The Mountain Goat Software Blog

The Sprint Goal: What It Is and How It Can Help

Sprint goals are something every Scrum team should try to create. Learn what sprint goals are and what a good sprint goal looks like.

Why Sustainable Pace Is So Important to Agile Teams

It isn’t just people who benefit when teams work at a sustainable pace. Overall velocity is higher and defect counts are lower. Find out why.

Definition of Ready: What It Is and Why Its Dangerous

This post explains how to use a Definition of Ready successfully and avoid it becoming a first step back toward a waterfall process.

What Product Owners Do & 7 Mistakes to Avoid

Learn what good product owners do to avoid 7 common product owner mistakes.

User Story Template: What It Is and Why It Works So Well

The standard “As a...I...so that…” user story template is a way of expressing product backlog items. Learn what the three-part user story format is, more about the questions it…

Agile Teams: Concurrent Engineering & Overlapping Work

Overlapping work is one element of agile that is difficult for teams to understand and master. Discover three things agile teams can do to make it easier.

Don’t Call the Scrum Police: Agile Rules Are Rare

Mountain Goat Software announces ScrumPolice.com, a mock website based on a very real issue: Too many people believe that agile is about rules, rather than recommendation. Get in on the fun…

Agile Requirements Gathering: Three Types of Requirements

Deadlines are often missed because teams fail to consider emergent requirements. Learn about the 3 types of requirements your agile team should be gathering.

Why I Don’t Emphasize Sprint Goals

Sprint goals are considered a mandatory part of Scrum. Here’s why I disagree.

How to Run a Successful User Story Writing Workshop

What you need to know to conduct a story-writing workshop with your team.

What Is Cross-Functional Collaboration in Agile?

Perhaps the most prevalent and persistent myth in agile is that a cross-functional team is one on which each person possesses every skill necessary to complete the work. This is simply not true. A…

Be a Great Product Owner: Six Things Teams and Scrum Masters Need

Learn six ways effective product owners ensure their teams’ success.

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