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Software Development: Accelerating Delivery Through Agile and DevOps Practices

Systematic approaches and practices for delivering high-quality software solutions through iterative development, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Techniques and methodologies for high-quality software engineering.

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https://nkdagility.com/resources/software-development/

Overview

Software Development encompasses the techniques and methodologies employed to engineer high-quality software solutions that meet user needs and business objectives. It is a systematic approach that integrates various practices, including Agile, Lean, and DevOps, to enhance collaboration, efficiency, and adaptability within teams. This concept is crucial as it enables organisations to deliver value predictably and sustainably, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and responsiveness to change.

By focusing on iterative development, teams can quickly adapt to feedback and evolving requirements, ensuring that the software remains relevant and effective. The emphasis on automation, testing, and integration within Software Development practices reduces the risk of defects and accelerates delivery cycles, allowing for frequent releases that enhance customer satisfaction. Moreover, it promotes a holistic view of the software lifecycle, encouraging cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing among team members.

This long-term, systemic approach not only improves the quality of the software produced but also cultivates an environment where innovation thrives, enabling organisations to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market. The integration of evidence-based management principles further supports informed decision-making, ensuring that teams can navigate complexity and uncertainty effectively. By prioritising these practices, organisations can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage through enhanced software development capabilities that align with their strategic goals and customer expectations.

Learn More about Software Development

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Most teams don’t fail because they lack frameworks

Teams struggle not from lacking frameworks, but from ignoring feedback. Success depends on acting on signals, fostering safety, and empowering real change.
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Too much refinement wastes time

Balancing backlog refinement prevents wasted effort and chaos. Aim for just enough detail so developers can plan sprints confidently without over-preparing or guessing.
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Challenging Misconceptions About Behaviour in Agile Teams

Explores common misconceptions about Agile teams, clarifying that true agility demands discipline, planning, and professionalism—not chaos or lack of accountability.
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“Teams are self-managing

Explains how self-managing teams in Scrum need structure and leadership, clarifying the Scrum Master’s role in maintaining clarity, alignment, and effective self-management.
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Everyone loves the idea of self-managing teams

Explains how self-managing teams thrive with autonomy balanced by structure, highlighting the need for clear goals, accountability, and alignment within frameworks like Scrum.
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Scrum is not a process it is a social technology designed to expose dysfunction

Explains how Scrum reveals team dysfunctions by clarifying roles and accountability, highlighting its purpose to expose issues that hinder value delivery and improvement.
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Why Teams Claim Self-Management to Avoid Alignment Discussions

Explores how teams misuse self-management to dodge alignment, clarifying that true autonomy requires accountability, shared goals, and adherence to frameworks like Scrum.
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Empowering Product Owners as Strategic Leaders in Scrum Teams

Explores how Product Owners can drive strategy, maximise value, and lead Scrum teams effectively, highlighting the need for empowerment beyond basic backlog management.
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Agile and Scrum are often misunderstood

Agile and Scrum expose underlying team and workflow issues, helping organisations address real problems rather than masking dysfunction with process or tools.
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Mastering Site Reliability: Insights from Azure DevOps on Building a Resilient Live Site Culture

Explore proven strategies from Azure DevOps for building resilient, reliable software systems—covering transparency, automation, telemetry, incident response, and team culture.
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Great Scrum Masters Need Technical, Business, and Organisational Mastery

Scrum Masters are most effective when they combine leadership skills with technical, business, and organisational mastery to support teams, Product Owners, and change.
Videos

The Crucible of Learning: Transforming Organizational Effectiveness Through DevOps

Explores how DevOps transformation, refactoring, and ownership reduce technical debt, streamline development, and boost efficiency, team satisfaction, and business value.
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Professional Scrum teams build software that works

Professional Scrum Teams prioritise software quality, accountability, and continuous improvement, ensuring each release is reliable, defect-free, and delivers real value.
Blog

The Role of Agency in Scrum: Why Self-Management Without Agency is a Lie

Explains why true Scrum requires real team agency, not just self-management in name, and how lacking agency leads to ineffective, ritualistic Agile practices.
Videos

Navigating Technical Debt: How to Transform Challenges into Opportunities for Quality and Efficiency

Explains how managing technical debt and distinguishing it from poor quality can boost product efficiency, reduce costs, and support sustainable software development.
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Mastering Technical Debt: Strategies to Transform Challenges into Opportunities for Your Development Team

Explains technical debt in software development, its impact on teams, and practical strategies to identify, manage, and reduce it for long-term productivity and code quality.
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NKD Agility: Your partner in developing engineering excellence

Learn how NKD Agility supports organisations in building engineering excellence through modern practices like performance engineering, testing in production, and leadership.
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Technical Debt Management for Long-Term Quality

Explains how managing and repaying technical debt improves software quality, delivery speed, and long-term value by addressing both known and unknown code issues.
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Avoid the pick-n-mix branching anti-pattern

Explains the risks of the pick-n-mix branching anti-pattern in source control, its impact on code quality, and recommends feature branching and toggles for stability.
Videos

Navigating the Unpredictability of Software Development: Embrace Agile for Success

Explores how Agile principles, technical leadership, and engineering excellence help teams manage unpredictability, adapt to change, and deliver quality software projects.
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Maximising Deployment Frequency: The Key to Faster Time to Market and Business Success

Explores how increasing deployment frequency, stable environments, and fast feedback loops improve software delivery, reduce time to market, and align with business goals.
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The Hidden Costs of Poor Quality Code—and How to Turn It Into a Superpower

Explores the financial, productivity, and reputational impacts of poor-quality code, and offers practical steps to turn code quality into a competitive advantage.
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Getting started with a modern source control system and DevOps

Learn key practices for adopting modern source control and DevOps, including automation, release pipelines, and team collaboration to improve software delivery quality.
Blog

The Insufficiency of Scrum is a fallacy

Scrum alone does not cause project failure; lacking strong engineering practices and effective retrospectives leads to technical debt and poor Agile outcomes.
Blog

The Sprint is a container for Planning and not necessarily for Delivery

Explains how Scrum Sprints are primarily for planning, not fixed delivery, and discusses aligning delivery schedules, continuous deployment, and improving software quality.
Videos

The Problem with Incompetent Scrum Masters: Why Lack of Skills in Team Context Results in Poor ROI

Incompetent Scrum Masters reduce team performance and ROI by lacking key skills. Learn how to measure their impact using innovation, usage, and delivery metrics.
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The Crucial Role of Competence: How Knowledgeable Scrum Masters Drive Team Success

Scrum Masters with deep knowledge and competence enable teams to deliver better products, drive business outcomes, and foster real improvement in software development.
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Where Agile Went Wrong: Understanding the Competence Crisis

Explores how early assumptions about competence led to Agile’s current skills gap, highlighting the need for continuous learning, better hiring, and deeper expertise in teams.
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I’ll never understand teams that manage bugs instead of fixing them

Highlights the importance of promptly fixing software bugs instead of managing backlogs, arguing that unresolved defects harm product quality and team effectiveness.
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Embrace Simplicity: How to Transform Complexity into Continuous Delivery Success

Explains how simplifying complex software and committing to change enables continuous delivery, highlighting the need for cultural shift, resilience, and ongoing improvement.
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Rethinking Continuous Delivery: Why Best Practices Don't Exist in Complex Environments

Explores why fixed best practices don’t suit complex continuous delivery, highlighting adaptive approaches like audience-based delivery, testing in production, and ongoing improvement.
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Code Reviews for Quality Assurance

Explores modern code review practices, emphasising automation, pre-reviewed code, and shift-left strategies to improve software quality, speed, and team collaboration.
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The Competence Crisis in Scrum Master Roles: A Call for Excellence

Many Scrum Masters lack essential skills and experience, leading to poor agile outcomes. True competence requires deep knowledge, practical experience, and ongoing learning.
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How important is DevOps in continuous delivery of value to customers?

Explains how DevOps and Agile work together to enable continuous delivery, rapid feedback, and customer value in software development and product delivery.
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You are doing Scrum but the Scrum Master tells the team what to do!

Explains why Scrum Masters should not direct teams, emphasising self-organisation, shared responsibility, and the importance of team autonomy in Scrum practices.
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Create your own path to Organisational Agility

Learn how to achieve organisational agility by tailoring change to your unique context, building a guiding coalition, and engaging all stakeholders in continuous improvement.
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Platform Engineering

Platform Engineering is the practice of designing, building, and maintaining internal platforms that enable developers to deliver value independently, reliably, and at pace.
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DevOps: Elevating Your Organization’s Performance Through Bespoke Solutions

Learn how tailored DevOps strategies help organisations assess current practices, streamline processes, ensure compliance, and boost software quality and delivery frequency.
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The Common Challenges of Adopting DevOps Practices

Explores key challenges in adopting DevOps, including managing evolving risks and closing feedback loops, with strategies for rapid iteration, feedback, and continuous improvement.
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Storms of Neglect The Perils of Not Delivering Usable Products in Agile Iterations

Failing to deliver a usable product each agile iteration leads to lost trust, technical debt, poor adaptability, misaligned expectations, low morale, and lack of feedback.
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Why Are a Scrum Team Better Served by an Agile Consultant than a Professional Coach?

Explains why Scrum teams benefit more from Agile consultants than professional coaches, focusing on the need for technical guidance, mentoring, and practical expertise.
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Big Scrum: All you need and not enough

Explores how to scale Scrum effectively by applying agile values, fostering professional teams, and adapting processes to fit unique organisational needs for large-scale agility.
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Embracing Automation: The Key to Transforming Your Development Process and Boosting Confidence

Explores how automation in testing, deployment, and validation streamlines development, reduces technical debt, and builds confidence for teams and customers alike.
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Unlocking Code Quality: The Transformative Power of Frequent Deployments

Explores how frequent code deployments improve code quality, reduce technical debt, enable faster feedback, and support iterative, user-focused software development.
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Evidence-Based Management: The Four Key Value Areas in Scrum

Explains Scrum’s four key value areas—current value, unrealised value, ability to innovate, and time to market—for data-driven product and organisational improvement.
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From Chaos to Clarity: My Journey Through DevOps and the Three Key Challenges to Overcome

Explores a developer’s transition to DevOps, highlighting key challenges: cultural change, toolchain automation, and continuous learning for effective software delivery.
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Metrics that matter with evidence-based management

Explains how evidence-based management uses reliable metrics and KPIs at team and organisational levels to drive better decisions, value delivery, and process improvement.
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Quality enablement to achieve predictable delivery

Explains how defining quality standards, acceptance criteria, and automation in software delivery leads to predictable outcomes, fewer bugs, and improved team performance.
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Every unreleased feature is a cost

Unreleased features create hidden costs and risks. Regular software delivery reduces failure rates, rework, and missed opportunities, ensuring real value is delivered.
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Big Scrum: Are you doing mechanical Scrum

Explores the difference between mechanical and Professional Scrum, highlighting the importance of values, principles, and technical excellence for effective Agile teams.
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Pragmatism crushes Dogma in the wild

Explores how practical use of Scrum fosters adaptability and resilience in teams, highlighting the value of flexibility over rigid rules in complex product development.
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Special Sprints: Agile Banditry or Risk Management?

Explores why special sprints like Sprint Zero or hardening sprints undermine Agile by delaying work, increasing risk, and reducing continuous delivery of usable products.
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Mastering Agile: 3 Essential Strategies to Boost Your Team's Sprint Success

Learn three key Agile strategies: define clear completion criteria, avoid overcommitting in Sprints, and prioritise backlog refinement for better team productivity.
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Deciphering the Enigma of Story Points Across Teams

Explains why Story Points are subjective and unsuitable for comparing teams, and highlights objective metrics like throughput and value for measuring and improving team performance.
Videos

Can you align DevOps and Software Engineering Teams Through Scrum?

Explores how Scrum can align DevOps and software engineering teams by fostering transparency, feedback, and engineering excellence in Agile software development.
Blog

Constructing a framework for the TFS Automation Platform

Outlines the structure and components of a framework for the TFS Automation Platform, detailing its architecture, plugin management, and development approach.
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Guidance - Branching for each Sprint

Explains how using a separate version control branch for each sprint in Scrum improves code stability, release management, and team collaboration over using labels.
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Scrum Masters and Product Owners are held accountable for results

Explores the gap between accountability and authority for Scrum Masters and Product Owners, highlighting the need to empower roles responsible for team outcomes.
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Empowering Teams to Maximize Value and Return on Investment

Explores how empowering Agile teams to adapt their processes boosts flexibility, continuous improvement, collaboration, and maximises value and return on investment.
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Release Management with Team Foundation Server 2012

Explains how to automate and streamline software release management using Team Foundation Server 2012, Lab Management, and Octopus, focusing on build, deployment, and quality.
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You can not implement Agile or Scrum successfully by decree

Mandating Agile or Scrum fails without cultural change; true agility requires trust, transparency, and a supportive environment, not just tools or processes.
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How Much of An Impact can Scrum Have in a DevOps Environment?

Explores how integrating Scrum with DevOps boosts software delivery by improving collaboration, automation, speed, and product quality in modern development teams.
Videos

Security by Design Building Secure Software

Explains how integrating security and quality early in software development—using practices like TDD, pair programming, and continuous feedback—builds robust, reliable systems.
Videos

The Overlooked Virtue of Agility: Diligence

Explores why diligence—consistent attention to quality and standards—is vital in Agile teams, how it’s often overlooked, and practical steps to foster it for lasting success.
Videos

Unlocking Success in Agile: Why Your Definition of Done is Essential for Quality Delivery

Explains why a clear Definition of Done is vital in Agile and Scrum for quality delivery, transparency, and risk mitigation, with tips for team alignment and improvement.
Videos

Conquering Sloth in Agile: 6 Signs Your Team Might Be Stalling

Learn to spot six key signs of sloth in Agile teams, including missed deliveries, ignored feedback, rigid processes, and lack of adaptation, to improve true agility.
Videos

Mastering Evidence-Based Management for Agile Success

Learn how Evidence-Based Management uses data to guide Agile teams, improve decision-making, track value, and boost innovation, customer satisfaction, and time to market.
Blog

How Usable Working Products Are Your Ultimate Weapon Against Risks

Delivering usable, working products frequently is key to reducing risk in Agile. Focus on feedback, automation, and lean practices over excessive documentation.
Blog

Evidence-based Management: Gathering the metrics

Explains how to gather key metrics for evidence-based management in software organisations, focusing on value delivery, time to market, and ability to innovate.
Blog

The fallacy of the rejected backlog item

Explains why rejecting individual backlog items at Sprint Review is a misconception, highlighting Scrum’s focus on learning, collaboration, and delivering a complete increment.
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Can the Definition of Done change per Sprint?

The Definition of Done can evolve to improve quality but should not be weakened or vary per backlog item. Consistency ensures transparency and reliable product increments.
Blog

DOD has made it illegal to do waterfall

The US Department of Defence now requires agile, iterative software development, ending mandatory waterfall methods and influencing global government IT practices.
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Continuous value delivery with modern business applications

Explains how modern business applications use continuous delivery to release new features frequently, reduce risk, and improve customer satisfaction through rapid updates.
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Not all surprises in product development are true unknowns

Many product development surprises stem from poor backlog management, not true unknowns. Regular refinement and reflection help teams anticipate and reduce unexpected issues.
Videos

Code Reviews for Quality Assurance

Explores code review practices for quality assurance, highlighting automation, pull requests, and early defect detection to ensure high-quality, reliable software delivery.
Blog

Story Points & Velocity are a sign of an unsuccessful team

Explains why relying on story points and velocity signals team immaturity in Scrum, and highlights better ways to build confidence and predictability through transparency.
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Who broke the build?

Explains the importance of passing builds, common causes of build failures, how to identify issues and responsible users, and best practices for build ownership.
Guides

The Evidence-Based Management Guide Improving Value Delivery under Conditions of Uncertainty

Discover more about The Evidence-Based Management Guide
Videos

Detecting Agile BS: Lessons from the US Department of Defense

Learn how to spot fake Agile practices using six key questions from the US Department of Defense, and discover steps to assess and improve true Agile maturity in organisations.
Blog

I do continuous deliver, why should I Sprint?

Explains why Sprints are valuable even with continuous delivery, highlighting benefits for planning, feedback, communication, and predictability in Scrum teams.
Blog

ALM Consulting in Scotland, UK, Scandinavia & Europe

Provides ALM consulting, training, and assessments across Scotland, UK, and Europe, specialising in lean-agile, TFS, Visual Studio, Scrum, and process improvement.
Blog

Presenting Visual Studio ALM and upgrading TFS 2010 to TFS 2012 in production – Done

Covers presenting Visual Studio ALM features and the process of upgrading from TFS 2010 to TFS 2012, including benefits, challenges, and key considerations for organisations.
Blog

A change for the better #3 - SSW to Northwest Cadence

Reflects on lessons learned at SSW in software process, technology, and communication, and details a career move to an ALM consultant role at Northwest Cadence in Seattle.
Blog

There is no "do agile" there is only "be agile"

Explores the difference between adopting agile practices superficially and truly embracing agile values, highlighting the need for deep organisational change and continuous learning.
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Testing in the modern application lifecycle

Explores challenges and solutions for manual testing in agile software development, focusing on tracking, automation, actionable bugs, and integrated test management tools.
Blog

Balance of Leadership and Control in Scrum

Explores how Scrum Masters and Product Owners balance leadership, authority, and team autonomy to ensure accountability, effective self-management, and organisational alignment.
Videos

Unlocking the Future of Software Development: Why Automation is Your Key to Success

Explores how automation boosts software development by reducing errors, speeding up deployments, and ensuring consistent, high-quality releases in dynamic environments.
Blog

NDC London: Second Look, Team Foundation Server & VSO

Overview of a session at NDC London demonstrating new features in Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio Online, with end-to-end ALM demos for .NET development teams.
Videos

7 Deadly Sins of Agile: Greed

Explores how greed in Agile leads to overwork and reduced value, offering strategies for value-driven delivery, balanced sprints, team trust, and effective leadership.
Blog

Risk Mitigation: Agile Usable Products vs Documentation in Traditional Project Management

Compares Agile’s risk mitigation through incremental, usable products with traditional project management’s reliance on documentation, highlighting adaptability and validation.
Blog

My journey into Professional Scrum

Reflects on experiences with Professional Scrum, highlighting its impact on software development, team culture, training, and the challenges of scaling agile practices.
Signals

Would you hire a Junior CISO? A Junior Financial Director

Scrum Masters require proven expertise, not entry-level skills. Hiring juniors in this role risks team performance and agile success; experience is essential for effective leadership.
Videos

The Power of Kaizen: Continuous Improvement in Scrum and Beyond

Explains how Kaizen’s continuous improvement principles enhance Scrum and Agile teams, with practical tips for retrospectives, workflow optimisation, and team culture.
Blog

Professional Scrum is for everyone in your organisation

Explains how involving everyone in Professional Scrum training fosters organisational agility, breaks down silos, and empowers teams to drive meaningful change together.
Blog

Avoid the Bug as Task anti-pattern in Azure DevOps

Explains why treating bugs as tasks in Azure DevOps is an anti-pattern, its impact on transparency, quality, and planning, and offers guidance for agile teams to avoid it.
Blog

No Estimates and is it advisable for a Scrum Team to adopt it?

Explores whether Scrum Teams should adopt No Estimates, comparing estimation methods, team maturity, and metrics like cycle time, throughput, WIP, and work item ageing.
Blog

TFS for cross team and cross business line work item tracking

Explains how to use a single Team Project and Team Field in TFS to streamline cross-team work item tracking, reporting, and collaboration across business lines.
Videos

Does Your Team Truly Understand Your Product Vision and Goals?

Ensuring every team member understands and connects their daily work to the product vision and strategic goals is key to true Agile alignment, collaboration, and value delivery.
Videos

What is the hardest part of working with a brand-new scrum team?

The biggest challenge with new scrum teams is overcoming misconceptions about scrum and shifting focus from process mechanics to core agile principles and empirical learning.
Blog

Is ALM a useful term?

Explores whether Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is a useful term, its role in agile software delivery, and differences in adoption across organisations and regions.
Videos

From Developer to Agile Advocate: How My Journey Unveiled the Power of Scrum and DevOps

A personal account of moving from traditional project management to Agile, highlighting lessons learned with Scrum and DevOps to improve teamwork, processes, and culture.
Videos

How Do You Know How Long It Takes to Deliver Value?

Explains how Agile teams can measure and improve Time to Market using key metrics like lead time, cycle time, and time to fix to deliver value to customers faster.
Videos

Biggest contribution from a Product Owner that you know of

Explores how visionary Product Owners at Microsoft drove Agile transformation, shortened feedback cycles, and reshaped product development culture and industry standards.
Blog

Professional Scrum Training for the Ghana Police Service

Professional Scrum training introduced Ghana Police officers to Agile methods, using hands-on sprints to support organisational change and collaboration in policing.
Blog

Finding the problem on a partially succeeded build on Team Foundation Build Services 2010

Learn how to diagnose and resolve partially succeeded builds in Team Foundation Build Services 2010 by tracing test failures, identifying code issues, and managing bugs.
Videos

7 deadly sins of Agile: Gluttony

Explores how Agile teams can avoid overloading backlogs, Sprints, and products by focusing on prioritisation, value delivery, and lean, effective practices.
Blog

Guidance: How to layout you files for an Ideal Solution

Learn best practices for organising solution and project files in version control, including folder structure, naming conventions, and branching for maintainable code.
Videos

Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins of Agile: Transform Your Organisation for True Agility

Identifies seven common Agile pitfalls—quick fixes, backlog overload, resource focus, lack of accountability, blame, imitation, and pride—and offers practical solutions for true agility.
Blog

Are you doing Scrum? Really?

Explains recent changes to Scrum aimed at reducing rigidity, clarifying core practices, and providing a checklist to help teams assess if they are truly following Scrum.
Blog

The future of software development

Explores how software factories, web services, and specialised development teams can speed up software delivery, improve adaptability, and meet fast-changing business needs.
Videos

Why do you think the PSU course has become so popular for product development?

The PSU course bridges the gap in product development by integrating user experience and design into Scrum, enabling teams to deliver more valuable, user-focused products.
Videos

Why does Agile focus on values and principles rather than a prescribed set of steps?

Agile emphasises values and principles to guide teams through complex, uncertain work, enabling adaptation and improvement where fixed steps cannot guarantee success.
Blog

How do you incorporate a Design Sprint in Scrum?

Explains how to integrate Design Sprint activities within Scrum by embedding design and UX work into regular sprints and backlog refinement, avoiding separate design sprints.
Blog

Professional Scrum in Immingham, UK

Summary of a multi-team Professional Scrum training at DFDS Seaways in Immingham, UK, highlighting co-located learning, cross-team collaboration, and agile best practices.
Blog

Professional Scrum Foundations in Alameda, California

Covers a two-day, hands-on Scrum.org course in Alameda, teaching Scrum principles, teamwork, and practical software delivery for all roles in the development process.
Blog

What's in a burndown?

Explains burndown charts in Scrum, their purpose, common issues, and compares tracking by hours, story points, and acceptance tests to improve team progress visibility.
Blog

Professional Scrum Foundations in Salt Lake City, Utah

Covers hands-on experiences teaching the Professional Scrum Foundations course in Salt Lake City, highlighting teamwork, agile practices, and real-world Scrum challenges.
Videos

Why Embracing Automation is Essential for Reducing Human Error in Software Development

Explores how automation in software development reduces human error, improves reliability, and streamlines workflows, using real-world examples and practical insights.
Videos

Hiring an Agile Coach: What You Need to Know

Learn what to look for when hiring an Agile coach, including key qualities like teaching, mentoring, and inspiring teams to adopt Agile practices and drive transformation.
Blog

Introducing Kanban for Professional Scrum Teams

Learn how Kanban practices can be integrated into Professional Scrum teams to improve workflow, transparency, and delivery using the new Scrum.org PSK training and guide.
Videos

Hiring an Agile Coach: What to Look For in Both Technical and Leadership Engagement

Learn what qualities to seek in an Agile coach, including technical expertise, business acumen, and the ability to engage both technical teams and leadership for effective transformation.
Videos

Scrum doesn't solve problems, it reveals them. How, and why is that valuable?

Explains how Scrum exposes hidden organisational problems through transparency and feedback, enabling teams to identify issues, improve processes, and drive real change.
Videos

Redefining the Scrum Master: From Boss to Empowering Facilitator

Explains how effective Scrum Masters empower teams through facilitation, support, and coaching, moving away from authority and micromanagement to foster self-organisation.
Videos

Is a Scrum Master an Agile micromanager?

Explains why a Scrum Master should facilitate and empower agile teams, not micromanage, highlighting the importance of trust, autonomy, and effective team dynamics.
Videos

Can organisations run an Applying Professional Scrum workshop? How would that help them?

Running an Applying Professional Scrum workshop helps organisations build agile skills, improve teamwork, and adopt Scrum practices through hands-on, collaborative learning.
Blog

Hiring a Professional Scrum Master

Covers key responsibilities, skills, and requirements for hiring a Scrum Master, including leadership, coaching, facilitation, and fostering effective Scrum teams.
Videos

Navigating Agile Transformation: Empowering Teams for Success in a Rapidly Changing Landscape

Explores effective Agile transformation by empowering teams, improving collaboration, focusing on value delivery, and fostering continuous improvement in fast-changing environments.
Blog

Choosing a Process Template for your Team Project

Guidance on selecting the best process template for team projects in TFS or VSTS, highlighting why the Scrum template reduces friction for agile teams over Agile or CMMI.
Videos

Mastering Scrum: Essential Insights for New Teams from a Scrum Master's Journey

Guidance for new Scrum teams on building strong foundations, embracing empiricism, Scrum values, continuous learning, and the Scrum Master’s role in fostering team growth.
Videos

Understanding the True Role of a Scrum Master

Explains the true responsibilities of a Scrum Master, how to maximise team effectiveness, teach Scrum principles, and address organisational challenges for better outcomes.
Videos

Why Every Scrum Master Needs an Immersive Training Experience

Immersive training helps experienced Scrum Masters deepen practical skills, boost team effectiveness, and develop leadership through hands-on, real-world learning.
Videos

How to Be an Effective Agile Coach: Agnosticism in Practice

Learn how Agile coaches can empower teams by staying framework-agnostic, focusing on core principles, and enabling teams to choose and adapt practices for their needs.
Blog

The Definition of Done: Ensuring Quality without Compromising Value

Explains how to maintain clear, measurable quality standards with the Definition of Done, while avoiding confusion with acceptance criteria and preserving product value.
Videos

How does a Scrum Master or Agile coach motivate a Scrum Team?

Explains how Scrum Masters and Agile coaches boost team motivation by setting clear goals, fostering engagement, recognising achievements, and promoting continuous improvement.
Videos

Why do you trust Joanna to deliver Scrum.Org classes for NKD Agility?

Discover how Joanna’s technical expertise, clear teaching, and real-world Agile experience make her Scrum.Org classes at NKD Agility essential for mastering Scrum and Agile.
Videos

Unlocking the Power of Sprint Planning: Transform Your Agile Approach for Success

Learn how effective Sprint planning boosts Agile team performance, with practical workshops, coaching, feedback, and adaptable methods for continuous improvement.
Videos

Unlocking Team Potential: The Essential Role of a Scrum Master in Agile Success

Explains how a Scrum Master empowers Agile teams by bridging business, technical, and organisational needs to boost effectiveness, collaboration, and delivery outcomes.
Videos

Redefining the Scrum Master: From Misconceptions to Empowering Leadership

Explores common misconceptions about the Scrum Master role, highlighting the shift from tool admin to empowering leader who fosters team autonomy, growth, and self-organisation.
Videos

Is a scrum master an agile micromanager?

A Scrum Master empowers teams by facilitating, mentoring, and supporting—not micromanaging—fostering trust, collaboration, and continuous improvement in Agile environments.
Blog

How do you handle conflict in a Scrum Team?

Guidance on resolving conflict in Scrum Teams, including facilitation techniques, escalation steps, and the Scrum Master’s role in fostering healthy team dynamics.
Blog

Unit Testing against the Team Foundation Server 2012 API

Explains how to unit test applications against the Team Foundation Server 2012 API, focusing on handling authentication for automated and unattended test scenarios.
Blog

Do you know the minimum builds to create on any branch?

Explains the essential three build types—Gate, CI, and Nightly—needed per branch to ensure code quality, test coverage, and collaboration in team projects.
Blog

Solution: Testing Web Services with MSTest on Team Foundation Build Services 2010

Explains how to configure MSTest for automated testing of web services on Team Foundation Build Services 2010, including handling dynamic server ports and build environments.
Blog

Developer Day Scotland

Summary of sessions from a Glasgow developer event, covering refactoring, dynamic languages in .NET, MVVM for WPF, architecture, and ASP.NET 4.0 insights.
Blog

Does test-driven development speed up development?

Explores whether test-driven development (TDD) accelerates software delivery by reducing complexity, rework, and design flaws, and improving adaptability and productivity.
Blog

Professional Scrum Foundations coming to Glasgow, Scotland in November 2013

Professional Scrum training courses in Glasgow, Scotland, offer foundational and advanced Scrum skills for teams, Scrum Masters, and developers adopting agile practices.
Blog

Working within a single Team Project with Team Foundation Server 2012

Explains how to organise teams, products, and projects within a single Team Project in Team Foundation Server 2012, covering design, security, and workflow considerations.

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Emerson Process Management Logo

Emerson Process Management

Slaughter and May Logo

Slaughter and May

Teleplan Logo

Teleplan

Hubtel Ghana Logo

Hubtel Ghana

Ericson Logo

Ericson

Boeing Logo

Boeing

YearUp.org Logo

YearUp.org

Royal Air Force Logo

Royal Air Force

Washington Department of Enterprise Services Logo

Washington Department of Enterprise Services

Washington Department of Transport Logo

Washington Department of Transport

New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo

New Hampshire Supreme Court

Department of Work and Pensions (UK) Logo

Department of Work and Pensions (UK)

Nottingham County Council Logo

Nottingham County Council

Microsoft Logo

Microsoft

Epic Games Logo

Epic Games

Kongsberg Maritime Logo

Kongsberg Maritime

Bistech Logo

Bistech

Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company) Logo

Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company)

CR2