"In too many engineering teams, sprint planning and daily standup are centered on the sprint board and backlog. Stories (tasks) are the focus of attention; discussions are focused on achieving pointing targets, the mechanics of how to achieve a particular task, or dependencies and sequencing. The problem is that teams lose sight of the forest for the trees. We forget that stories are only a crude approximation of the work needed to finish an initiative; and more importantly, that the work only matters when it has delivered end value."
I disagree with the author on the point of standups - they're not big-picture strategic sessions; they're about short-term, tactical planning. What work are you going to do today? Are you blocked by anything?
That's not to say that the big picture should be forgotten, but it's wildly impractical to do an initiative-level review every single day.
I disagree with the author on the point of standups - they're not big-picture strategic sessions; they're about short-term, tactical planning. What work are you going to do today? Are you blocked by anything?
That's not to say that the big picture should be forgotten, but it's wildly impractical to do an initiative-level review every single day.