Software Development: Accelerating Delivery Through Agile and DevOps Practices

Learn how to define, craft, and achieve effective Sprint Goals in Scrum, using frameworks like SMART and OKR to align teams, deliver value, and …

A clear summary of Scrum’s framework, roles, events, artefacts, and values, explaining how teams use Scrum to deliver value and adapt to complex …

Sprint planning is a collaborative session where teams define and align on goals, tasks, and priorities for the next sprint, ensuring clarity and …

Explains Scrum’s core values, roles, artifacts, and events, highlighting how they support teamwork, transparency, and adaptability in managing complex …

Explains the Nexus framework for scaling Scrum with multiple teams, detailing roles, events, and artefacts to coordinate product delivery and manage …

Step-by-step guide for running a Sprint Review, including presenting the increment, gathering feedback, updating the backlog, forecasting, and …

Step-by-step guide to effective Sprint Planning in Scrum, covering goal setting, backlog selection, team capacity, actionable plans, and clear …

Explains how Scrum Teams can use Kanban practices to optimise workflow, track flow metrics, and enhance transparency, efficiency, and continuous …

Explains how empirical Agile models improve project outcomes by increasing visibility, enabling change, reducing risk, and delivering value …

Scrum Teams uphold, not lower, quality by strictly following and evolving the Definition of Done, ensuring predictable releases and reducing technical …

Scrum Teams must consistently meet a clear, non-negotiable Definition of Done to ensure quality, manage risk, and prevent technical debt in every …

Technical debt includes slow feedback, fragile systems, and manual processes that hinder progress. Addressing it early with automation and testing …

One Engineering System (1ES) is a strategic standardised, integrated framework designed to streamline software development by unifying tools, …

Explains how true quality improvement needs both tools and a culture of safety, using Toyota’s andon cord as a lesson for Agile and Scrum adoption in …

Balancing risk and speed when getting software into production.

Explains why environment-based branching slows development, and recommends using feature flags and progressive rollouts for simpler, faster, and safer …

Explains how slow product release cycles delay feature delivery, risk losing relevance, and create competitive disadvantages, highlighting the …

Ensuring backlog items meet a clear, actionable standard before sprint planning.

Frequent software releases reduce risk, enable faster feedback, and help teams adapt to user needs, preventing costly mistakes and improving overall …

Learn why simple branching strategies like GitHub Flow and Release Flow help teams deliver faster, reduce risk, and avoid the pitfalls of complex …

Throughput is a delivery metric used to inspect how much work is completed per unit of time, enabling analysis of flow efficiency and system …

Approaches to planning incremental and iterative software releases.

Explores how fear hinders true agility in teams, emphasising the need to foster courage and trust for effective Agile, Scrum, and DevOps practices and …

Explains the Scrum Master's role in ensuring team delivery by fostering agility, removing blockers, and being accountable for improving team …

Explores why team autonomy in Scrum must be balanced with alignment to strategic goals, highlighting the role of clear objectives and leadership in …

Explore and compare Agile frameworks. Understand their principles, applications, and impact on organisational agility and value delivery.

Master estimation in Agile and Scrum. Improve forecasting, manage uncertainty, and align expectations using empirical data and collaborative …

Scrum Masters need authority to remove obstacles and drive project success. Without empowerment, they can't fulfil their role or be held accountable …

A critical lens on attempts to combine project management with agile delivery approaches.

Achieving excellence in software craftsmanship, architecture, and engineering practices.

Tracking individual cycle time can harm team performance by encouraging task cherry-picking, reduced collaboration, and lower quality, without …

Measuring individual cycle time overlooks team performance and system bottlenecks. Focus on lead time, throughput, and process efficiency to improve …

The Agile ideal: teams with all the skills needed to deliver end-to-end value.

Agnostic Agile is a movement that promotes ethical, context-driven agility by prioritising principles over rigid frameworks. Championed by thought …

Join our immersive APS-SD course to master Scrum for software development. Gain hands-on experience and earn your PSD I certification!

Explores Scrum Team effectiveness, emphasising that consistent delivery is essential and highlighting the Scrum Master's accountability for enabling …

Master Agile Planning to balance flexibility with predictability. Align teams, optimise delivery, and drive value continuously.

UX is integrated into Scrum, not handled separately. Design and validation happen within Sprints and backlog refinement, supporting continuous, …

Technical debt limits business agility, slows engineering, and hinders innovation. Managing it with automation and transparency is key to staying …

Rollback is often riskier than rolling forward, especially for stateful apps. Safer deployment relies on progressive delivery and fail-forward …

Explains how Windows OS updates shifted from infrequent, risky releases to safe, staged rollouts using ring-based deployment and real-time user …

Many agile transformations restrict team autonomy, leading to control and compliance instead of true ownership, adaptability, and meaningful …

The end of a Sprint is a checkpoint for review and adaptation, not a deadline. Focus on flow, learning, and continuous improvement over strict task …

A Service Level Expectation predicts how long work items take to complete, helping Scrum Teams improve workflow, identify issues, and set clear …

Inspecting and adapting the increment to ensure transparency and stakeholder feedback.

Kanban focuses on improving workflow by removing bottlenecks and constraints, reducing work in progress, and increasing process efficiency—not by …

Optimise Agile execution with Agile Planning Tools. Enhance backlog management, forecasting, and collaboration across teams.

Explores why Scrum Masters need authority, not just influence, to enforce Agile practices, remove blockers, and ensure teams follow Scrum for true …

Enhance forecasting in Agile and Scrum. Use empirical data to predict delivery timelines, manage risk, and optimise value delivery.

Explores how staging environments aim to reduce risk in software development, their hidden costs, and modern alternatives like feature flags and …

Microsoft’s switch to 3-week Sprints increased team anxiety due to greater transparency, exposing inefficiencies but enabling faster, more frequent …

Explains why using blocked columns for stalled tasks on project boards harms workflow, and suggests better ways to highlight and address blocked work …

Practical experience is essential for effective Scrum Masters; certification alone is insufficient. True expertise comes from guiding teams, solving …

Staging environments can’t fully replicate production, often leading to false confidence. Real risk reduction comes from safe, incremental releases to …

Teams struggle not from lacking frameworks, but from ignoring feedback. Success depends on acting on signals, fostering safety, and empowering real …

Balancing backlog refinement prevents wasted effort and chaos. Aim for just enough detail so developers can plan sprints confidently without …

Improve clarity and readiness with Backlog Refinement. Ensure work is well-defined, prioritised, and ready for execution.

Explores common misconceptions about Agile teams, clarifying that true agility demands discipline, planning, and professionalism—not chaos or lack of …

Explains how self-managing teams in Scrum need structure and leadership, clarifying the Scrum Master's role in maintaining clarity, alignment, and …

Explains how self-managing teams thrive with autonomy balanced by structure, highlighting the need for clear goals, accountability, and alignment …