One of the most common problems teams face is starting more work than they complete. Neglected WIP is the gap between all the work you say you are working on and the stuff you are doing. The natural vagaries of office life can cause an item to get stuck due to someone being out sick or because your co-worker hit the lottery – stuff happens. A little might be ok, but more is bad. When neglected WIP passes that hurdle, real flow time will increase and velocity will slow. The combination of getting less work done and taking longer at it is a prescription for your stakeholders to start looking for torches and pitchforks.
We also have a visit from Jeremy Berriault who brings his QA Corner to the podcast. In this installment, we discussed the QA Lead’s role in agile teams. So just what does a QA Lead do in an agile team . . . Jeremy has some ideas.
Re-read Saturday News
I am going to combine the conversation of Chapters 12 and 13 of Coaching Agile Teams this week because there is a common core in these two chapters. Chapter 12, When Will I Get There?, discusses when will you know that you have become an Agile Coach, and Chapter 13, It’s Your Journey, discusses the journey several coaches have taken to get there. Chapter 12 plots the journey and Chapter 13 provides several travelogues.
Remember to buy a copy of Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins (SPaMCAST Amazon affiliate line https://amzn.to/38G0ZD3) and read along!
Logistics Note: Next week we will wrap up Coaching Agile Teams and then on to Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching: The Journey from Beginner to Mastery and Beyond (Amazon Associate Link – buy your copy soon and start reading). Buy a copy now and start reading.
Previous Installments
Week 1: Logistics and Introduction – https://bit.ly/3A1aNTe
Week 2: Will I Be A Good Coach – https://bit.ly/3nzDAHg
Week 3: Expect High Performance – https://bit.ly/3Rl4fFf
Week 4: Master Yourself – https://bit.ly/3zL8t2n
Week 5: Let Your Style Change – https://bit.ly/3Q8zHWa
Week 6: Coach as Coach-Mentor – https://bit.ly/3QLcSIi
Week 7: Coach as Facilitator – https://bit.ly/3AaP5KY
Week 8: Coach As Teacher – https://bit.ly/3AURGdL
Week 9: Coach As Problem Solver – https://bit.ly/3C06Gr7
Week 10: Coach As Conflict Navigator – https://bit.ly/3R6tmuc
Week 11: Coach As Collaboration Conductor – https://bit.ly/3fXoHOs
Week 12: Agile Coach Failure, Recovery, and Success Modes – https://bit.ly/3T0FluQ
Week 13: When Will I Get There? and It’s Your Journey – https://bit.ly/3MAe00v
A quick advertisement:
Controlling work entry requires preparation and knowledge building to establish a path to control work entry (magic wands are normally not available), which is why Jeremy Willets and I have developed a work entry workshop. We recently delivered the workshop at the 2022 Path to Agility in Columbus, OH to rave reviews. Interested? Email us at tcagley@tomcagley.com or willetsjm@gmail.com
Next SPaMCAST
In SPaMCAST 726 we will chat with Mr. Allan Kelly. I missed talking to Allan so we covered a wide range of topics including OKRs, Product Backlogs, and remote working. Allan brings incredible insight to the podcast.
