I was recently asked to share some best practice on running effective show and tells. This led me into a semantic rabbit hole on the differences between show & tells, sprint reviews, team reviews, end of iteration reviews, sprint demos and showcases. These words are often used interchangeably to describe similar things. In this post, […]
Makers time and collaboration time: two metrics that help teams improve the timing of meetings to increase team health and productivity
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Alan WrightMakers time and collaboration time are two metrics that I have started using to help teams to measure the amount of quality time they have available to do their best work, and to make improvements over time. In this blog post I explain what they are and when/how to use them.
Better meetings for remote teams
/0 Comments/in Remote working, Team Productivity /by Alan Wright“Too many meetings” is something I’ve said or heard over and over again in every organisation I’ve worked. Since lockdown began, this problem seems to have gotten worse for two main reasons: There are more meetings: ‘Watercooler’ conversations and informal chats around the team space have been replaced with scheduled video meetings. Meetings are more […]
Running effective show & tells
/0 Comments/in Agile /by Alan WrightShow & tell is a chance for teams to show their work to stakeholders and to get feedback. It’s a crucial form of governance for agile teams that keeps everyone up to date by allowing them to see the team’s progress first hand. Before you read this, you might want to check out my other […]
Show & tells, sprint reviews and showcases – what’s the difference?
/0 Comments/in Agile /by Alan WrightI was recently asked to share some best practice on running effective show and tells. This led me into a semantic rabbit hole on the differences between show & tells, sprint reviews, team reviews, end of iteration reviews, sprint demos and showcases. These words are often used interchangeably to describe similar things. In this post, […]
Not all objectives are created equal
/0 Comments/in Prioritisation /by Alan WrightIn this blog post, I explore how assigning economic values to objectives can help organisations and teams make more effective prioritisation decisions. Organisations start initiates to help them achieve strategic objectives. They often produce tables like Table 1 below to aid in prioritisation and ensure they have a balanced portfolio of work. Table 1 indicates […]
Measuring and improving ways of working on digital teams
/0 Comments/in Agile, Metrics, Team Productivity /by Alan WrightHealthy teams, happy people and mature agile ways of working are good leading indicators of organisational success. Getting these things right is key to unlocking long term sustainable delivery of value. In this blog post, I summarise some of the approaches I have used to measure and improve ways of working.
How Government digital teams can use Cost of Delay to prioritize work
/0 Comments/in Prioritisation, Team Productivity /by Alan WrightOver the past year I’ve been learning a lot about cost of delay. In this blog post I explain what I’ve learned so far, and how it can be used by teams to prioritise work. My focus is on teams that are following the UK Government Digital Service Standard, but it can be of use […]
People over resources
/0 Comments/in Team Productivity /by Alan WrightIn most digital teams the vast majority of budgets are spent on people. People are our biggest assets. Almost all of our value is produced by them. Small changes in our ability to reduce the number of resignations and motivate them to work have an exponential impact on productivity.
Firebreaks on GOV.UK
/0 Comments/in Agile, Team Productivity /by Alan WrightFirebreaks on GOV.UK are similar to Google’s 20% time or Spotify’s hack week. For 1 week every 3 months, teams disband and everyone is given a chance to have some self-directed time to improve GOV.UK. We’ve had 3 firebreaks now: June, September and December 2017. This blog post explores why we do them, how they work and the […]
How I stay organised using Trello, Kanban, GTD and Inbox Zero
/0 Comments/in Personal Productivity, Trello /by Alan WrightIn this post, I’m going to explain my system for keeping myself organised and productive. This system has been working well for me for the past two years, and I have helped a number of people to set it up for themselves.