Let teams experience flow and dependencies and improve collaboration through an Agile Game — What we set out to do In January 2021, our product and engineering organization underwent a major reorganization, in which all product and engineering teams from three different entities were combined. This restructuring led to changes in the purpose, composition, and working methods of the teams. 10 months into the reorg, we (thanks to Matthew Croker!)…

It is called the “Organizational Laboratory”. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from the experience. — Have you ever paid for something after which you felt that you were part of a social experiment? I did. …

What We’re Looking For There are sooo many stories, case studies and experiences out there on how it feels to work in an organization every day. We want to hear them! We want to learn from them! This is the first publication that focuses on organizational practices. …

The only structure and purpose you have? That the organization should be capable of making decisions. — It’s the last Sunday in May 2022. It’s cold and rainy in a small village near Klagenfurt, Austria. About 100 people sit in a large circle inside a hotel that has seen better days in the 70s and 80s. …

What do we know about having contractors on product & engineering teams? What differences exist between permanent employees and contractors while working on the same team? I was asking myself these questions when I started to work at a company that employed teams that were mainly comprised of contractors. …

Agile is based on empirical process control theory. But what does the research say about the effectiveness of Retrospectives? — With the rise of agile, Retrospectives have become very common. I am an Agile Coach who has conducted hundreds of Retrospectives and I have wondered: Are Retrospectives (and how they are conducted by most of us in reality) actually fulfilling their promise? Now, I don’t want to get all “research…

When companies decide to “become agile” they usually don’t have another important question on their agenda. — Do you want to have a strong product organization? After reading “Inspired” by Marty Cagan I have had this eye-opener: if you really want agile to fulfill its potential, you need to put a focus on a strong product organization, too. …

Community of Practices (CoPs) or Guilds start out with a lot of energy. You plan a kick-off and more people show up than you had thought. Everything is promising and everybody wants to be part of what you are starting. We also started an Agile Guild in our organization in…

I Had 9 Teams. 5 Principles & 15 🛠 Means That Helped Me To Avoid Burnout — When I meet other Scrum Masters or Agile Coaches and tell them during our conversation that I was responsible for 9 teams in a Product & Tech organization, they normally react with raised eyebrows and ask: “What??” “How?” Yes, how indeed? The company didn’t have Scrum Masters in the teams…