In response to the following question from a listener, Bob and Josh discuss how to lead an agile team inside of an organization with traditional, individualized performance management. Can these two co-exist? We think so, and this episode helps you answer that question for your organization. What have your experiences taught you? Let's discuss! ...…

Our previous episode introduced the importance of storytelling in agile. Towards the end of the episode, we threw out the idea of returning to this topic with some examples and role-playing to help everyone understand how powerful storytelling can be for you and your teams. So here you go! Bob and Josh cover a handful of common scenarios and ar ...…

Storytelling is an integral part of your success as a leader and/or coach. Get some tips and tricks from Bob and Josh as they walk you through the reasons storytelling is so important and then provide you with some insight on how to get better at this key skill. How do you use storytelling to drive change? Let's discuss! Subscribe: iTunes, Goog ...…

A big thanks to Meta-Cast listener and Twitch chat superstar "firessue" brings us a fantastic challenge for this episode. Standing up new teams is hard, but adding teams and engineers to an existing, established team presents a whole new set of challenges. How do you handle the dynamics and tension this can create? Bob and Josh give you tips an ...…

What unknowns will sneak up and cost your team dearly? If we knew those answers, life would be a lot easier! Thanks to Laura (AKA laurieblue on our Twitch stream), we were challenged to answer this question. Bob and Josh highlight the questions most software teams are not answering, but they should be answering. Our goal is helping you take a d ...…

Remote teams are everywhere. Agile is everywhere. Unfortunately, those two don't always mix well together. We are here to fix that! Thanks to our listener Ryan, from Virginia, for asking us to take on this topic. What tips & tricks do you use to maximize the effectiveness of remote agile teams? Let's discuss! Subscribe: iTunes, Google Play, Spo ...…

It's a special Halloween night episode! Bob and Josh wrap up their series on fear in the agile world with a deep dive into common sources of fear for leaders in the agile world. If you are an agile leader, don't be scared, listen to this episode! Subscribe: iTunes, Google Play, Spotify More from our hosts: Get FREE agile coaching, twice a week, ...…

Episode 134 dug into common generators of fear that teams experience during an agile transition. Sticking with our scary/spooky theme for October, we decided to turn the tables around and examine how we, as agile leaders, generate fear. As the face of change for your organization, you need to be aware of how your actions will be perceived by th ...…

Halloween is near, so we decided (thanks to a tip from a listener on Twitter) to dig into the numerous ways fear presents itself in the agile world. Aside from identifying common patterns and situations that generate fear, we offer a few of our tried-and-true tips and tricks for dealing with fear in your role(s). What situations generate fear f ...…

No team is perfect. At some point in your team's evolution a team member will have a string of bad days that cause a significant amount of strife and turmoil in your team. Use this episode to pick up some tips, tricks, and advice on how to handle this situation and get your team back on the path to greatness! Get FREE agile coaching, twice a we ...…

How do you know when you have too little/too much process in place? Use this episode to get an understanding of what a "good enough" process looks like for a team of 5 versus a team of 50 so that you and your team can maintain success as you grow. P.S. Did you miss the YouTube video of a recent talk at #Path18 in Columbus, OH? Check it out here ...…

This episode's topic comes from a listener via Twitter. Big thanks to @Paul_V_Elia for the great question. @bobgalen and @nosrednAhsoJ you mentioned the possibility of a follow up on #noestimates - I'd like to hear about estimating too far into the future; with high variability, wasteful in my view. Also, org culture, values, trust: correlation ...…

What should you do with customer feedback? Ignore it? Trust it completely? Something in the middle? Bob and Josh dig in and help you understand the best way to use customer feedback to support your team, product, and projects. How do you incoporate customer feedback into the process? Let's discuss! Help Spread The Word: Love our content? Help u ...…

With 120+ podcast episodes, hundreds of speaking engagements, and hundreds of teams/companies coached, Bob and Josh have seen just about everything. Using all of that experience, we continue our discussion of some of the most frequently asked questions across everyone we helped. What questions do you field over and over again in your travels? L ...…

With 120+ podcast episodes, hundreds of speaking engagements, and hundreds of teams/companies coached, Bob and Josh have seen just about everything. Using all of that experience, we narrowed down on some of the most frequently asked questions across everyone we helped. What questions do you field over and over again in your travels? Let's discu ...…

The relationship between most agile practices, estimates, and the planning those estimates relate to is a tricky one. Many agile practitioners subscribe to the #NoEstimates movement. Bob and Josh dig into the pros and cons of each approach (traditional agile estimation vs a "no estimates" approach). How does your team estimate? Do you estimate ...…

Successful agile adoptions and transitions require truth, in all directions. Unfortunately, many of us are ill-equipped to speak truth in the most challenging direction: towards power. Use this episode to prepare for the difficult discussions you must have to ensure a successful agile implementation. Our Second Giveaway! Don't miss our second c ...…

Bob and Josh break down how architecture fits effectively into the agile process. If your organization is struggling to mix appropriate architecture practices into your process and remain agile, this is the episode for you! Bonus Content: Here is Bob's latest blog post discussing these suggestions. Our First Giveaway! Don't miss our first confe ...…

Continuing the discussion from our previous episode, Bob and Josh recall their journeys into conference speaking. We also provide a few lessons learned in hopes of one of our listeners decide to try out speaking at a conference. What are you waiting for? Go submit a talk to your favorite conference! Help Spread The Word: Love our content? Help ...…

Bob has a new role! We cover the changes happening for Bob in his new role as the Program Chair for TechWell and the changes he aims to implement in future conferences. We also dig in a bit to what it takes to become a great conference speaker. Help Spread The Word: Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/ep ...…

On October 12th, Bob and Josh hosted a live, unscripted podcast recording session answering the audience's questions in real time. This episode is the recording of that session. We hope you enjoy it and we look forward to answering your questions at a conference near you! Help Spread The Word: Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social ...…

Many organizations overload the scrum master role, causing confusion for both the team(s) and the scrum master themselves. We tackle this issue in response to a question from a listener's question (thanks Tim from Germany). Have you been asked to serve multiples roles in your organization? Are you operating as a scrum master and an organization ...…

Bob and Josh revisit a topic from a recent panel they participated in covering the challenges many management roles face in a transition to agile. We talk through the key differences between traditional management and agile leadership. If you, or someone you know, is struggling with this transition, look no further than this episode! How do you ...…

In our previous episode, we detailed when it is appropriate to create tasks for each of your stories. After listening to that episode, a listener requested some details on the differences between stories, epics, and tasks. So here we go! How does your team use these terms? Share your thoughts, ideas, and preferences in the comments below. Love ...…

When it comes to planning sprints and their associated user stories, should your team also create, assign, and size individual tasks? Bob and Josh debate this topic and help you streamline your team's sprint planning and execution. Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/episodes on iTunes, or by giving to o ...…

Scrum can be a real drag. After dozens and dozens of sprints, your team looks forward to yet another sprint with all of the same ceremonies. Hooray... How can you make the endless sea of sprints that lay ahead of your team look less dreary? FUN! Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/episodes on iTunes, or ...…

We've all been there. Scrum is getting old, and you want to try something new. Here comes Kanban to save the day! Maybe not. Kanban sometimes just makes things worse. We help you figure out if Kanban is right for you. Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/episodes on iTunes, or by giving to our Patreon cam ...…

Great leadership is hard to find. When you boil leadership down to its essence, all you need is a little responsibility. In this episode, learn what great leadership looks like so that you can either grow into a great leader for find a great leader to learn from. Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/episo ...…

Agile teams perform best when they have a well formed, and continuously refined, backlog. That sounds great, but how do you get there if you don't have a backlog yet?!? How in the world do you get started? This episode gives you everything you need to jumpstart your backlog, and in turn your road to a great implementation of agile. Learn how to ...…

We collected dozens of audience questions from one of our recent speaking engagements. In this episode, we answer them for you, in rapid fire mode. Good luck finding a more answer-packed agile podcast episode out there! Are there other questions you want answered that weren't tackled in this episode? Send us your idea(s) in our contact us form. ...…

Great teams, and leaders, build a safe environment where truths are told, even if they hurt a little. How healthy is your team and their relationships? Are truths told in a healthy manner? If there are issues that need to be discussed, but they never get on the table because it is uncomfortable, we help you tackle that with this episode. Learn ...…

Agile adoption is difficult. When you are in middle management during an agile transformation, so many questions are raised. What is my role? How do I effectively lead in this new paradigm? Does anyone need me anymore? We answer all of these questions, and more! Aside from tackling this classic agile challenge, but Bob throws down a HUGE challe ...…

It all starts with a backlog. The health of an agile team correlates directly with the state of its backlog. That all sounds great. How do we get our backlog to be "great"? Listen to this podcast, that's how! We are kidding, or are we? This episode offers a lot of great tips that can help you get your backlogs back on track and making a real di ...…

Learn the importance of treating yourself as a brand, especially in the agile community. Bob and Josh share their experience, and a few tips, as they walk through their thought processes in building their individual brand, corporate brands, and the brand of this podcast. More importantly, we want for your feedback and ideas on agile brand build ...…

Why is cadence/temp so important to agile success? It is amazing to see how something as simple as a well defined cadence reduces the "noise" of a process and provides focus for teams and individuals. Have you experimented with different tempos? What success stories do you have? Let's discuss!By admin@meta-cast.com (Josh Anderson).

Even though Bob and Josh believe agile is the right path, there are some situations when trying to "go agile" just might not be right. We take a deep dive into uncovering common indicators that taking on an agile transition in organization would actually be a bad idea. Did we miss anything? Have you run into any of these scenarios? Let's discuss!…

How should you handle roles inside an agile team? Can/should you share responsibilities or is it best to have a bunch of specialists? Bob and Josh share their views on how highly effective agile teams operate and manage the complexities of roles and responsibilities. How does your team handle this? Are you a group of generalists or specialists? ...…

What exactly does a rockstar product owner look like? Would you know one when you see one? After this podcast, that won't be a problem! Bob and Josh dig into what it takes to really be a world class product owner. If you are new to the product owner role, are hiring your first product owner, or are just looking to sharpen your product owner ski ...…

Richard Khor joins Bob and Josh to discuss his agile journey. As the first scrum master at Dude Solutions, Richard provides additional context into the daily like of a scrum master. Learn from someone "in the trenches" exactly what it takes to become a world class agile leader. Become a Meta-Cast Partner We recently launched a Patreon campaign ...…

In response to a listener request, we dig deeper in to the approach Josh and the Dude Solutions team uses to select and tweak agile frameworks for their unique problem set. Bob and Josh step through a few frameworks to provide experience and advice on the ways you could/should individualize each. What tweaks have you implemented that worked? Ha ...…

Everyone started with a base desire to learn agile. Someone reached out, lent a hand, and helped you get up to speed. Maybe it was a blog, a co-worker, or even a podcast, but someone offered you help along the way. In this episode, we provide some ideas on how you can "pay it forward" and lend a helping hand. We know this isn't an exhaus ...…

We spend most of our days focusing on agile, writing code, and everything else that goes into delivering world class software. However, agile is applicable well beyond the realm of software engineering. How can you relate agile to family, friends, or anyone else that wonders what you do? Can you explain agile to someone and help them apply it i ...…

After six years (and 100 episodes!) of learning and growing, Bob and Josh take a look back at how they, and their agile opinions, changed over the years. A big thanks to Cory Bryan for the topic idea! @metahyphencast Couple - 1. What's the biggest thing each of you believed 6 years ago that you don't anymore — Cory Bryan (@isCoryBryan) August 1 ...…

Bob and Josh revisit their "good cop, bad cop" routine and apply it to SAFe. In this episode, Josh takes the side of pro-SAFe, while Bob attempts to persuade Josh that adopting SAFe is not the best approach for this dreamt-up scenario. You be the judge on who is good cop and who is the bad cop! :) REMINDER: Episode 100 is upon us! If you have a ...…

As organizations adopt agile, many employees evolve their career to adopt roles such as scrum master and product owner. What do the career paths look like for someone in these roles? Bob and Josh discuss their approaches and strategies for tackling this problem. What do the career paths look like in your organization? We are nearing our 100th e ...…

Continuous improvement is a foundation of agile, but generating a culture that fosters and even requires it can be a bit tricky. Learn how to transform your culture with tips and tricks from Bob and Josh on how they've transformed the cultures of their organizations. What tricks do you have? Let's discuss!…

Frameworks, frameworks, frameworks! So many folks are selling one, and everyone else thinks they need one. Bob and Josh rip into the idea that any one framework can be a silver bullet for your situation. Learn how to evaluate what makes sense for you and how to build an agile approach that fits your unique situation.…

In response to this #meta-question on Twitter... @metahyphencast #meta-question I am reading Mike Cohn's take on coaching teams to be self organizing. Are there any Meta-Casts on this? — John Kaplan (@kaplanapps) May 25, 2016 ... Bob and Josh take a deep dive into what exactly is needed to become a self-directed team and how you, and your team, ...…

Is that title just clickbait? Give us a listen and find out... ;) Just kidding! Don't worry, we really do dig into a growing movement declaring that agile is dead. Some of our more recent experience aligns with this view. How did we get here? What can we do about it? Do you think agile is dead? What are you doing about it? Let's discuss!!!…

We originally discussed agile testing over 5 years (and 80 episodes) ago. Today we revisit the topic to learn how our views of testing in an agile world have evolved. We cover topics ranging from QA/Dev ratios to automation. You'll find that we've learned a lot over the year and this episode reflects that. How has your view of agile testing evo ...…