Good Podcast on Teamwork and Adapting to Change

I really enjoyed this podcast from This American Life

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi

Funny! This was from yesterday (April Fools Day)

http://www.devagile.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=601

Be sure to follow the links, too...

Scrum Tools

We're checking out Jazz/RTC from IBM Rational Software right now as a possible solution for our team. We already use clearQuest, so RTC is a natural next step. It's very cool!

Agile North Florida

We're starting a new user group in Tallahassee for people who are interested in learning more and sharing ideas about agile software development practices. Check out the website at:

http://sites.google.com/site/agilenorthflorida/

4 Scrum Masters

My team now has 4 Certified Scrum Masters. The process we have implemented is very scrum-like, but also incorporates other agile and non-agile practices. It helps for people to get certified for the roles they perform. If certification is available, and if it is monetarily feasible, I would highly recommend it. Certification not only helps the people to feel more empowered to perform in their roles, but it also provides the team with with trained people to help steer the course and champion the ideals regardless of approach. Now, if I can only find a way to get our customers certified as Product owners!

http://www.scrumalliance.org/scrum_certification

Florida's Budget Woes

It's a rough time for the US Economy. Duh. Who doesn't know that.

It's been rough for State Government in Florida this year, too.

Training $ have been hard to come by this year. They're never really easy to come by, but this year is especially bad.

Shifting the team from a disciplined approach to an agile approach would certainly be easier if there was money in the budget for ongoing mentoring and training. Hopefully, things will improve next fiscal year!

In the mean time, we learn by doing!

Balance

Successful software projects require a balance of discipline and agility.