The Power of Words with Dan Neumann

On this week’s ‘solocast’ of the Agile Coaches’ Corner, Dan Neumann wants to talk a little bit about words and phrases! If you had a magic wand and could change any word or phrase in relation to Scrum and agility, what would it be?   In this episode, Dan shares the four words and phrases that he would change for all Scrum teams — and, if it were possible, why he would like to see them go away, altogether!   Key Takeaways Resources vs. People Don’t confuse the people on your team with resources If you mean ‘people,’ say ‘people’; don’t say ‘resources’ You consume resources (i.e. time is a resource that you can use to achieve goals) Commitment vs. Forecast Commitments are something you keep, come hell or high water When we’re dealing with a lot of uncertainty, a more appropriate term to use would be ‘forecast’ rather than a commitment When you’re dealing with your Scrum teams, make sure that ‘commit’ is a term that is held back; think more in terms of forecasts (and especially forecasts with a probability of when you will be able to deliver, such as: ‘We forecast with 90% confidence’) Grooming vs. Refining Grooming is something you do to a dog; a more appropriate term for what you want to do to your product backlog in the Scrum world would be to ‘refine’ it Think of ‘refining’ as the removal of things that are impure or low value “Your product backlog [is] not a dog; don’t groom it!” Deadlines vs. Goals & Targets Deadlines traditionally refer to drawing a line in the sand (and if you cross said line, you’re dead) — which isn’t a very motivating term nowadays! More appropriate terms would be: goals and targets “We have a target of releasing the new product on January 1st.” With targets, you can introduce the concept of a ‘cost of delay,’ when you miss a target date Having goals and targets with specific dates coupled with a ‘cost of delay’ will allow you to make much more informed decisions about how to prioritize work   Mentioned in this Episode: Top 30 Agile Leadership Podcasts To Follow in 2020 Agile Coaches’ Corner Bonus Podcast: “How to Make AI Work in Your Enterprise with Dr. Jerry Smith”   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to [email protected] or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!