THE AGILITYFEAT BLOG
At AgilityFeat, we are more than just designers and coders. We are also thought leaders. Our team has spoken at conferences around the US, Europe, and Latin America. We were early leaders in applying agile methodologies to nearshore software development in Latin America. We shared these lessons in this blog through 2015. These days, we blog mainly about our other passion, WebRTC. Find us at https://webrtc.ventures/blog/.
Improve your business relationships in 2011
I've heard other Agile Coaches say that leading a team through any change is as much about coaching them on their personal interactions as it is training them on the mechanics of Agile methodologies. I was reminded of that insight when I...
How Agile prevents the Chopping Block Paradox
That Sinking Feeling When a project starts to go wrong, you know it well before you admit it to yourself or your customer. You know that feeling when you start to realize you don't have enough budget, time, or the scope is unachievable?...
Fixed Price Agile – Oil and Water?
Have you ever heard that oil and water don’t mix? It’s pretty common knowledge that oil will float on top of water and the substances will not mix together. This simple chemistry is easy to demonstrate, and most of us learned it in...
Do’s and Don’ts of tracking hours on an Agile project
If you are a consultant, even on an Agile team, you probably have to track your hours. I used to hate tracking my hours - and I've seen first hand how it can demoralize people. I once worked at a company where they decided to build an...
Webinar: Don’t Lose Your Shirt in 2011!
Over the last year or so, I've been considering all the various lessons that I've learned throughout my IT career, and in particular during the last few years as I've really embraced Agile methodologies. I realized that there is a...
4 tips to ensure cross training on Agile teams
You may have heard it said that the best Agile teams are cross-functional in nature. That means that each person on the team is capable of working in multiple functional silos (database, service layer, presentation layer, testing, etc). A...
The Value of Coaching
If I could promise you returns of 6:1 on a project in a single year, would you take it? That is a pretty impressive return for a project, and most businesses would be happy to run a project that will yield that sort of return....
Welcome to AgilityFeat!
I'm pleased to announce the official launch of AgilityFeat Inc. I've started this business so that I can apply my years of experience as an IT leader, entrepreneur, developer to coach your team to deliver more value to your customers. I...
Agile2010: From Change to Planning to just being truly Present
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. A couple weeks ago I went to the Agile2010 conference in Orlando, and it was a really great experience. I really enjoyed giving my talk on...
Software Estimation: Using Range Estimates in Scrum
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Recently I wrote a blog post on why software developers are typically so bad at estimation. I also gave a preview of the presentation that I...
Software Estimation: You are not as good as you think
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. I know it's a bit harsh to insult you in the title of this post, but the odds are, you really stink at estimation. Even if you know you're bad...
Failing Fast and Bad Stand ups
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Recently I had a chance to speak about Agile with experienced IT professionals from the 2011 class of the UVa McIntire School of Commerce's MS...
Virtualizing Development Environments
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Agile teams should be based on talented development staff with multi disclipinary skill sets. This allows team members to easily trade tasks...
Avoiding heroes
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Everybody loves employees and consultants who can get stuff done. Especially if you've made a commitment to a client or your boss, it can be...
Software Estimation: The Cone of Uncertainty vs The Wormhole of Reality
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Earlier this year in my MSMIT classes at UVa, we talked about software estimation techniques, which was a very interesting topic. One thing we...
12 Strategies for Selling a Traditional Client on an Agile Project Plan
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Why do we need to sell Agile? For those of us who know and love Agile, the benefits of Agile seem obvious. It can be frustrating when someone...
Have you ever written an RFP the Agile way?
Note: This blog post was originally written when I was a consultant for OpenSource Connections. Scott Ambler wrote a very interesting article for Dr Dobbs Journal recently entitled "RFPs the Agile Way -- or -- Fear and Loathing in the...