The featured company is a globally distributed organization. Prior to its consolidation, IT services were site specific, resulting in inconsistent services and expectations across locations. With IT consolidation, we brought together diverse groups with no common culture. IT needed to have standards and ownership put in place around process and...

Recently Akrem and Erick presented Consulting 101, an annual presentation delivered at a Source Allies University event. We are publishing a three-part blog series that is a distillation of that presentation; Agile Crash Course, Team Dynamics, and Partner Dynamics. Part 3: Partner Dynamics When we work with our partners, our...

Recently Akrem and Erick presented Consulting 101, an annual presentation delivered at a Source Allies University event. We are publishing a three-part blog series that is a distillation of that presentation; Agile Crash Course, Team Dynamics, and Partner Dynamics. Part 2: Team Dynamics Successful teams are the ones that understand,...

Recently Akrem and Erick presented Consulting 101, an annual presentation delivered at a Source Allies University event. We are publishing a three-part blog series that is a distillation of that presentation; Agile Crash Course, Team Dynamics, and Partner Dynamics. Motivation Here at Source Allies, we want to set our teams...

On any given team, lots of time, effort, and thought goes into determining the team culture. This includes Agile practices and ceremonies, the discovery process, collaboration strategies, and communication with stakeholders. A high-priority project with a tight deadline can disrupt these routines. Some practices will need to be shelved until...

From Warren Buffet to Kobe Bryant, it has been said the absolute best thing for you to do as a professional is to invest in yourself. For some, that is reading about or researching a specific topic to learn something new. The goal is to get the learning juices flowing...

“Decide as late as possible” On the surface this principle of Lean Software Development would seem to suggest that we, as engineers, should put off as many decisions as possible till the last moment. This seems counterintuitive, as creating a working piece of software requires a great deal of planning...

Pro Tips for Onboarding a New Teammate Intro Last month’s blog post, Pro Tips for Joining a New Team, was from the perspective of the reader joining a team. But what if you’re a member of a team that is onboarding a new teammate? Look no further, we’ve got you...

Lets face it, Agile Retrospectives, like all things, can get a little stale when they become too habitual. Maybe you're finding yourself in a rut answering the same old questions with the same old sticky notes, or maybe you're just looking for a fun twist on an already effective routine....

In the world of agile sometimes dates matter, hold on let me finish. The day something goes to production should not be considered firm until closer to delivery. Stakeholders consider a date the date, but in reality, they are really hard to set. They are based on estimates, based on...