What is Velocity and Why Does it Matter? Velocity refers to the amount of work a development team can complete during a sprint, measured in story points per sprint. Tracking velocity over time provides insight into the team’s capacity for taking on new work. A downward velocity trend often indicates emerging problems that hinder productivity,…
The Critical Path Conundrum Visualizing dependencies is essential for effective project management in JIRA. Identifying the critical path – the sequence of dependent tasks that determines the shortest possible duration for the entire project – is key to on-time delivery. However, JIRA does not provide native tools for visually mapping out task dependencies and critical…
Understanding the Core Problem The core issue being addressed is how to effectively evaluate project management solutions in a comprehensive, holistic manner. Often, organizations take a narrow approach focused solely on features, functionality and costs when selecting PM tools and methodologies. However, this fails to account for critical cross-functional impacts and alignment with broader business…
Defining the Problem: Finding the Optimal Level of Abstraction Software requirements exist on a spectrum from high-level user needs to detailed technical specifications. On one end, user stories capture requested functionality in an agile, user-centric way. On the other, technical specs thoroughly define system behavior for implementation. Where along this spectrum of abstraction should requirements…
The Dilemma of Timeboxes Timeboxes, such as sprints in agile development, create a recurring deadline for delivering working software. On one hand, timeboxes propel the team to make regular progress. The cadence of sprints forces planning, prioritization, and production. On the other hand, time pressure can lead to rushed work and technical debt. Rigid timelines…
The Problem: Why Identifying Value and Viewpoints Matters When Decomposing Epics Decomposing epics into smaller, more manageable user stories is a critical part of agile software development. However, if not done thoughtfully with clear goals in mind, this process can lead to fragmented delivery of value to users and disjointed products that fail to meet…
Defining Relative Effort The concept of relative effort provides a framework for comparatively estimating the work required to complete tasks in software development. Unlike absolute effort measures, relative effort scoring aims to gauge the difficulty of a user story or feature in relation to other items being worked on. Using a relative scoring system allows…
The Core Problem of Missing Stakeholder Perspectives Developing software without direct input from end users leads to products that fail to address user needs. Lacking perspectives from target demographics creates gaps in understanding that manifest in frustrating user experiences. Surfacing pain points requires engagement with stakeholders. When end user access is constrained, developers miss qualitative…
The Problem of Outdated Documentation Documentation that accurately reflects the current state of a product or process is critical for users to be productive. However, keeping documentation updated is an arduous task that often gets neglected, leading to outdated and misleading information. There are several reasons documentation easily becomes outdated: Frequent product changes and new…
Scrum’s Shortcomings for Internal Projects Scrum is an agile framework designed to deliver working software frequently through incremental sprints. It relies heavily on active customer engagement to continuously prioritize features that deliver the most value. However, for internal initiatives that don’t have an external customer to provide feedback, Scrum can encounter challenges such as: Lack…
