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What Is Technical Debt?
Project Management 5 min read

What Is Technical Debt?

What is technical debt? Technical debt is a metaphor for the cost of prioritizing delivery over performance. Learn more about avoiding technical debt with Wrike.

Wrike Hosts an #HourofCode to Support Computer Science Education Week
News 3 min read

Wrike Hosts an #HourofCode to Support Computer Science Education Week

Last Friday, Andrew Filev, Wrike CEO and development champion (he was Wrike's first developer, after all!), brought an "Hour of Code" to the people he spends time with every day — Wrike employees. Curious Wrikers joined Andrew to learn the basics of coding a computer game using Code.org's "Hour of Code" online program. What is "Hour of Code"?  As career opportunities in the field of engineering and software development continue to appear at a growing rate, the non-profit Code.org wants everyone, regardless of age, gender, or location, to have the chance to jump on board. "Hour of Code" is a week-long effort to bring the basic principles of engineering to children and adults of any age. They teamed up with Computer Science Education Week and teachers from across the globe to bring the program to over 3 million students in just 5 days. You can see more about their program in this video: Why Wrike Joined the Movement As Wrike's first developer and founding father, Andrew has been passionate about software engineering since he was only 6 years old. After reading about the "Hour of Code" program online, he offered to spend his lunch break teaching curious Wrikers a few basic software engineering principles in one of our bi-weekly "Lunch & Learn" education sessions. Folks from the sales, marketing, and customer success team all joined Andrew in a BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) session of introductory coding, errors, and laughter. Keep an eye out for new features developed by our newest software engineers! ;)

Integrating with Wrike Is Easy: API v.3 & Brand-New Developer Site
News 3 min read

Integrating with Wrike Is Easy: API v.3 & Brand-New Developer Site

In our latest Dynamic Platform Release, we've made it easier for developers to integrate with Wrike by releasing our new API v.3 and a new Developer site. Now building your own custom integration with Wrike takes less time and effort. Some of the most important improvements in Wrike's API 3.0 include: Organized using REST principles making it more robust and easier to use. Added the most popular request methods including: Custom Fields, Subtasks, and more account management functions Migrated to OAuth 2.0 protocol for authorization to align our API with industry standards. Our API is designed to be used for Enterprise grade applications. In fact, we've built our own mobile apps and Zapier integration using our API v.3, so it's possible to build very robust applications with API v.3.  Today, we also launched our new Developer site, developers.wrike.com, which provides quick access to API Documentation and developers can now request API keys directly from the developer site without having to contact support. Visit Developer portal to start working with the new API and share your experience in comments.

How to Write a Bug Report During Development
Project Management 7 min read

How to Write a Bug Report During Development

As a software designer or development project manager, you work hard to ensure the code you and your team produce is as flawless as possible. However, just like seasoned writers still make small errors from time to time, even highly experienced developers and software engineers make small coding errors that need to be caught before the final product is shipped. But it’s impossible to catch every error before release. That’s precisely why bug reports are so critical for development teams. In this article, we’re exploring how to write a bug report that will help your teams find and fix errors quickly and easily. We’ll also look at a bug report example and show you how Wrike can help you develop a software bug report template that will reduce time and energy spent creating bug reports in the future. Why bug reports are important First things first: what exactly are bug reports, and why are they so important to software development teams? Put simply, a bug report identifies an issue with a piece of software. Bug reports don’t have to be complicated, but they should contain enough detailed information that the developers can quickly understand exactly what the problem is, what specific action or actions triggered the bug, or if the issue happens sporadically with no identifiable cause. Bug reports are critical for any organization that writes code or develops software products because they help ensure quality control. Without proper testing and documentation of issues using bug reports, development teams may inadvertently ship a product that has a defect or error. How to write a good bug report So, what exactly makes a “good” bug report? Generally speaking, you want to keep your bug reports simple and to-the-point, yet detailed enough that the developers can easily identify the problem and implement a solution. To ensure that your development team gets everything it needs to solve the issue at the outset, structure your bug reports to include the following essential information: Bug name and a brief description Like any good report, your bug report should begin with a name and brief description of the problem so that the engineering team can know exactly what’s going on and what part or feature of the software is affected.  Environment details Just like actual bugs can only survive in certain climates and conditions, virtual bugs may only appear in certain cyber-environments. In this section of the bug report, you’ll identify things like: The device or hardware you’re using when you encounter the bug, including the specific model  The operating system you’re using The type of account you’re logged in with  The version number of the application or program that you’re testing  The type of internet connection you’re using, if applicable   The number of times you’ve been able to reproduce the bug as well as how many times you’ve tried Steps to reproduce the bug Here, you’ll write out the exact steps you took that triggered the bug so that the developers can repeat the process and test it for themselves.  The expected result What were you expecting to happen when you followed the steps outlined in section three of the report? Be as detailed as possible, and remember that it’s always more helpful for the developers to know what should have happened when you followed those steps instead of what should NOT have happened.  The actual result This is the section in which you can tell the developers exactly what happened when you followed the steps that triggered the bug. Did the app crash altogether? Did it boot you out of the system? Did it display an error code? Remember to be as specific as possible. Simply saying, “The command didn’t work” isn’t exactly helpful. Proof Proof of the problem will go a long way in helping your programmers get to the bottom of the bug. Whether it’s a simple screenshot or a short video, try to include some sort of visual evidence with the report. Priority Finally, you can help your development team members better organize their work by rating or classifying the severity of the bug. Keep the rating scale simple — here’s an easy template: Mission-critical: this bug impacts or prevents user flow or app usage altogether Medium priority: this bug negatively impacts user experience Minor: everything else including formatting or layout issues, typos, etc. Bug report example Here’s an example of a simple bug report laid out in an Excel spreadsheet: Source: Marker.io  How to create a bug report template in Excel As you can see from the example above, you can easily create a simple yet effective bug report template in Excel. First, make a column to contain the main bug report components, including the bug name and description, the environment, the steps to reproduce, the expected and actual results, and the assigned priority. You can also include a section to place a link to your proof, or you can simply attach any screenshots or video to the digital report when you email or otherwise transfer the bug report file to your development team lead or product manager.  While Excel spreadsheets can help you get up and running with bug reports, managing these documents can be burdensome. Luckily, Wrike makes it simple to create a bug report template that can handle your organization’s growing needs. How to use Wrike to create the best bug reports With Wrike, you can easily create customized bug report templates that are perfectly suited to your organization’s specific needs and the various types of software development projects you routinely perform. What’s more, you won’t have to worry about keeping up with constantly changing spreadsheets that are exchanged via endless email chains. That’s because Wrike provides a single, unified platform to store, share, and maintain all the reports, updates, and other documentation associated with each individual project.  You can get started with Wrike today and give your software engineers the detailed, organized reports they need to efficiently find and eradicate those bugs — try a free two-week trial today.

Scrum for Newbies: How to Use Scrum to Tame Chaos
Project Management 10 min read

Scrum for Newbies: How to Use Scrum to Tame Chaos

Scrum is a great tool for managing complex projects and multiple tasks. If you're starting out with it, here are some tips from wise Scrum Masters and Scrum evangelists.

Scrum vs. Kanban: The Ultimate Breakdown Guide
Project Management 10 min read

Scrum vs. Kanban: The Ultimate Breakdown Guide

Get to the bottom of the scrum vs. kanban debate and gain insights on when to choose one framework over the other. Learn more in this ultimate guide from Wrike.

What Is a Velocity Chart in Agile?
Project Management 7 min read

What Is a Velocity Chart in Agile?

Discover the value of using a velocity chart in Agile projects. Learn how to calculate team velocity and turn that information into actionable insights.

Customer's Tip of the Day: Cut the Routine Work; Get Your Web Requests Turned Into Tasks Automatically
Project Management 3 min read

Customer's Tip of the Day: Cut the Routine Work; Get Your Web Requests Turned Into Tasks Automatically

We hope that Wrike’s e-mail integration is a time-saver for you and your team.  But do you know that you can also leverage it for working with the requests from web forms? From our customer’s story, learn how you can easily redirect them to Wrike and instantly get all important details logged into the system. Customer’s background Geo Spa makes it easier for travel agents to quickly find exactly what their clients want. A large variety of tours, honeymoon trips and estate catalogues from more than 2000 Italian travel agencies are collected on two websites maintained by the team. A team of 20 people currently maintains a platform being used by more than 2500 people. Geo Spa Tip: Use automated web forms to save your team’s time Geo Spa’s team uses a simple web form to collect all customers’ requests and the bugs that customers have found on their website. Prior to adopting Wrike, they had to manually sort and process all requests, which took hours of work per week. With Wrike, now all requests get automatically logged into the system as tasks. Moreover, they also get automatically sorted into folders by their type. And this was really easy to do: Whenever Geo Spa customers want to report a bug or ask for a new feature, they fill out the form online, and this data is automatically sent to [email protected]. All you need for that is just to ask your webmaster to add this address into the website source code. If he or she also adds a folder name with a double-colon in the beginning of the e-mail subject line, different requests will get logged into different folders. The system instantly creates a new backlogged or 1-day task (according to the settings in your account admin’s profile). Of course, you can find all of the request details in the task description! Add your web form e-mail address as a secondary e-mail of any user in your account to make him or her the task author, or simply create a new user with this e-mail. According to Geo Spa’s team, it’s handy to keep all requests as backlogged tasks in Wrike, as this way nothing gets lost. The team checks the Activity Stream for updates about new tasks every day and assigns them to colleagues. Then they can easily prioritize them with the drag-and-drop function and plan them, depending on their current workload. As you see, such workflow helps Geo Spa to not miss a single customer’s request. At the same time, it saves the team’s time on manually registering requests, and instead they can start processing them right away. Thanks to such a fast response to clients’ needs, their websites always meet expectations. As a result, more and more people in Italy have started using their service! This approach works great for any type of website request, be it job applications, customers’ contact info or shipping addresses. Do you also have web forms on your site? Let us know what you use them for and if you have tried to integrate them into our project management tool. “Wrike has made our team more organized and productive. Your dashboard helps us to organize and personalize our work at its best, while e-mail integration helps to manage maintenance requests. Collaboration has become much easier!” Massimo Cassandro, Riccardo Cattaneo and Daniele Conti, Geo spa Web Services team

10 Fun New Ways to Use Your Backlog
Wrike Tips 7 min read

10 Fun New Ways to Use Your Backlog

We’re always looking for fun and creative new ways to use Wrike. The backlog may seem pretty straightforward: stash stuff in there for a rainy day, or if you solve problems with Agile, use it for sprint planning. But there are actually quite a few interesting ways to use the backlog that you may not have considered. Here are 10 different ways to make the most of your backlog: 1. Track High-level Goals.  Looking for a product backlog example? Not everything you put in Wrike will be tied to specific projects or individual action items. Keeping quarterly goals, product ideas, and long-term plans in the backlog makes it easy to remember the big picture and see everything you want to accomplish — which can help you prioritize wisely. And if you put these items on your Wrike Dashboard, they'll never be “out of sight, out of mind.” When life gives you a window of opportunity or the stars align, you can instantly say, “Now’s the perfect time to _____!”  In the same vein, you can use these backlogged goals as parent tasks. Create every actionable task as a subtask to at least one goal. This shows which long-term effort the work is supporting. Using the backlogged goals this way will help make sure all your time is devoted to worthwhile efforts. 2. Complete Creative Projects.  Compose song lyrics or creative writing pieces in your backlog, letting them marinate until inspiration strikes. They’re always at hand when the perfect lyric or headline pops up, and you can take full advantage of the Time Slider (revision history) tool. Since Wrike tracks every keystroke and lets you revert to previous versions, you can let your creativity off the leash and just play without worrying about losing any of the good stuff. The revision history slider is also a pretty cool way to get a timelapse view of your unique creative process.  3. Write Routine Lists.  Keep track of wish lists, grocery lists, movies to watch, books to read, bands to check out, and more in your personal backlog. Once they’re in Wrike, it’s easy to share these lists if you choose, and you can view them from your mobile devices.  4. Plan Trips and Events.  Say you start planning a trip to one of the destinations on your backlogged “Travel Europe” bucket list. You can easily create a folder to keep track of the growing number of details like itineraries, confirmations, packing lists, maps, guides, and more. And since it’s backlogged, your info is always at hand when you need it (like at the airport).  The same goes for planning events: a task called “Plan Jen’s Surprise Party” can easily grow into a folder with invite lists and RSVPs, menus and recipes, gift ideas, music playlists, and more. 5. Stash Your Read Later/Watch Later Items.  One of my personal favorite uses for the backlog is to make it my virtual back pocket. I often come across interesting articles, videos, and TED Talks that pique my curiosity while link surfing, typically when I’m researching an unrelated project, or a link shared by a colleague or friend. It’s the kind of stuff I want to keep for reference, or save to peruse when I have more time. Instead of bookmarking it or emailing myself the link, I use the Wrike Chrome Extension to automatically create a task in my dedicated "Back Pocket" folder of Wrike. I backlog the task, take a screenshot of the page if I want, and always have it right there to look at later. 6. Store Your Knowledge Base.  The backlog is the perfect spot to keep useful tidbits, whether you’re logging personal reference items (think Emergency Maintenance numbers, contact info for doctors and dentists, a list of good babysitters, that article on magical baking soda cleaning solutions) or sharing professional ones like notes on competitors, administrative passwords, routine IT/troubleshooting tips, vacation schedules/PTO request forms, best practices, and templates.  7. Track Inventory (Like a Librarian).  This one we picked up from our customer Tisso Naturprodukte: make Wrike your office librarian! If your office has a stash of books to borrow, you can easily keep track of them using the backlog. Here’s how Tisso Naturprodukte’s system works: each book gets its own task. When someone wants to check it out, they assign it to themselves and set a due date for when they plan to bring it back. Once they return it, they unassign themselves and clear the due dates again. You can also use folder tags to keep track of equipment or supplies, tagging backlogged tasks with their specific location or status. 8. Keep Agendas and Meeting Minutes.  If you have upcoming meetings with clients or colleagues, the backlog can be a great place to stash agenda items or reminders for things you’d like to bring up. If they’re shared agendas, two mouse clicks can bring someone else into the loop. Now you can avoid that nagging “I know I was supposed to talk to her about something” feeling, and use the backlog as your personal book of reminders. 9. Log Research.  Some projects just don’t conform to a set timeline. Long-term, ongoing research is one of them. Instead of trying to shoehorn these items into rigid deadlines or constantly rescheduling them, simply set up a backlog of tasks. Log every piece of acquired knowledge as a backlogged task in your "Project Research" folder, then rearrange your tasks to create a mind map. You’ll be able to see all the pieces of the puzzle, make new connections, and organize your thoughts or process. A new breakthrough could be just around the corner! 10. Collect Personal Interests/Reminders.  Keep a running list of potential weekend activities, personal best mile times, good habits you want to pick up — anything that’s ongoing you want to track or be reminded of. I like to keep a task at the top of my backlog widget on my Wrike Dashboard called “Sit Up Straight!” It catches my eye every time I check my Dashboard and reminds me to work on my posture. Once I’ve kicked that bad habit to the curb, I can replace it with a new one.  Your turn! How do you use your backlog? Share your genius tips in the comments!

Sprint to Success with Scrum for Dummies (Book Review)
Project Management 5 min read

Sprint to Success with Scrum for Dummies (Book Review)

While there are plenty of advantages to becoming a Scrum team, transitioning from traditional project management methods to this new Agile methodology has its challenges. Scrum for Dummies presents this process in an easy-to-understand way and guides readers in implementing its strategies with their teams.

Agile Certification Options for Software Developers
Project Management 5 min read

Agile Certification Options for Software Developers

Why pursue Agile certification? Perhaps your employer is requesting it, or you'd like to pump up your resume. Maybe you just want to learn more, or you're getting ready to join an Agile development team.  Whatever the case may be, it's important to note that you don't necessarily need a certification to thrive on an Agile team. After all, credentials alone don't make great programmers, project managers, or Agile practitioners — knowledge, skill, and experience do. But if you're interested in delving deeper into the Agile methodology, learning some high-level applications, and boosting your resume at the same time, certification might be for you. Here's a list of widely recognized organizations offering certification in Agile and its offshoots, Scrum and XP: Agile Agile Certification InstituteTake an exam to prove your Agile expertise and earn one of ACI's 6 professional certifications, including Accredited Agile Practitioner, Accredited Kanban Practitioner, and Accredited Lean Software Development Practitioner.Details: No training necessary; pass the exams and you're certified. You must earn 45 knowledge points every 4 years to maintain certification. International Consortium for AgileChoose from certifications in Agile Programming, Agile Software Design, and Agile Development. Training courses teach participants how to design, develop, and test software while embracing Agile principles like collaboration and adaption to change. In total, ICA offers 13 "Professional" certifications, 8 "Expert" certifications, and 1 "Master" certification (Read the full list of course options).Details: ICA courses typically involve 2-3 days of instruction. Scaled Agile Academy5 certification options, including a two-day Agile Practitioner course that teaches developers to apply Scrum, Lean, and XP-inspired practices to large-scale, Enterprise-level projects.Pre-requisites: 1+ years of experience in software development, testing, business analysis, product management, or project management. Scrum Scrum AllianceLearn the ins-and-outs of Scrum, Scrum software, and the developer's role on the team with the Certified Scrum Developer and certified Scrum product owner program. Take at least five days of formal training from Scrum Alliance REPs, then take the exam to earn certification. (CSD track course list.)Details: Certification is good for two years. Full requirements. Scrum.orgThe 3-day Professional Scrum Developer course sorts students into teams and takes them through the Scrum process, from Scrum tools to completing a sprint to developing software in increments.Prerequisites: Must have studied the Scrum Guide and passed the free Developer and Scrum assessments through Scrum.org's website. Must also have experience with Java and .NET. (Full requirements) International Scrum InstituteComplete their Online Scrum Training Program and take a 50-question, multiple-choice exam to earn the Accredited Scrum Team Member certification.Details: No renewals are required to maintain certification.  ScrumStudy6 certification options, including Scrum Developer Certified. This entry-level certification is designed to teach participants the basics of Scrum so they can fully contribute to their projects and teams.Maintenance: Need to earn 25 re-certification credits every 2 years. Extreme Programming (XP) Agile FAQsThe Extreme Week course is a 5-day workshop for development teams who want intensive, hands-on training in XP. Teams will learn how to self-organize, adapt their designs to changing requirements, and make their development process more efficient.Details: The course is delivered to the team online, so a projector & screen are required, along with a designated space for the team to work together. (Full requirements) ASPE SDLC TrainingThe three-day Extreme Programming Workshop teaches participants the essentials of XP and how to implement it. A combination of lecture and hands-on activities helps teams complete planning, development, and testing for a real software project.Details: Since these labs include live coding, some experience with Java or a similar object-oriented language is required to complete the project. Industrial LogicThe 4-day Extreme Programming Workshop teaches participants core Agile principles, including evolutionary design, customer stories, and development tools and strategies.Details: You’ll need a projector, screen, reliable high-speed internet access, and workstations for your team. (Full requirements) If you hold an Agile certification, hit the comments to tell us about your experience! What courses do you suggest? 

Agile Collaboration in a Virtual World: Takeaways from PMI Global Congress North America
Collaboration 5 min read

Agile Collaboration in a Virtual World: Takeaways from PMI Global Congress North America

With over a third of projects being agile and more work being done by virtual teams, we aimed to look at how project managers can successfully combine the two. Having combined our expertise in managing distributed teams, we came up with a few practical, battlefield-tested tips in the area of communication practices, Web 2.0 tools and beyond, which can help bridge the gap for agile teams working across geographic boundaries. In the first part of the session, Cornelius started with a case study of his own team, spread across 6 countries on 3 continents, and shared which tools and practices help them the most to collaborate efficiently. For instance, according to the experience of Cornelius' team, the best architectures, requirements and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. There's no doubt that virtual teams have some very strong benefits, but there are certain serious bottlenecks, too, like the risk of miscommunication, limited visibility, etc. In my part of the session, I highlighted 5 pain-relievers that help me overcome the most common challenges in managing my team. Some additional tips came up during the Q&A. For example, when your team members speak different languages, don't let accents influence your perception of a professional. This is especially critical in the initial conversations, when team members don’t know each other yet and haven't yet built social and professional trust. Make sure that you give your team members "trust credit" in this initial phase, and always remember that behind that email ID is a real person, who likely works as hard as you do and is as professional as you are. It’s also crucial to remember and respect the cultural differences, and while keeping this in mind, work toward building a shared culture. Last but not least, as with everything else, it’s hard to create an ideal collaboration pattern right from the start. However, if you keep your eyes and mind open, constantly communicate and gather feedback from your team members, you can continuously iterate and improve. Eventually, you'll find your secret sauce for efficient remote teamwork. I believe that one of the main prerequisites for the success of a distributed team is to make sure that everyone is on the same page – not only in terms of the assigned tasks, but also the general vision, applied processes, cultural awareness, information sharing and trust. It’ll be extremely helpful for team members to know not just what to do, but why and what lies ahead. This will help a lot in asynchronous communications, when you’re not immediately available to answer all of their questions and course correct. You have to think and communicate proactively in distributed teams, making sure you’re your team shares the same mission and vision, and understands the goals. So meetings in virtual teams are very important. Not only are they important, they are different, and in the final part of our session Elizabeth named some important techniques for making virtual meetings productive. I’ve posted our joint slide deck on Slideshare, so that you can adapt some of these practical takeaways to your team: Agile Collaboration in a Virtual World: Harnessing Social Media, Web 2.0 and Beyond View more presentations from Wrike com To learn more details about our session and other ones, too, you can also check out recent tweets with the hash tag #pminac. Here are a couple of them: @pm4girls: "Don't just give them tasks, give them reasons to help them understand vision and goals" @wrike talking about empowering teams at #pminac @LewisCindy: From @wrike don't let accents influence emotional feelings about the person. Nice reminder #pminac By the way, Wrike has just opened an interesting survey about remote work and the way workers see its benefits and challenges. I would really appreciate if you could spend a few minutes to have your say in this survey. As soon as we get enough responses, I’ll analyze the results and share them with you.

Scrum in Wrike: making software development more agile
Project Management 5 min read

Scrum in Wrike: making software development more agile

We keep telling you that Wrike is very flexible and easily adjusts to your needs. We told you how you can make your project management mobile with your Blackberry or PDA phone. We also wrote a guide about getting things done with Wrike to make your days more productive. Here we’ll tell you how to use Wrike for the Scrum method, which is gaining popularity with project managers nowadays. The Scrum approach to managing projects is becoming more and more popular. A small, cross-functional team can be much more mobile and agile in producing the best possible results in delivering a project. The Scrum method is based on daily meetings, during which every team member reports on what he has done since the last meeting, notes whether there are any problems and says what he is going to do until the next meeting. This makes management more adaptive to emerging circumstances. Scrum is now successfully applied in various spheres from marketing and finance to medical products development. But first of all, Scrum is applied to management of software development projects. As a lightweight process, Scrum complements agile management practices and makes the process of software project delivery more efficient. But can Scrum be even more agile? Yes, if you use Wrike. With Wrike support, Scrum practices make the team even more productive and reduce project delivery terms dramatically. Customers become a part of the development team: In Wrike you can share your project workspace with your clients so that they can follow every step of the team’s progress and add something on the go. The whole work process is transparent: The tasks on the project are shared among all the team members, Scrum master, stakeholders and clients, so that interested parties know who is responsible for what. Reports on accomplishments and commitments: In Wrike, the workflow process is reflected in detail. When a task is marked completed by any of the team members, all the others get an immediate e-mail notification and can move the project further ahead. There are also e-mail notifications when task attributes are changed by anybody in the team, like when somebody adds comments, attaches files etc. Team members get a chance to quickly react when they are able to promptly receive the necessary information. Development team can contribute directly to project plans: In Wrike, each team member can update his plan. All the other members of the team, as well as clients and stakeholders, will be instantly notified of any changes in the project work. Flexible workplace: Wrike is a web-based service, so project developers can work from any computer with an internet connection. Moreover, they can create and manage tasks just by sending e-mails. So when members of the team are separated by great distances, Wrike still makes Scrum-like process possible. Quick timeline make Scrum planning easier. Wrike allows you to get an overview of the whole project and see who is working on which part of software development. It’s also possible to see what every team member is planning to do next. Wrike is indispensable when projects overlap and developers, Scrum masters or stakeholders participate in several projects. In Wrike, you share different projects with different people and can always quickly find out where any of your projects stand. With multiple overlapping projects, it is vital to get business-value products fast. Scrum methodology allows you to get this product much earlier than the traditional “waterfall” management method. With Wrike support, Scrum helps you to get the best project value in the shortest possible time. If Wrike is a platform for Scrum iterative and incremental practices in your team, you save hours on reporting. Wrike gives every team member an opportunity to be aware of all the changes in the project before the daily meeting. So you go straight to discussion of possible issues. Scrum in Wrike makes the work on a project less bureaucratic and more productive. We developed Wrike to help everybody involved in a project’s development easily communicate and collaborate to move this project ahead faster, bringing more immediate business value to you and your partners.

5 Lessons in Software Project Management from HBO's Silicon Valley
Project Management 5 min read

5 Lessons in Software Project Management from HBO's Silicon Valley

  Are you a fan of Silicon Valley? Turns out, HBO's latest hit is good for more than an entertaining half hour. It's also full of good advice for launching a startup in general and software development projects in particular. (If you’ve never seen the show, here’s a brief synopsis: programmer Richard works at tech giant Hooli by day, and on his side project — a music streaming app called Pied Piper — by night. When it’s discovered that the foundation of Richard's app is a supremely powerful compression algorithm, Pied Piper is suddenly worth millions. He turns down Hooli's offer of $10 million to buy the company, and instead accepts a seed investment of $200,000 to develop and run the company himself. He hires his housemates, Dinesh and Gilfoyle, along with former Hooli staffer, Jared, as his team.) Here are a few lessons we picked up between laughs: 1. Innovation isn't everything.  A cutting-edge program or app is great, but it doesn't guarantee success. As Richard learned the hard way, velocity is key. Hooli was faster to present its reverse-engineered version of Richard's software at TechCrunch Disrupt, making Pied Piper irrelevant before it even launched. It didn't matter that Richard was the original innovator; Hooli executed more efficiently and jumped on market demand. Takeaway: Speed is vital, so get your project out as soon as you have a minimum viable product. Then add the bells and whistles — and only spend your time and energy on features that you're certain customers want. Resist the gold-plating! 2. Deadlines aren't the enemy.  When Richard first discovers he has to unveil his startup at TechCrunch Disrupt to challenge Hooli, slashing his timeline from 5 months to 8 weeks, he has a panic attack. But instead of collapsing in defeat and raising the white flag, the Pied Piper team rises to the occasion and uses the ambitious deadline to buckle down, make their process as lean as possible, and collaborate efficiently. Takeaway: Don’t dread deadlines — let them motivate you. Keep your work organized, refine your process, and stick to essential tasks.  3. Find creative ways to motivate your team.  Tired of team members dragging their feet, accidental project manager Jared tries to pit coders Dinesh and Gilfoyle against each other so they'll work faster. Even though they both recognize Jared's sly tactic, it works. With their newfound competitive spirits, tasks start moving faster and things get done. Takeaway: Have fun with work — channel your team's competitive nature, gamify the process, and inject some laughter into your daily routine. Far from distracting your team, it'll boost productivity.  Image found on Giphy.com; Source: HBO.com 4. Always have a Plan C. You back up your work. You're conservative in setting budgets. But what about employee turnover? Or server failure? Richard's diligent about backing up his code, and yet when contractor "The Carver" is brought in to do Pied Piper's cloud architecture, he ends up trashing everything — including the repository. The Pied Piper team is back to square one, with deadlines looming, and no Plan C to save them. Takeaway: We've said it once, we'll say it again: there is no such thing as "risk-free." You need a risk management strategy. It's not enough to create a thorough project plan and hope for the best. To cover all your bases, read our Ultimate Guide to Project Risk.  5. A talented team is NOT enough. Even if you assemble a dream team that includes top talent, it means nothing if they can't work together. You can't assume your team is collaborating effectively, or even that they're on the same page about responsibilities and timelines. To Richard's dismay, Dinesh and Gilfoyle discover they both completed the same set of tasks, duplicating work and wasting their limited time. Takeaway: Find an online project collaboration tool to help your team delegate tasks and work together. Clear transparency and communication are not optional when it comes to project success, so make sure whatever tool you choose will properly enhance your teamwork.  After battling through these lessons, Richard and the Pied Piper team walk away from TechCrunch Disrupt outshining Hooli with a jaw-dropping compression rate and a buzz-worthy product. If you've seen the show, what software development advice would you give the Pied Piper team? Any other pop culture-inspired management tips to share?  Image Credits: Silicon Valley on HBO.com

The Agile Origins of Project Management 2.0
Project Management 7 min read

The Agile Origins of Project Management 2.0

In my previous post that was also cross posted on CloudAve, I brought up the topic of enterprise agility. My conclusion was: to be agile and adapt quickly to the ever-changing business environment, you need to be able to blend top-down control with bottom-up agility in a "Ying and Yang" style. I also mentioned the latest research, showing that teams that foster a focused, unified dialogue between their members, managers and stakeholders are 250% more likely to thrive in the present economic situation. Less agile teams are 360% more likely to miss millions of dollars in lost opportunities. The idea of constant interaction and collaboration between managers, team members and stakeholders is not new, however. Here I want to write a few words about the origins of this idea, which later became the background for Project Management 2.0. Agile Management Essentials The idea of constant dialogue in project management surfaced in 2001 as one of the principles of so-called agile software development and is described in the Agile Manifesto. According to evangelists of agile methods, cooperation is crucial for the success of a project. Among other key principles of agile lifecycle management are: •    Clear vision of the project •    Fast pace •    Self-organizing teams •    Leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork These principles easily took over the software industry in several years because of the major benefits they bring to companies, such as: •    Increased productivity •    Early return on investment •    Responsiveness to changes in the business environment Perhaps the brightest examples here are Google and IBM. Among others are Verizon, GE Mobile, HP and Rackspace. Now agile methods are used to manage various projects outside of the software development. One of the agile management methods called Scrum is often used as a best practice for managing various complex projects in an iterative fashion, and it is frequently applied to diverse industries and types of projects. Scrum can be used in business development, customer development, marketing projects and even as a general project management framework in industries like finance, telecommunications, automotive, publishing, etc. Sounds great, but can agile methods, or any other type of bottom-up management, be instantly adopted in your company? Probably not. If you have ever tried introducing the best bottom-up practices to your organization, you have most likely found it difficult to do that while utilizing traditional tools for project management. I already wrote about the three major gaps of traditional project management software that make them less useful in an agile organization.Change in Communication The situation is changing, thanks to the transformations going on in how people share and receive information. More methods for the successful implementation of the bottom-up management best practices have emerged. During the past few years, analysts, the business community and the media talked a lot about the companies that try to boost the productivity of their employees by adopting tools like blogs, wikis, podcasts, social networks, etc. It’s not surprising that tech companies lead the way here. For instance, Intel was one of the first enterprises to utilize internal blogging. As far back as 2003, Intel began encouraging employees to communicate with each other by running their own internal blogs. These quickly gained a large following. In 2006, Intel launched the IT@Intel pilot blog, and in 2007 it rolled out a full blog program called Blogs@Intel. Today, through self-managed blogs and networking profiles, employees are encouraged to provide their own views on what’s going on at Intel and in the computer technology world. Intel is not the only example. Non-tech companies caught up very quickly. In April 2006, Intrawest Placemaking, a real estate development firm that operates in North America and Europe, undertook a bold technical initiative focused on empowering individual employees. Today, Intrawest Placemaking's wiki intranet allows practically unrestricted editing for all 250 employees. This has led to a tenfold increase in use over the previous intranet, and some excellent examples of knowledge sharing: One manager created a page with an idea that saved the company $500,000.Web 2.0 for the Enterprise This trend was recognized by technology and business experts, and in 2006, Andrew McAfee, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, coined the term “Enterprise 2.0.” The essential element of Enterprise 2.0 is freeform collaboration. Enterprise 2.0 gives people the capability to create, modify and mange information with ease. Using simple, Web-based tools, relevant and up-to-date knowledge within your organization can be found, tracked and shared efficiently. Leveraging the collective intelligence of employees brings real competitive advantages to organizations. It increases innovation, team productivity and agility. Does it work in the real world? It does, and there are hundreds of examples proving it. Here are some of them: -    Simon Sproule, Nissan’s corporate vice president, is convinced that corporate social networking pays off. He recognized that Nissan’s internal social networking site "makes it easier for employees to tap into the expertise they need to do a better job." -    Euan Semple, former head of knowledge management for the BBC, claimed the organization was getting "enormous benefits" from Enterprise 2.0. He reported to Forrester that BBC had 23,000 bulletin board users, 4,000 wiki users and over 400 people blogging. -    General Electric, the venerable multinational corporation that was founded in 1878 in New Jersey, has at its core a hugely sophisticated enterprise collaboration system that is arguably the largest in the world. GE’s ‘SupportCentral’ users have created over 50,000 communities with over 100,000 experts signed up to answer questions and manage information. The experts are GE workers with full-time jobs who use the system because it helps them do their jobs better. Today, thanks to the influence of Enterprise 2.0 practices, Web 2.0 tools and agile methods, project management is evolving on a broader scale in a diverse set of industries that range from professional services to manufacturing. This evolution is often called Project Management 2.0 Now you are welcome to join the discussion. Why use agile project management?Have you tried managing your projects with agile methods? What tools were you using? Can you name any other trends that influenced the appearance of Project Management 2.0? Please share your thoughts and experience in the comments.

New Wrike: Backlog
Productivity 5 min read

New Wrike: Backlog

Do you see more overdue tasks appear on the dashboard every day, even though you and your team members are working really hard? These days we often have to deal with uncertainty, so it’s not always possible to specify fixed due dates for some tasks. Later, when you don’t meet the set deadlines for these tasks, you need to reschedule them again and again. Maybe there are some items that don’t have an actual deadline. For instance, they can be not actionable items, but valuable ideas to elaborate on sometime in the future. Whether they are tasks or ideas, in order to prevent them from slipping out of your sight, you need to record them in your plan. In a multitasking environment, it’s hard to keep them all in your head when it’s overloaded with information. Occasionally, you may miss something important in the workflow under such pressure. To free your brain from the pressure of remembering too many things and to avoid stress, you need to get the ideas and tasks with no deadlines in safe storage as soon as they pop up. After you and your team cope with urgent matters, you can then turn to that list to develop your ideas or tackle some action item. Now Wrike allows you to keep these items neatly organized, so that none of them gets lost. If you use the new beta version, you may have noticed that now the tasks can not only be planned for exact dates or set as milestones, but also marked as “Backlogged.” Let us give you a view into this new, important feature of Wrike project management software.  Generally, a “backlog” is an accumulated list of work that still needs to be done. In terms of Getting Things Done (GTD), a personal productivity methodology that can be rolled out companywide with Wrike, a backlogged task can be defined as an item from the Someday/Maybe list. It means it’s a task that you will possibly pick up and complete sometime in the future. Backlogged tasks have no start date and due date. Backlogged tasks are not tied to the timeline and not visible on it. In the new version of Wrike, backlogged tasks are shown on a separate widget of the dashboard, so that you have a clear overview of them and don’t miss any item in the workflow. However, Wrike doesn’t include backlogged tasks in the daily to-do emails. To see the tasks marked as backlogged in a certain folder, hit the “Backlog” button. Then you can easily rank your tasks by priority using drag-and-drop. As simple to implement as it sounds, this feature is a powerful tool that will help you to turn a long, messy list of unsorted tasks and ideas into a valid, agile plan. You can change the sorting order whenever your priorities change.  With the new backlog feature, you take the load of too many things to remember off your brain. Wrike takes care of them and remembers them for you. You and your team members can store and prioritize the types of product backlog items in your workflow, gaining a clearer sense of what to focus on while moving toward your goals. In addition to a personal backlog, Wrike also allows you to accommodate backlogs for your projects, products, departments, etc.  Thus, this feature not only boosts your personal productivity, but turns into a very helpful tool for building your long-term strategies. For instance, you can record all your ideas about the future development of your product in the backlog. Keeping them in a neat, prioritized list that is not tied to inflexible or unfeasible deadlines, you can build a transparent roadmap of your product development and tackle the items one by one when the right time comes. Try the new product backlog templates and gain extra bonus points on your efficiency! 

Can you Become Agile, When Managing Projects the Top-Down Style?
Project Management 5 min read

Can you Become Agile, When Managing Projects the Top-Down Style?

Before, but recently, I came across some very interesting research data, so I decided to give this topic a different angle, taking the present economic conditions into consideration. The ups and downs of our economy are enough to make any executive dizzy. Just look at U.S. Steel (X). In the second quarter of 2008, the company achieved record profits, yet in November, executives laid off 675 workers and postponed the construction of a new $450 million plant. When the economy weakens, leaders are forced to link expenses to revenues. To accomplish this, they instinctively impose top-down, across-the-board solutions. Unfortunately, the latest research shows that this common strategy results in a 50-50 chance of damaging the company's long-term ability to thrive. Nevertheless, there are organizations that shine in changing financial conditions. The most agile companies that are able to quickly shift resources and employees to meet changing demands find millions of dollars in savings and often emerge stronger. The meaning of “agility” First of all, what does it mean to be “agile”? Enterprise agility (business agility) is a company's ability to rapidly and cost-efficiently recognize changes and adapt to them. In short, to be “agile” means to be able to make the right decisions and implement them fast. Making the right decisions is impossible without having real-time visibility into your company and the complete picture of your projects. Without this visibility, it would be like driving in the fog. You’re not sure what’s ahead of you, but you have to keep driving. That’s why you need the information that is in the minds of the employees dispersed across the organization. You need the knowledge coming from bottom-up. A constant dialogue between leaders, team members, stakeholders and clients is crucial. This fact is proven by the research conducted by Joseph Grenny, the co-author of three immediate New York Times bestsellers: “Influencer,” “Crucial Conversations,” and “Crucial Confrontations.” During the last quarter of 2008, in the thick of the financial downturn, Grenny and his colleagues studied more than 2,000 managers and executives from more than 400 different companies. The results were remarkable. The researchers found that teams that foster focused, unified dialogue are 250% more likely to survive. Less agile teams are 360% more likely to miss millions of dollars in lost opportunities. Is bottom-up the right solution? So if an enterprise wants to adopt the Agile project management lifecycle, should it use bottom-up management? Indeed, besides being a great way to get knowledge from the experts at the team level, the bottom-up approach to management on the whole, and to project management in particular, has a number of advantages. One of them is that it empowers team members to think more creatively. They feel involved into the project development and know that their initiatives are appreciated. The team members’ motivation to work and make the project a success is doubled. Yet, we all know that the bottom-up approach is often criticized for a lack of clarity and control. To be able to execute your decisions fast, you need to keep a tight, top-down control on operations. Otherwise, you may miss an important opportunity. What’s the right solution then? The best way is to find a balance between the two and take the best practices from both of them. I once wrote a post about taking the best from the two approaches (bottom-up and top-down) to project management. So to be agile, you need to be able to blend top-down control with bottom-up agility in a "Ying and Yang" style. Later in this blog, I’ll continue to develop my ideas on how this can be done by upgrading your project management practices to “Project Management version 2.0.” Now, I’d love to hear your thoughts and answers to the following questions: •    Is agility important? •    How can we make a company more agile? •    Do project management practices influence the overall enterprise agility? •    Have you tried blending top-down and bottom-up in project management? Jump into the comments section and share your vision.

A Guide to Writing an Effective Requirements Management Plan
Project Management 7 min read

A Guide to Writing an Effective Requirements Management Plan

More than 80% of project managers and team leaders believe that process requirements don’t articulate the needs of the business. This can lead to a higher project failure rate. The solution? Learn how to define requirements for a project with a requirements management plan that aligns business and project values that your entire team can get behind.  In this post, we’ll explore how to define requirements management. Then, we’ll cover some tips for creating an ideal process, how to track and monitor it once it’s live, and how Wrike’s project management solution can supercharge your own successful requirements management plan.  What is requirements management? Requirements management is a list of policies and tasks that must be adhered to or completed throughout an entire project. These policies and tasks are dictated by the overall needs of the business, the solution for the problem your project attempts to solve, and the expectations of key stakeholders when starting a new project.   While it does not include every project step, it does cover all the information coming in from relevant outside sources and will heavily influence how you plan the rest of the project.  A product requirements document example collects all of this information into one organized place. It also solves potential requirements conflicts between sources and acts as a guideline for project planning.  Tips for creating the ideal requirements management process Here are some basic, yet highly effective, tips for creating the ideal requirements management process needed to align objectives with action:  Communicate, communicate, communicate. Keep all requirements management details in a single, accessible space where all contributors can view, edit, and comment.  Stay flexible. Business goals may change, client needs might evolve, and stakeholders can pivot to new strategies overnight. Make sure your requirements management process is malleable. Create one or more fail-safe plans for issues you anticipate.  Connect action to a purpose. Make sure that every item on your requirements management plan includes information on who authorized it, why it’s important, and what its completion status is in real-time.  Requirements tracking and monitoring A requirements management plan needs constant evaluation. Keep track of any change requests, delayed tasks, or active policies at every phase of the project. The best way to do this is by establishing a personal check-in system for yourself and your team.  First, review your requirements management plan at least once a week after it’s first created. Then, schedule periodic check-in meetings throughout the project lifespan with key decision-makers who contributed to it.  Next, decide which KPIs you’ll use for individual tasks and policies. Add these to your shared plan and assign specific team members to approve or deny the measurements so that you’re all on the same page regarding expectations.  Finally, set a priority for each of your requirements so that team members are empowered to make informed decisions on the fly when conflicts come up.  How to manage requirements in the middle of a project Mitigate the risk of scope creep by coming up with a contingency plan for how you’ll manage requirements in the middle of a project. Set up an approval process with your team leads to accept or deny new requirements as they come in after the start of a project. Use project management software to reassign workloads, forecast possible roadblocks, or adjust timelines whenever necessary.  How to ensure requirements have been met: Ensure requirements have been met with this simple checklist that will help give you a comprehensive look at what went right (or wrong):  Hold a formal review meeting to go over the requirements management plan with decision-makers at every key milestone.  Poll or interview decision-makers and project teams separately to gauge their perception of the plan’s success.  Ask teams for honest feedback on process improvements moving forward.  Review which requirements tasks were completed to see if they were done on time and within the given parameters (such as a budget).  Go over policies with team leads to get their insight on which were followed, which were not, and why some worked better than others for their unique group.  How Wrike helps with requirements management As we’ve seen throughout this guide, project management is the key to writing an effective requirements management plan. Wrike assists with all of the above tips and suggested steps for any stage of the requirements management process.  Here are some highlights of how Wrike can help set your plan up for success:  Use a waterfall process or an Agile framework. Turn a complex set of requirements into an organized plan of action through task assignments, collaborative notes, file sharing. Choose a top-down process or set up a flexible Agile system to handle all the moving parts.  Set priorities for each requirement. Not only will this allow team members to make decisions about conflicting requirements, but it will also create an order of operations for tasks.  Send instant updates to decision-makers. Task dependencies automatically notify selected team members about the next steps (such as approvals) for a more streamlined communication system.  Monitor progress, KPIs, and more in real-time. Wrike’s illustrative timelines, graphs, charts, and other visualizations help users check in on requirements goals throughout every phase of the project.  Directly loop in key stakeholders using @ mentions. Quickly catch up key stakeholders on important discussions and developments by adding them to conversations right within Wrike. This helps save time you normally would spend going over details from email chains they weren’t part of.  Bring in corporate leaders to verify the connection between big picture business goals and individual projects. Go out of your way to ask questions and solicit feedback from decision-makers early on to eliminate costly changes down the road.  Create a requirements management plan that exceeds expectations Requirements management plans collect, organize, and track the policies and tasks assigned to a project by key decision-makers. To ensure your requirements management plan is successful, set up tracking and monitoring systems that allow you to evaluate progress at every stage of the project.  Check out Wrike’s two-week free trial to see how effective our project management tool is at helping you create and maintain a requirements management plan worth investing in. 

Learn How to Get the Most out of Wrike's Backlog Feature
News 3 min read

Learn How to Get the Most out of Wrike's Backlog Feature

We regularly release tutorial videos to help you learn how to use Wrike project management software. Recently, we released a new video that teaches you how you can easily adapt your plans in Wrike to the fast-changing business environment! The new video describes how to make the best use of Wrike’s Backlog feature. It tells you how tasks in your backlog are different from usual ones; and how to create, manage and prioritize tasks. In this tutorial, you will see examples of how useful the backlog can be for scheduling and assigning tasks to your peers. You can use Wrike’s Backlog feature in many ways – to manage agile development teams, store important ideas, prioritize product requirements, or even create your personal backlog. Watch this new tutorial and see how to save time and make scheduling and prioritizing even easier! Watch the other tutorials at the top of Wrike’s help page.

Should Your Business Go Agile? (Infographic)
Project Management 3 min read

Should Your Business Go Agile? (Infographic)

Agile is everywhere. It’s more than a software development method — it’s become an ideology. What started as an approach to managing single projects is now a set of guiding principles for cutting-edge businesses. An Agile business doesn’t just endure change, it embraces change as an integral part of its business strategy. And in doing so, it can instantly take advantage of new opportunities and capitalize on sudden trends. So what are the benefits of Agile? This infographic covers the top reasons businesses adopt Agile strategies, the most common obstacles and concerns, and the biggest benefits. The Agile Enterprise 37% of survey respondents say they chose Agile to accelerate time to market. 36% cite the ability to adapt to changing priorities as the main reason they went Agile. 27% adopted Agile in order to increase productivity. Top barrier to Agile adoption is an unwillingness to change organizational structure. 66% of businesses say Agile increases their velocity and helps them complete projects faster than before. Check out the infographic for additional details, including the average size of companies using Agile, common concerns, Agile management and business strategies, and more. Source: Gist Are you considering Agile for your next project? We’ve got some helpful resources for you! Learn the ins and outs of Agile with our Quick-Start Guide to Methodologies, and get the essentials on the most popular Agile approach.

Fundamentals of the Scrum Methodology
Project Management 5 min read

Fundamentals of the Scrum Methodology

Kanban, Lean project management, Six Sigma, Scrum… there are a mountain of Agile methodologies to choose from. And if you’re new to project management, it can be a lot to take in. You may know that Scrum is one of the most common approaches to Agile project management, but what is it exactly? (Besides a group of scuffed-up rugby players, that is.) Scrum is an approach to managing complicated projects that may have to adapt to changes in scope or requirements. By emphasizing productivity, focus and collaboration, Scrum teams build high-quality deliverables quickly and can more easily adapt to change. Curious about how it all works? Read on for an introduction to Scrum. The Process When a customer (internal or external) comes to the team with a certain need, the final product is broken up into individual chunks. (Traditionally this has been a software need, but the process also works for any project that is comprised of multiple stages and pieces, such as a marketing launch.) The pieces are prioritized and tackled in a series of short bursts called sprints. Teams can determine their own sprint length, provided it’s less than 4 weeks (one to two weeks is common). At the end of each sprint, the team delivers a product increment — essentially, a version of the product that could be shipped if necessary. Transparency is a key principle in Scrum, so teams and stakeholders review the results of each sprint together. This ensures everyone's on the same page about priorities and deliverables, and any adjustments can be made right away. Teams promote internal transparency through daily standups. During these brief, 15-minute meetings, everyone reports what they accomplished yesterday, what they plan to work on that day, and any current “impediments" (factors that are keeping them from working more efficiently). This visibility helps uncover problems and bring them to the forefront quickly, so the team can tackle and overcome them together. Who’s Who: Scrum Roles There are three main roles in Scrum: the product owner, the scrum master, and the development team. Product Owner: Product owners represent the customer's interests. They decide what the team will work on next, so the team's efforts stay focused on high-priority tasks that create the most value. The Kanban product owner must always be available to provide input or guidance to the development team, although it's important to note that product owners are not managers — scrum teams self-organize. Scrum Master: The Scrum master's #1 goal is to help the development team be self-sufficient. Scrum masters intercept and remove barriers to team progress, and act as a buffer between the team and any outside forces that might interfere with productivity. S/he leads daily standup meetings, so while the product owner is responsible for what the team will produce, the scrum master oversees the how. Development Team: Development teams are made up of cross-functional team members, so the group has all the necessary skills to deliver the final product. The team focuses on only one project at a time; members don’t multitask or split their efforts between multiple projects. Once the product owner makes an ordered list of what needs to be done, the development team decides how much they can complete in a single sprint and plan accordingly. You may have heard the words "pig" and "chicken" tossed around in conversations about Scrum. If so, you may be asking yourself, what do farm animals have to do with software development? Within the development team, members are assigned roles as either pigs or chickens. A pig is the person responsible for the completion of a specific task. They're the ones "risking their bacon." Chickens may be involved in the task, but are not ultimately responsible. Only pigs can speak about their tasks during daily standup meetings; chickens just listen. Core Values As an Agile framework, Scrum shares the values of the Agile Manifesto. But it also creates its own guidelines. These are the five golden rules in Scrum: Openness: Scrum sees collaboration as the most effective way to create the best possible product. So teamwork and transparency are essential. Rather than anxiously downplaying  problems, Scrum team members are open about their progress and any roadblocks they encounter. Focus: With Scrum, multitasking is out. Since productivity is key, splitting the team’s attention across multiple projects, or redirecting their efforts mid-sprint by shifting priorities, is avoided at all costs. Instead, teams concentrate on the task at hand for the highest velocity and best quality product. Courage: Teams must have the tenacity to commit to an ambitious (but attainable) amount of work for each sprint. Scrum masters must also be able to stand up to stakeholders if necessary, and the product owner must guide the development team with authority. Commitment: Each sprint is itself commitment: teams must agree on what they’re going to accomplish and stick to it. This value is reflected in each team’s unique “Definition of Done,” a list of criteria to determine whether a feature or deliverable is truly finished — that it’s not only fully functional, but meets the team’s standards for quality. Respect: In the service of true collaboration, roles and responsibilities are transparent. Each member of the team is respected equally, regardless of job description, seniority, or status. The development team must honor the product owner’s authority in deciding what the team works on, and the product owner needs to respect the team’s need follow whatever work process is best for them. Now that you've got the basics, are you curious about the pros and cons of Scrum (and other top project management methodologies, such as Kanban vs. Scrum)? Wondering what are the 5 Scrum ceremonies? Read our Quick-Start Guide to Project Management Methodologies and you'll be an expert in no time!

Agile Software Project Management Event: The APLN Seattle Leadership Summit
News 3 min read

Agile Software Project Management Event: The APLN Seattle Leadership Summit

. It will be held in Seattle from July 17 - 18. The Summit promises to be an interactive event, with topics including Scrum, agile program management, the software development triangle, collaboration games and many others.

Application Programming Interface (API), Explained
Collaboration 5 min read

Application Programming Interface (API), Explained

An application programming interface (API) is the interface that allows two independent software components to exchange information. Let's take a look at how the small but mighty API can be used to connect virtually any processes.

8 Attitudes Guaranteed to Sink Your Agile Projects
Project Management 3 min read

8 Attitudes Guaranteed to Sink Your Agile Projects

  There's a glut of articles and advice about Agile floating around online. Adoption patterns, education plans, and implementation methodologies abound. But there’s a big difference between doing Agile and being Agile. If your team simply adopts Agile rules without the mindset, you’re going to have Agile challenges. We've done the research and studied the pitfalls for you so you can help your team start sprinting successfully. Your team may still be clinging to deeply embedded behaviors and perspectives that can inhibit your project's success. Here are 8 thought patterns that need to change for Agile to be successful: "I can't ask for help." People are naturally reluctant to admit they're having trouble. But if the team doesn't know what other members are struggling with, problems escalate until it's too late to fix them. Encourage teammates to be open about challenges and admit when they don’t know the best course of action. "I need to do this myself if it’s going to be done right.” Agile is rooted in collaboration. You can't have a team of lone rangers taking charge of tasks independently without involving their colleagues. “This isn’t in my job description." Your job title and defined responsibilities don't matter in the Agile methodology. (Hence the use of "team members" in place of individual job titles.) What matters is what you can do well and how you can contribute to the project. “This project is done, so I don’t have to think about it anymore." Agile teams are constantly inspecting and evaluating what they do—and what they’ve done—for lessons on how they can improve. “If I share my ideas, I might not get credit for them." If your Agile team is going to be effective, everyone needs to get in the habit of actively sharing knowledge to foster genuine collaboration and innovative thinking. Individual credit is not the goal. Project success is. “I need to stay focused and block out anything that’s not directly related to my work." With Agile, not all interruptions are bad; some are helpful! Stay plugged in to what’s going on with your teammates so you can pitch in or improve your own work through their experience. "Unstructured = unproductive." Agile embraces the apparent chaos that comes with short sprints and changing parameters. Free form can also mean the freedom to capitalize on unexpected opportunities. “Failure is the worst thing that can happen." Agile recognizes failure as an opportunity to strengthen your team and your end product, not something that should be dreaded or downplayed. If your team is pushing itself to create truly great, innovative stuff, failure is a valued part of the process.   It's important to note that it’s not just your team that needs to adopt new perspectives— you’ll have to change your management mindset too. Your team needs the freedom to "figure it out" for themselves during sprints, so don't dictate their every step. But you shouldn't be completely hands-off, either: you still need to provide guidance and support. Focus on enabling your team and eliminating any roadblocks standing in their way. What tips do you have for successfully leading Agile teams? Share your experience in the comments!