Remote Forever with Molood Ceccarelli

While most of us have spent the past several months struggling to adjust to the new normal of being 100% remote, Molood Ceccarelli has not. In 2016, Molood realized that even though Agile coaches and thought leaders frequently talk about how important it is for all of us to be co-located, most of her work was remote and she’d been able to figure out how to work with agile teams. This realization inspired her to start Remote Forever and refocus her efforts 100% on helping people get better at working remotely.

In this episode of the podcast, Molood and I discuss some of the key things she has learned in developing her ability to work remotely, how she runs experiments to continue improving at working this way and how she stays inspired with the work she does. We also discuss the upcoming 2020 Remote Forever Summit. The Summit will take place from November 11-17, 2020. The summit is 100% online. Last year they had 10,000 attendees and you can attend this year for free!

Click here to check out my interview with Molood.

You can learn more about the 2020 Remote Forever Summit and register to attend here: https://remoteforeversummit.com/

Johanna Rothman vs. The Pandemic

 Johanna Rothman is one of the most inspiring people I know. Usually she writes a book a year, but with the pandemic and all the chaos that has thrown into the mix, this year she wrote five.

In this interview on ProjectManagement.com, Johanna and I discuss her new books and catch up on a wide range of topics including staying productive and inspired, leading and empowering people, how being distributed has changed under Covid-19, not losing your *** during the pandemic, and what it might mean for the working world if decide we don't actually need all those office buildings anymore.

You can find the interview and links to all her new books here.

Business Planning for Agile AND Traditional Time Horizons with Ross Beurmann

 In this interview with Ross Beurmann we dig into the topic of how to handle business planning when you've got both traditional (waterfall) and Agile work happening concurrently within the organization. 

Here is the interview -> Business Planning for Agile AND Traditional Time Horizons with Ross Beurmann

You can also hear an update on how Ross's son Tom is doing with his effort to enact lasting social change within his local government. If you missed that interview, you can find that one here.

Making Your Non-Agile Experience Count w/ Merchi Reyes

Q: How do I get a job as a Project Manager, Product Owner, or ScrumMaster if I have no experience?

or more specifically....

Q: How do you go from Event Promoter to DJay to Tree Services worker to working at a consulting agency as a ScrumMaster/Product Owner?

Answer... listen to this fascinating interview with Merchi Reyes to find out.

When they ask you to be ScrumMaster AND Product Owner...

In every class I teach, there are people who tasked with being ScrumMaster AND Product Owner at the same time for one team working on one product. 

I have very strong feelings about this, and realizing that my responses to this situation are maybe not so flexible and not practical for everyone, I reached out on the Agile Uprising Discord channel if there were people who had succeeded in being SM and PO at the same time, AND if they would be willing to join me for a podcast and share some of their experiences around making the SM/PO gig work. 

This episode of the podcast features Andrew Leff, Chris Murman, and Mike Caddell. Over the course of the interview, we discuss the reasons why trying to be SM and PO at the same time is not advised, ways they found to survive it, and it some cases, actually make it work well.

You can find the podcast here.

Managing Up with Dhaval Panchal

Two similar common situations raised by students in class...

How can you be Product Owner when your boss keeps trying to do your job for you? How can you be ScrumMaster when the owner of the company keeps storming in demanding mid-sprint changes, additions, etc. And how do you manage the people who are higher up in the food chain than you are?

EvolveAgility Founder, Dhaval Panchal, joined me for a podcast to discuss these situations, how tricky they can be to navigate, and how you can "coach" your managers to behave in a way that helps, not hinders, your team's ability to deliver.

The podcast is here.

What To Do When They Want To Know Cost Per Point w Troy Lightfoot

I had a student recently who was being asked to provide information cost per User Story Point. In this interview with Troy Lightfoot we discuss different strategies you might employ when responding to this request and why management asking for this is such a troubling sign. 

You can find the interview here. 

When Sprint Planning Is Like Hunger Games with Meghan McInerny

“What advice do you have on structuring sprint planning meetings in an agency setting with different product owners and project teams (when each PM is 'competing' for the same development resources)?" 

That is the question I got during the Q&A portion of a webinar I did recently for The Bureau of Digital on how to make Sprint Planning work better.

In this episode of the podcast I am joined by  Meghan McInerny. We talk though the issues, risks, and opportunities that come with a “Hunger Games” approach to Sprint Planning and offer some advice on how to cope with and/or resolve the problem defined in the question above. 

You can find the interview with Meghan here (on the ProjectManagement.com site).

Side Note: The webinar I did for the Bureau of Digital focused on the new version of my Sprint Capacity Calculator and how to get the most out of Sprint Planning. These webinars are normally available in a recorded format only to members of the Bureau, but they are very kind and have made this one public in case you’d like to check it out after listening to the podcast. You'll find it here.

Practicing Agile at Home with Yvonne Marcus

Yvonne Marcus is on a mission to create positive home management solutions for every family and she’s using Agile to do it. In this episode of the Reluctant Agilist, Yvonne and I discuss how and why she began an Agile transformation at home, how it has impacted life for her and her family, and how you can get started bringing Agile practices into your home and personal life. 

You can find the podcast here, along with links to her podcast that focuses on her work to bring Agile into people's homes. 

Using Outcome Based Planning at Home to Effect Social Change

In this episode of the Reluctant Agilist, you’ll hear the story of how a father helped his son use outcome-based planning to define his personal response to what happened to George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter events that followed. 

Ross Beurmann is a seasoned Agile coach (and a co-worker of mine). His son Tom just graduated from high school. When Tom learned about what happened to George Floyd, he felt a need to respond. Attending a local march was definitely an option, but Ross brought some of his coaching experience to bear in the conversation. By working together to define the results his son was looking for and exploring ways to achieve that outcome, Ross and Tom were able to define a plan of action that has impacted local officials, law enforcement, and increased local interest and awareness. This set the stage for Tom to move forward with his efforts to establish lasting local change that will have a positive impact now and into the future.

You can find the interview here.