Comments on: Guest Post: The Cranky Test for Agile Product Managers http://crankypm.com/2009/02/cranky-test-agile-product-managers/ Product management, product marketing, and the ugly side of software product development. Tue, 15 May 2012 21:21:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: DL Cunningham http://crankypm.com/2009/02/cranky-test-agile-product-managers/comment-page-1/#comment-3008 DL Cunningham Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:03:45 +0000 http://crankypm.com/?p=1081#comment-3008 Great article. In Saeed's case, it definitely sounds like somebody out-paced "the clue-train of understanding". With an understanding of velocity (no, it isn't how many hours a team member can work in a day), relative sizing of backlog items (hint: "13.5 hours of dev time" isn't a size), and a prioritized backlog, you can actually estimate a release timeline, given the scope. The problem here was likely compounded by the fact that scrum was new, and velocity had not emerged yet. Great article. In Saeed’s case, it definitely sounds like somebody out-paced “the clue-train of understanding”. With an understanding of velocity (no, it isn’t how many hours a team member can work in a day), relative sizing of backlog items (hint: “13.5 hours of dev time” isn’t a size), and a prioritized backlog, you can actually estimate a release timeline, given the scope. The problem here was likely compounded by the fact that scrum was new, and velocity had not emerged yet.

]]> By: Saeed Khan http://crankypm.com/2009/02/cranky-test-agile-product-managers/comment-page-1/#comment-2941 Saeed Khan Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:42:07 +0000 http://crankypm.com/?p=1081#comment-2941 My most memorable incident related to Agile was that immediately after moving to Scrum, the ability to estimate a release timeline completely vanished from the company. One project manager said (and I'm trying to quote him correctly): "Now that we've moved to Scrum, we will only estimate effort one sprint at a time." I said that's not acceptable. I need to know when the release will be completed. The response: "Well we can release after every sprint so why does it matter?" Argh!!!! Don't these people understand how software companies function? My most memorable incident related to Agile was that immediately after moving to Scrum, the ability to estimate a release timeline completely vanished from the company. One project manager said (and I’m trying to quote him correctly):

“Now that we’ve moved to Scrum, we will only estimate effort one sprint at a time.”

I said that’s not acceptable. I need to know when the release will be completed.

The response:

“Well we can release after every sprint so why does it matter?”

Argh!!!! Don’t these people understand how software companies function?

]]> By: Scott Sehlhorst http://crankypm.com/2009/02/cranky-test-agile-product-managers/comment-page-1/#comment-2938 Scott Sehlhorst Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:05:22 +0000 http://crankypm.com/?p=1081#comment-2938 Glorious? Really? Kick a55! You just made my day. Now I'll just wait with baited breath for <em>CPM Responds to Agile Cranky PM Test (Part 1)</em>. My only addition - if you score 10 or more, you can be justifiably cranky. FWIW, I scored a 40 on that project. Anyone want to guess what happened immediately after 8c? Glorious? Really? Kick a55! You just made my day. Now I’ll just wait with baited breath for CPM Responds to Agile Cranky PM Test (Part 1). My only addition – if you score 10 or more, you can be justifiably cranky.

FWIW, I scored a 40 on that project. Anyone want to guess what happened immediately after 8c?

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