321: Creating a Culture of Collaboration Using Standup Meetings

Standup meetings are a way to keep everyone informed and on the same page for ongoing projects

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A Guide to Effective Communication Between Stakeholders and the Delivery Team

User Stories are experiments that propose hypotheses about how the world works. They are based on assumptions about business value, which may sometimes be inaccurate and can be proven right or wrong. It is crucial for stories to be relatively small, not because they need to fit into an iteration, but because the world should continue if a story turns out to be incorrect. Confirming the assumptions made by stakeholders and the delivery team is critical to ensuring the project's success.

User Stories are not definitive requirements but represent a starting point for discussions. They present a question rather than a solution. User stories serve as a contract between stakeholders and the delivery team, indicating that both parties will meet to discuss the details. Creating a user story is a commitment to work together and discuss the delivery of a particular item or service. It's important to note that the user story title should reflect the desired outcome, but it doesn't have to start with "As a user" every time. For example, if the feature is email notification, the title should reflect that. The user story should briefly explain the part before going into more detail in the notes. It's recommended to document these details in the wiki. It's important to understand that the definition of done doesn't mean the coding is complete. It means the feature has been designed, the requirements have been written and tested, the feature has undergone UAT, and it is ready for production. Customers care about results rather than how tasks are accomplished. Technical story splitting can lead to production issues. Therefore, it's important to define customer rules using User Stories.

Creating a Culture of Collaboration Using Standup Meetings

Agile is a set of principles, practices, and disciplines that help small teams build software rather than manage projects. Standup meetings are a way to keep everyone informed and on the same page for ongoing projects. In essence, only developers should speak at the standup. Managers and other team members may listen but should refrain from interjecting. The purpose is to answer three questions: What have you done since we last talked? What are you going to do before we talk again? And what is getting in your way?