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How To Coach Your Team to Run Daily Scrum Meetings Themselves
Three things to stop doing now so that running the daily scrum becomes a whole-team activity.
The Mountain Goat Software Blog
Practical and actionable advice, tips and guidance for creating high-performing teams.
estimating
Getting Better Estimates Is Easier Than You Think
Is your team hesitant to estimate? Here's the secret: we're not as bad (or as good!) at estimates as we think. Learn why.
5 Ways to Achieve Accurate Estimates That Everyone Trusts
Pressure for guarantees can ruin agile plans. Learn how to build stakeholder trust with accurate estimates.
#1 Reason Your Projects Are Late
Ever wonder why your projects always seem to be late? The reason might surprise you.
7 Ways to Get the Best Estimates of Story Size
Agile teams often struggle to estimate product backlog items. Here are 7 ways to make solid improvements.
What Are Agile Story Points?
Story points are perhaps the most misunderstood topic in agile. Story points are not based on just one factor--such as complexity, as is often mistakenly claimed. Instead, story points are based on a…
Don’t Equate Story Points to Hours
Story points are about time, specifically effort. But that does not mean you should say, “One story point = eight hours.” Find out why.
Why the Fibonacci Sequence Works Well for Estimating
If you’ve estimated with Planning Poker, you may very well have used cards with either the FIbonacci sequence, or a modified Fibonacci sequence.
product backlog
#1 Reason Your Projects Are Late
Ever wonder why your projects always seem to be late? The reason might surprise you.
Definition of Ready: What It Is and Why Its Dangerous
This post explains how to use a Definition of Ready successfully and avoid it becoming a first step back toward a waterfall process.
User Story Template: What It Is and Why It Works So Well
The standard “As a...I...so that…” user story template is a way of expressing product backlog items. Learn what the three-part user story format is, more about the questions it…
Agile Requirements Gathering: Three Types of Requirements
Deadlines are often missed because teams fail to consider emergent requirements. Learn about the 3 types of requirements your agile team should be gathering.
What Are Agile Story Points?
Story points are perhaps the most misunderstood topic in agile. Story points are not based on just one factor--such as complexity, as is often mistakenly claimed. Instead, story points are based on a…
Epics, Features and User Stories
I've been getting more and more emails lately from people confused about the difference between
Relationship between Definition of Done and Conditions of Satisfaction
I'd like to clarify the relationship between two important concepts: a team's Definition of Done and the Conditions of Satisfaction for a user story. Let's start by reviewing each of these…
product owner
What Does a Product Owner Do, When, and Why?
Ever wondered what product owners do? Have you scratched your head, wondering when they do it all, and why? If so, this blog is for you.
Can the Product Owner and the Scrum Master Be the Same Person?
Discover what pirates have to teach us about why the ScrumMaster and product owner require different skills, and different people.
How to Engage & Help Busy Product Owners
With many competing pulls on their time, product owners can be hard to catch during a sprint. Learn how to help harried product owners seize opportunities to inspect and adapt outside the…
Should You Become a Product Owner?
Is product owner the right role for you? Discover 4 skills product owners need, 5 popular paths to product owner, and 4 questions to ask yourself when considering the job.
What Product Owners Do & 7 Mistakes to Avoid
Learn what good product owners do to avoid 7 common product owner mistakes.
Be a Great Product Owner: Six Things Teams and Scrum Masters Need
Learn six ways effective product owners ensure their teams’ success.
Non-functional Requirements as User Stories
When writing user stories, how should agile teams handle non-functional requirements—desired product attributes or characteristics? Get the answers you need in this blog post from Mike Cohn.
sprints
Why Sustainable Pace Is So Important to Agile Teams
It isn’t just people who benefit when teams work at a sustainable pace. Overall velocity is higher and defect counts are lower. Find out why.
How Implementation Intentions Help My Sprints
Planning an exact time to do something within a sprint helps make sure you get the important stuff done.
The Goal of Sprint Planning
Sprint planning may look like it’s about tasks and estimates but those are not the goal.
user stories
Five Story-Splitting Mistakes and How to Stop Making Them
There are plenty of mistakes a team can make when splitting user stories. Here are five of the most common.
User Stories: How to Create Story Maps
Story maps help to create a shared understanding of the product, visualize user needs, and elicit user story ideas. Discover how to create your own.
SPIDR: Five Simple but Powerful Ways to Split User Stories
Splitting user stories is hard. Here are the only five techniques you need to be able to slice any user story into small, manageable chunks of work.
Short Answers to Your Big Questions about User Stories
Is your team a bit confused about user stories? Get answers to common questions about acceptance criteria, so-that clauses, and user stories vs requirements.
User Story Template: What It Is and Why It Works So Well
The standard “As a...I...so that…” user story template is a way of expressing product backlog items. Learn what the three-part user story format is, more about the questions it…
How to Run a Successful User Story Writing Workshop
What you need to know to conduct a story-writing workshop with your team.
Non-functional Requirements as User Stories
When writing user stories, how should agile teams handle non-functional requirements—desired product attributes or characteristics? Get the answers you need in this blog post from Mike Cohn.
Recent Posts
Iterative vs. Incremental Development: Why Agile Teams Need Both
Discover the difference between iterative and incremental, and how agile frameworks combine them for maximum effect.
The Five Pillars of a Successful Agile Transformation
Discover the secret to a successful agile transformation and learn what to try if your organization is struggling.
Email Tips from Mike Cohn
a.k.a. join more than 55,000 of our closest friends.
Self-Organizing Teams, their Benefits, and a Leader’s Role
Explore self-managing teams, including the role of leaders and outcomes of effective teamwork.
Getting Better Estimates Is Easier Than You Think
Is your team hesitant to estimate? Here's the secret: we're not as bad (or as good!) at estimates as we think. Learn why.
Four Common Scrum Master Mistakes–and How to Fix Them
Avoid these 4 pitfalls—like dodging tough talks—to become a more effective Scrum Master.
Minimize Spillover in Agile: Break the Habit of Unfinished Work
When too many sprints end with unfinished stories, it’s time to take action. Here’s how.
Discover Advanced Certified ScrumMaster Training
Find out why you should take your Advanced Certified ScrumMaster® class (A-CSM) with Mountain Goat Software.
Retrospectives Broken? Fix Them for Good
Learn how to fix your broken retrospective meetings, whether you need a team reset or specific repair advice.
Take our Retrospectives Slot Machine for a Spin
Tired of the retrospective grind? Make it easier with the CRAP machine. Caution: results vary.
Five Story-Splitting Mistakes and How to Stop Making Them
There are plenty of mistakes a team can make when splitting user stories. Here are five of the most common.
Plan Visualizer Tool: Agile Forecasting for Accurate Plans
Show stakeholders how much the team can accomplish, by when, with the MGS Essentials Plan Visualizer.