5 posts tagged with "agile"

Capacity margins are a fundamental aspect of successful Agile implementations, particularly within the context of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe^®). In essence, capacity margins refer to the intentional allocation of surplus resources and time beyond the estimated requirements for Agile projects. As Agile methodologies gain prominence in modern software development, capacity margins serve as a safety net, allowing teams to effectively handle unforeseen challenges, fluctuations in workload, and uncertainties that are inherent in complex development endeavors. By maintaining capacity margins, Agile teams can avoid the risk of overloading their resources, prevent potential bottlenecks, and retain the agility necessary to adapt to changing requirements or market demands.

After spending a year building a software & systems architecture platform, I learned several things. First, no one does architecture the same way. In fact, the feedback we got about what different teams want out of an "architecture" tool was so wildly different that it was the primary reason we stopped pursuing that project.

Second, some teams value data-driven architecture (i.e. more formal architecture models that support things like code generation or system analysis) while others value not having prescribed structure and syntax. But every team values ease of use. One of the top pain points we identified among all of teams we talked to was that thorough architecture wasn't easy enough.

As a result, most teams use informal approaches to define architecture. Informal "boxes and lines" diagrams are used by every team even when formal architecture artifacts such as models are expected.

This article is published as a complement to my article on Agile Architecture. It details our approach to agile architecture at Triple Dot Engineering including some specific tools and processes.

With the adoption of new techniques comes the inevitable and inadvertent introduction of bad habits. Agile transformation is no exception. The countless frameworks, certifications, and literature (including articles like this one) describe a wide landscape with varying practices and differing opinions. This lack of clarity makes it hard for teams without practical experience to adopt Agile methods effectively and easy to misinterpret best practices. In this article, I describe some of the most common Agile misconceptions, why they are harmful to teams, and what you can do to recognize and fix them.

This post provides a step-by-step guide to creating a company-managed Scrum project in Jira. Jira supports multiple project types. I'll briefly discuss the differences between Scrum and Kanban and why you might select a particular project template.