The Mountain Goat Software Blog
Blog articles
Does a Scrum Team Need a Retrospective Every Sprint?
Decide how often retrospectives should happen based on sprint length and team needs.
Can a Traditional SRS Be Converted into User Stories?
Decide when an SRS can inform a backlog and when rewriting it into stories helps.
Should You Use Zero-Point Estimates on Your Product Backlog?
Understand when a zero-point estimate is useful and when it hides real work.
Leave Work Unassigned and See Who Steps Forward
Encourage ownership by leaving work unassigned and seeing who steps forward.
Who Can Add Items to the Product Backlog?
Clarify who can add backlog items and how product owners keep control.
Advice for Interviewing ScrumMasters
Ask better questions when hiring or evaluating Scrum Master candidates.
Incorporating UI Design in Agile Sprints
Integrate UI design into sprints while balancing discovery and delivery.
Handling Work Left at the End of a Sprint
Decide what to do when sprint work is unfinished.
An Iterative Waterfall Isn’t Agile
Spot when sprints are masking a waterfall process and how to move toward real agility.
Are 64% of Features Really Rarely or Never Used?
Understand the often-cited “rarely used features” statistic and what product owners should take from it.
Estimates on Split Stories Do Not Need to Equal the Original
Understand why split story estimates do not need to add up to the original.
Not Everything Needs to Be a User Story: Using FDD Features
Know when FDD-style features may work better than forcing every item into a user story.