Food for Agile Thought #343: Why Teams Estimate, Sales Team Prevents Customer Contact, How to Provide Critical Feedback, The HiPPO Effect

TL; DR: Why Teams Estimate, the HiPPO Effect — Food for Agile Thought #343

Welcome to the 343rd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 35,304 peers. This week, we point to good reasons why teams estimate: ‘credibility, deeper thinking, prioritization, and insight.’ Also, we explore six ways of avoiding the 💩 sandwich when providing critical feedback, and we watch a classic: Henrik Kniberg visualizes the cost and consequences of moving from single-piece flow to simultaneously working on multiple work items.

Then, we suggest dealing with resistance from stakeholders, such as the sales folks, who fear meeting their quotas, and we highlight some of the ‘dysfunctions around decision making and offer ways to overcome them.’ Moreover, we delve into the strange effects of the highest-paid person’s opinion, from manifestations to impact to suggestions on how to deal with them. (High impact release notes may be one helpful tactic; learn how to author them.)

Also, we enjoy Sachin Rekhi’s take on Jeff Bezos’ June 2004 instruction: ‘From now on, your presentation software is Microsoft Word, not PowerPoint. Get used to it.’ Finally, ‘Programmers are also human’ celebrates McBoston’s Josh Doe, formerly Agile Consulting, Inc.

Food for Agile Thought #343: Why Teams Estimate, Sales Team Prevents Customer Contact, How to Provide Critical Feedback, The HiPPO Effect — Age-of-Product.com

Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #342?

🗞 Shall I notify you about articles like this one? Awesome! You can sign up here for the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter and join 35,000-plus subscribers.

🎓 Join Stefan in one of his upcoming Professional Scrum training classes!

Hands-on Agile #42 on May 30, 2022: The Skinny on Lean Roadmapping and OKRs with Janna Bastow — Age-of-Product.com

📅 Join 275-plus peers on May 30, 2022: HoA #42: The Skinny on Lean Roadmapping and OKRs w/ Janna Bastow.

🏆 The Tip of the Week

(via YouTube): 📺 Interview with an Agile Coach in 2022 – Sprint 1

‘Programmers are also human’ celebrates McBoston’s Josh Doe, formerly Agile Consulting, Inc.

➿ Agile & Scrum: Why Teams Estimate

Mike Cohn: Four Reasons Agile Teams Estimate Product Backlog Items

Mike Cohn points to ‘four good reasons to estimate: credibility, deeper thinking, prioritization, and insight.’

Jason Evanish (via Get Lighthouse): The 6 Best Ways to Give Feedback to Your Team

Jason Evanish explores six ways of avoiding the 💩 sandwich when providing critical feedback.

(via Parabol Focus): How to Write and Use a Sprint Goal (With 5 Templates)

Parabol Focus shares a guide on how to create Sprint Goals.

🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — May 31 – June 1, 2022

Discover Scrum’s four success principles in this guaranteed official Scrum.org Advanced Scrum Master training class including the industry-recognized PSM II certification. The PSM II training class is designed as a live virtual class and will be offered in English.

Enjoy the benefits of an compact class of two sessions with like-minded agile peers from 09:00 – 17:30 o’clock CEST.

Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — May 31 – June 1, 2022 — Berlin Product People GmbH

Learn more: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — May 31 – June 1, 2022.

Customer review: “It was a second time I attended a training led by Stefan and I strongly recommend. Stefan puts a strong emphasis on liberating structures and students interactions. He’s an excellent trainer and his classes are highly engaging. Overall – one of my best learning experiences. I felt very confident taking my PSM II assessment two days after the class and passed on my first attempt” (Link.)

👉 From time to time, we can offer last-minute seats for training classes at cost to individuals who do not have access to a corporate training budget. If you like to be notified about these opportunities, please register here.

🎯 Product

Teresa Torres: My Sales Team Won’t Let Me Talk To Customers. What Now?

Teresa Torres suggests dealing with resistance from stakeholders, such as the sales folks, who fear meeting their quotas.

Ellen Gottesdiener (via Mind The Product): 📺 How to Make Product Decisions with Transparency and Trust

In this video, Ellen Gottesdiener ‘highlights some of the dysfunctions around decision making and offers ways to overcome them.’

(via Atomic Spin): The HiPPO Effect on Customers and Product Teams

Tammy Pearson delves into the strange effects of the highest-paid person’s opinion, from manifestations to impact to suggestions on how to deal with them.

📯 21 Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns Impeding Scrum Teams

What event could better embody Scrum’s principle of empiricism than the Sprint Retrospective? I assume all peers agree that even the simplest form of a Retrospective—if only held regularly—is far more helpful than having a fancy one once in a while, not to mention having none. Moreover, I am convinced there is always room for improvement; just avoid dogmatism. Hence, learn more about 21 common Sprint Retrospective anti-patterns that will hold back your Scrum team.

Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns —  Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide – Age-of-Product.com

👉 Learn more: 21 Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns Impeding Scrum Teams.

🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring

Sachin Rekhi: 📖 The Power of Amazon's Written Narratives

Sachin Rekhi on Jeff Bezos’ June 2004 instruction: ‘From now on, your presentation software is Microsoft Word, not PowerPoint. Get used to it.’

Henrik Kniberg (via YouTube): 📺 Multiple WIP vs One Piece Flow Example

A classic: Henrik Kniberg visualizes the cost and consequences of moving from single-piece flow to simultaneously working on multiple work items.

(via Department of Product): How to Write Impactful Release Notes as a Product Manager

Richard Holmes advocates that ‘high impact releases deserve high impact release notes.’

✂️ Cutting Room Floor

There are no posts in this category.​


📅 Scrum Training & Event Schedule

You can secure your seat for Scrum training classes, workshops, and meetups directly by following the corresponding link in the table below:

Date Class and Language City Price
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 2-30, 2024 GUARANTEED: Product Backlog Management Cohort Class (English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €499 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 9, 2024 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile #60: A Q&A on Dynamic Reteaming with Heidi Helfand (English) Live Virtual Meetup FREE
🖥 💯 🇩🇪 April 10-11, 2024 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 23-24, 2024 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Master (Advanced) Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 7, 2024 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 7, 2024 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile #61: Toyota Kata Coaching for Agile Teams & Transformations with Fortune Buchholtz (English) Live Virtual Meetup FREE
🖥 🇩🇪 May 14-15, 2024 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇬🇧 May 28-29, 2024 Professional Scrum Master (Advanced) Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 June 6, 2024 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile #62: From Backlog Manager to Product Manager: From Outputs to Outcomes w/ David Pereira (English) Live Virtual Meetup FREE
🖥 🇩🇪 June 25-26, 2024 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT

See all upcoming classes here.

Professional Scrum Trainer Stefan Wolpers

You can book your seat for the training directly by following the corresponding links to the ticket shop. If the procurement process of your organization requires a different purchasing process, please contact Berlin Product People GmbH directly.

📺 Join 3,800-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel to improve learning:

Download the Remote Agile Guide for Free — Age-of-Product.com

✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn more about Why Teams Estimate — Join the 11,000-plus Strong ‘Hands-on Agile’ Slack Community

I invite you to join the “Hands-on Agile” Slack Community and enjoy the benefits of a fast-growing, vibrant community of agile practitioners from around the world.

Large scale agile: Join the Hands-on Agile Slack Group

If you like to join all you have to do now is provide your credentials via this Google form, and I will sign you up. By the way, it’s free.

Download the free Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide by PST Stefan Wolpers — 160 ways to improve as a Scrum Team — Age-of-Product.com

🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #342: Agile Laggards, Fireside Chat with Marty Cagan, Stakeholder Trust, How to (Really) Measure NPS.

Find this content useful? Share it with your friends!

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.