A video talk through Jon Kern's Agile Methodology


#1

I wanted to describe how I do things for a friend… So I captured this video.

Reactions appreciated.


#2

I’m jealous of your latest Jira UI version… cleaner and easier to use!


#3

I hated the latest UI at first…


#4

@Jon I’m curious… why use timeboxed “Sprints” at all?

Why not go kanban, using JIRA’s kanban backlog feature that came out a few versions ago?

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftwarecloud/using-your-kanban-backlog-856846180.html


#5

Probably inertia…

Oh, I almost forgot. At one point management was talking “agile” with their brother-in-law or something like that, and questioned how I had been running it in the past as a giant kanban to do list. One of the other founders agreed. They thought running weekly sprints was a better way to hold the team accountable.

So I switched. Because it doesn’t materially change how I mentally think of development as a giant to-do list.

They have not checked in since that request was made to see if it actually improved anything, funny enough. (You gotta pick your battles.)

I’ll poke around on that link you posted. Maybe try it out :slight_smile:


#6

If the metrics you get from sprints are of no value to improving your process or predictability, what have you got to lose?

Kanban will give you CFDs where you can start to see cycle times, flow efficiency, etc…

Atlassian’s Kanban backlog at least gets rid of the dreaded giant to do list… and allows you to replenish things thru refinement.

And instead of timeboxes you get to play with WIP limits…

Sigh, hold the team accountable… somehow I suspect that’s not where flow inefficiencies come from.

If you do play with kanban, I highly recommend you include wait states in your workflow. Makes the lack of “accountability” pretty obvious… hmmm… back up in aisle seven: stakeholder review!