and services, and using Kanban within larger organizations.Real-world experience from a direct practitioner working on Xbox and Xbox.comA concise, pragmatic, and easy-to-read guide with clear, fresh, and hard-won guidanceUsing Kanban within larger organizations - how to deal with upper management, planning, and dependencies

The Agile Samurai: How Agile Masters Deliver Great Software


Jonathan Rasmusson - 2010
    Combining tools, core principles, and plenty of humor, The Agile Samurai gives you the tools and the attitude to deliver something of value every week, and make rolling software into production a non-event. You’ll see how agile software delivery really works and how to help your team get agile fast, while having fun along the way.

User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product


Jeff Patton - 2012
    With this practical book, you'll explore the often-misunderstood practice of user story mapping, and learn how it can help keep your team stay focused on users and their experience throughout the development process.You and your team will learn that user stories aren't a way to write better specifications, but a way to organize and have better conversations. This book will help you understand what kinds of conversations you should be having, when to have them, and what to keep track of when you do. Learn the key concepts used to create a great story map. Understand how user stories really work, and how to make good use of them in agile and lean projects. Examine the nuts and bolts of managing stories through the development cycle. Use strategies that help you continue to learn before and after the product's release to customers and usersUser Story Mapping is ideal for agile and lean software development team members, product managers and UX practitioners in commercial product companies, and business analysts and project managers in IT organizations—whether you're new to this approach or want to understand more about it.

Agile IT Organization Design: For Digital Transformation and Continuous Delivery


Sriram Narayan - 2015
    Now, pioneering ThoughtWorks software engineering expert Sriram Narayan shows how to do just that. Drawing on 15+ years working with leaders in telecommunications, finance, energy, retail, and beyond, he introduces a comprehensive agile approach to "Business-IT Effectiveness" that is as practical as it is valuable. Narayan demonstrates how to integrate agility throughout sales, marketing, product development, engineering, and operations, helping each function deliver more value individually and through its linkages with the rest of the business. Addressing people, process, and technology, he guides you in improving both the dynamic and static aspects of organization design, addressing team structure, accountability structures, organizational norms and culture, knowledge management, and more. Using real examples, Narayan helps you evaluate and improve organization designs to enhance autonomy, mastery, and purpose. You'll learn how to eliminate the specific organizational silos that cause the most problems... improve communication in organizations that claim to be (but aren't really) non-hierarchical... optimize the way you build teams, design office space, and even choose tools. Simply put, Agile IT Organization Design will help you improve improving the performance of any software organization by propagating agile wherever it makes sense and offers value.

Scrum Mastery: From Good To Great Servant-Leadership


Geoff Watts - 2013
    But being a great ScrumMaster, one who truly embodies the principles of servant-leadership and helps move a team to the high performance levels possible with Scrum, is much harder and much more elusive. In his over ten years of coaching numerous Scrum teams, the highly-respected and experienced Scrum coach Geoff Watts has identified patterns that separate a good ScrumMaster from a great one. In this book, he not only illustrates these patterns through stories of his own experiences and those of the many Scrum teams he has encountered but offers practical guidance for you on your own path to greatness.In this book you will learn:The skills and characteristics of great ScrumMastersHow to generate, maintain and increase engagement from the teamHow to increase the effectiveness of the Scrum meetings, such as retrospectives and daily scrums.How to foster a more creative and collaborative teamHow to increase the performance of the teamHow to know when you are a successful ScrumMaster\Scrum Mastery is for practicing ScrumMasters who want to develop themselves into a great servant-leader capable of taking their teams beyond simple process compliance.Comments on the bookMike Cohn, in his foreword for the book, said:"Most books rehash well-trod territory and I don’t finish them any wiser. I am positive I will be referring back to this book for many years" Roman Pichler, author of Agile Product Management with Scrum: Creating Products That Customers Love said:"I am thoroughly impressed with how comprehensive and well-written the book is. It will be indispensable for many people"Jean Tabaka, Agile Fellow, Rally Software:"Geoff brings us a personal and inspired peak into what truly moves us from good to great: great in how we serve; great in how we lead; great in how we create mastery in our teams and organizations; and, great in how we recognize the impediments to our own growth to greatness. Scrum mastery is a skill that can be honed and Geoff gives us rich tools to sharpen our craft."

Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale


Jez Humble - 2014
    Adopting Lean will take time and commitment, but it’s vital for harnessing the cultural and technical forces that are accelerating the rate of innovation.* Discover how Lean focuses on people and teamwork at every level, in contrast to traditional management practices* Approach problem-solving experimentally, by exploring solutions, testing assumptions, and getting feedback from real users* Lead and manage large-scale programs in a way that empowers employees, increases the speed and quality of delivery, and lowers costs* Learn how to implement ideas from the DevOps and Lean Startup movements even in complex, regulated environments

The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development


Donald G. Reinertsen - 2009
    He explains why invisible and unmanaged queues are the underlying root cause of poor product development performance. He shows why these queues form and how they undermine the speed, quality, and efficiency in product development.

Impact Mapping: Making a Big Impact with Software Products and Projects


Gojko Adzic - 2012
    The result is a tremendous amount of time and money wasted due to wrong assumptions, lack of focus, poor communication of objectives, lack of understanding and misalignment with overall goals. There has to be a better way to deliver!This handbook is a practical guide to impact mapping, a simple yet incredibly effective method for collaborative strategic planning that helps organisations make an impact with software. Impact mapping helps to create better plans and roadmaps that ensure alignment of business and delivery, and are easily adaptable to change. Impact mapping fits nicely into several current trends in software product management and release planning, including goal-oriented requirements engineering, frequent iterative delivery, agile and lean software methods, lean startup product development cycles, and design thinking.Who is this book for?The primary audience of this book are senior people involved in building software products or delivering software projects, from both business and delivery sides. This includes business sponsors and those whose responsibilities include product ownership, project oversight or portfolio management, architecture, business analysis, quality improvement and assurance and delivery. - Business people assigned to software projects will learn how to communicate their ideas better.- Senior product or project sponsors will learn how to communicate their assumptions more effectively to delivery teams, how to engage delivery teams to make better strategic decisions, and how to manage their project portfolio more effectively.- Delivery teams that are already working under the umbrella of agile or lean delivery methods, and more recently lean startup ideas, will learn how to better focus deliverables and engage business sponsors and users.- Delivery teams moving to agile or lean delivery methods will get ideas on how to address some common issues with scaling these practices, such as creating a big picture view, splitting work into small chunks that still have business value and reporting progress more meaningfully.About the authorGojko Adzic is a strategic software delivery consultant who works with ambitious teams to improve the quality of their software products and processes. Gojko won the 2012 Jolt Award for the best book, was voted by peers as the most influential agile testing professional in 2011, and his blog won the UK Agile Award for the best online publication in 2010. To get in touch, write to gojko@neuri.co.uk or visit http://gojko.net.

Agile Project Management with Scrum


Ken Schwaber - 2001
    But Scrum’s simplicity itself—its lack of prescription—can be disarming, and new practitioners often find themselves reverting to old project management habits and tools and yielding lesser results. In this illuminating series of case studies, Scrum co-creator and evangelist Ken Schwaber identifies the real-world lessons—the successes and failures—culled from his years of experience coaching companies in agile project management. Through them, you’ll understand how to use Scrum to solve complex problems and drive better results—delivering more valuable software faster.Gain the foundation in Scrum theory—and practice—you need to:Rein in even the most complex, unwieldy projectsEffectively manage unknown or changing product requirementsSimplify the chain of command with self-managing development teamsReceive clearer specifications—and feedback—from customersGreatly reduce project planning time and required toolsBuild—and release—products in 30-day cycles so clients get deliverables earlierAvoid missteps by regularly inspecting, reporting on, and fine-tuning projectsSupport multiple teams working on a large-scale project from many geographic locationsMaximize return on investment!

Scrumban: Essays on Kanban Systems for Lean Software Development


Corey Ladas - 2008
    Scrum and agile methodologies have helped software development teams organize and become more efficient. Lean methods like kanban can extend these benefits. Kanban also provides a powerful mechanism to identify process improvement opportunities. This book covers some of the metrics and day-to-day management techniques that make continuous improvement an achievable outcome in the real world. ScrumBan the book provides a series of essays that give practitioners the background needed to create more robust practices combining the best of agile and lean.

Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life


Jim Benson - 2011
    People need to be effective.Productivity books focus on doing more, Jim and Tonianne want you to focus on doing better. Personal Kanban is about choosing the right work at the right time. Recognizing why we do the things we do. Understanding the impact of our actions. Creating value - not just product. For ourselves, our families, our friends, our co-workers. For our legacy.Personal Kanban takes the same Lean principles from manufacturing that led the Japanese auto industry to become a global leader in quality, and applies them to individual and team work. Personal Kanban asks only that we visualize our work and limit our work-in-progress. Visualizing work allows us to transform our conceptual and threatening workload into an actionable, context-sensitive flow. Limiting our work-in-progress helps us complete what we start and understand the value of our choices. Combined, these two simple acts encourage us to improve the way we work and the way we make choices to balance our personal, professional, and social lives.Neither a prescription nor a plan, Personal Kanban provides a light, actionable, achievable framework for understanding our work and its context. This book describes why students, parents, business leaders, major corporations, and world governments all see immediate results with Personal Kanban.

Leading Lean Software Development: Results Are Not the Point


Mary Poppendieck - 2009
    They go far beyond generic implementation guidelines, demonstrating exactly how to make lean work in real projects, environments, and companies.The Poppendiecks organize this book around the crucial concept of frames, the unspoken mental constructs that shape our perspectives and control our behavior in ways we rarely notice. For software leaders and team members, some frames lead to long-term failure, while others offer a strong foundation for success. Drawing on decades of experience, the authors present twenty-four frames that offer a coherent, complete framework for leading lean software development. You'll discover powerful new ways to act as competency leader, product champion, improvement mentor, front-line leader, and even visionary.Systems thinking: focusing on customers, bringing predictability to demand, and revamping policies that cause inefficiency Technical excellence: implementing low-dependency architectures, TDD, and evolutionary development processes, and promoting deeper developer expertise Reliable delivery: managing your biggest risks more effectively, and optimizing both workflow and schedules Relentless improvement: seeing problems, solving problems, sharing the knowledge Great people: finding and growing professionals with purpose, passion, persistence, and pride Aligned leaders: getting your entire leadership team on the same page From the world's number one experts in Lean software development, Leading Lean Software Development will be indispensable to everyone who wants to transform the promise of lean into reality--in enterprise IT and software companies alike.