Agility Island - for practitioners & coaches in Product Management, Lean, Agile & Scrum

By John Coleman PKT, PST, LSFT, Thinkers360 top 10

What's Agility Island - for practitioners & coaches in Product Management, Lean, Agile & Scrum about?

Hi, I'm John and I'm passionate about the world of agility, scrum, and kanban. So much so, that I dedicated the last decade and a half of my career to helping organizations and individuals with implementing agility.

Listen to regular nuggets from an active globally recognized practitioner, trainer, and coach in tech and non-tech at the home of authentic agility.

I am a Thinkers360 top 10 agility thought leader, Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer and course steward, co-author of Kanban Guide, Prokanban.org Professional Kanban Trainer and LeSS Friendly Scrum Trainer.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Agility Island - for practitioners & coaches in Product Management, Lean, Agile & Scrum episodes:

01.16.2024
Kanban Series: How to manage discovery and delivery work on a Kanban board
This week, we delve into the key elements of a Kanban board, such as workflow definitions, cycle time, throughput, work item age, and Work-In-Progress (WIP). We break down the types of work—discovery, development, and delivery—and discuss the critical time horizons:...
01.09.2024
Kanban Series: Classes of Service
What are the different classes of service? Should you have classes of service? What are some other options? What does the Kanban Guide say about Classes of Service? Tune in to this week's episode of Agility Island to find out....
09.19.2023
What is a "Funnel" in Kanban?
You may have heard of funnels in Kanban - but what exactly are they? How do they work? How do they change the way we work? Check out my definition of workflow video: https://youtu.be/rmaE7ipr2p0?si=bi6-tRGjJ0OVZTR5 Access the Kanban Guide in OVER 10 language...
08.30.2023
The definition of workflow
Workflows? How are they defined? What policies should you try on your kanban board? Access the Kanban Guide FREE here in over 10 languages: https://kanbanguides.org/ About John Coleman: John Coleman's LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncolemanagilitychef/⁠ John Coleman's website: ⁠⁠https://orderlydisruption.com/⁠ ⁠ Looking to get your Scrum/Agility training? Check out...
08.25.2023
Sizing: the Do's and Don'ts
#agile #scrum #productowner What are some of the things you should TRY and some things you should AVOID when sizing? Try these tips to take your product backlog to the next level! Articles mentioned in this episode: Monte Carlo Probabilistic Forecasting: https://medium.com/agileinsider/is-release-planning-done-in-scrum-managing-stakeholder-expectations-forecasting-c0064371ee64 The...
07.28.2023
Tom Gilb on eliciting what stakeholders need & solving customer problems, opportunities and threats, the principles of success planning & impact estimation tables
Tom Gilb joins me on this week's episode of the Agility Island podcast to discuss what stakeholders need and how to solve solve customer problems, opportunities and threats? On the agenda: 1. How can we, as practitioners, be better at eliciting what...
07.17.2023
Product Management Series: Product Owner vs Product Manager vs Product Leader and the Scrum accountabilities
Witness the power of collaboration as these roles/accountabilities harmoniously converge to create a winning formula. Explore how Product Owners, Product Leaders, and Product Managers align their efforts, leveraging their unique perspectives and skill sets to drive product success. Learn about...
04.13.2023
Product Management Series: What is the difference between product management and scrum?
Scrum: 1. The accountabilities in Scrum 2. Product owner 3. The role of developers in Scrum Product management: 1. Design Lead 2. Tech Lead 3. Product Manager Is there any overlap? Some. About John Coleman: John Coleman's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncolemanagilitychef/ John Coleman's website: https://orderlydisruption.com/ Looking to get your Scrum/Agility training? Check...
04.02.2023
What is throughput in Kanban and how do you measure it?
Throughput is important. But what is it, how do you measure it and what role does value play? Enjoyed this episode? Or perhaps you may have a question? Let's connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncolemanagilitychef/ or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johncolemanagilitychef/?hl=en If you are looking for scrum or kanban training, check...
02.11.2023
The 1 question to figure out where you are in the product life cycle
What if I told you there is one 1 question you can ask to figure out where you are in the product life cycle? Moreover, what if I told you figuring out where you are can tell you the kind...
12.12.2022
Product Owner Coping Strategies
Are you a product owner? Here are some tried and tested product owner coping strategies! 1. Become a developer - 1:33 2. 'Speak now or forever hold your silence' meeting - 2:19 Enjoyed this episode? Or perhaps you may have a question? Let's connect...
11.07.2022
Product Management Series: Different Types of Product Owner
What are the different categories of product owner? This episode goes outlines all the different types of product owners as well as the characteristics/pros and cons of each by considering them against the definition of a product and how you...
10.07.2022
Agility Island: What is Large Scale Scrum (LeSS)?
In this episode, I take you through what Large Scale Scrum precisely consists of, including a breakdown of the sprint retrospectives, product backlog refinement, and the daily scrum. What are the advantages of scaling? I mentioned the article I wrote, comparing...
08.31.2022
Agility Island: Advice I would give my younger self (from an active practitioner and scrum master with 18 years of experience)
The last 18 years working in a range of different industries (ranging from tech to oil, tobacco, etc) have taught me a lot. Today I share some of the advice I would give the version of myself who was just...
07.20.2022
What's the difference between a scrum master and an agile leader?
What is the difference between a scrum master and an agile leader? If you start with the scrum master, what should a scrum master be doing? What would a leader do? In this video I will discuss the difference in...
07.19.2022
Agility Island: leader vs scrum master (scrum master vs agile coach?)
What is the difference between a scrum master and an agile leader? If you start with the scrum master, what should a scrum master be doing? What would a leader do? the difference in the positions of scrum masters and...
07.01.2022
Agility Island - Sustainability
Sustainability should be central to value. Instead of inauthentic greenwashing lets aim to be authentic with our sustainability and truly reduce our impact on the environment. If you truly want to improve your sustainability, consider it in terms of how...
06.27.2022
Setting Expectations In Scrum
When will it be done? How do we manage expectations in scrum? How do we use Monte Carlo probabilistic forecasting and the importance of throughput. My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncolemanagilitychef My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johncolemanagilitychef/ My twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnColemanIRL --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agilityisland/message
06.24.2022
Agility Island - What is a product goal?
The 2020 version of the Scrum guide introduced the notion of ''product goal' but big visions can sometimes be hard for scrum teams to wrap their heads around which can in turn affect empiricism. What is a product goal and...
06.20.2022
Retrospectives and Techniques
On today's episode I take you through some of the techniques from Esther Derby and Diana Larsen's book on Retrospectives such as setting the stage as well as I explain why I think improvements should happen on the spot and...
06.15.2022
Constraints, work capability, throughput & flow
Do you know what your team or team of teams capability to take on work is? How can throughput help? Using real-world examples, this episode aims to outline work capability and throughput. My social media: https://www.instagram.com/johncolemanagilitychef/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncolemanagilitychef http://orderlydisruption.co.uk/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/agilityisland/message
06.13.2022
How do you measure value in scrum?
What is value and how is it measured in scrum? In this episode, I walk you through some types of value such as organizational value, market value, societal value and learning value. I then focus on models such as the WK Kellogg...
05.31.2022
Trust and its impact on the definition of done in scrum
How does trust impact the definition of done? Does low trust affect the definition of done? How can we work on building trust to help our definition of done? You can't see me, but I am adding something in the air....
04.29.2022
What the developers do in the last week of the sprint?
Do you think work should be handed off once it meets the definition of done? On this episode, I talk about how developers should collaborate with the 'testers' and the important role that plays overall. Tune in, you might find...
04.27.2022
Can scrum and agility be scaled and what’s the best way to do it?
In this episode, I talk you through some of the different ways and frameworks you can use to scale scrum and agile. The first rule is of course not scale but if you must, here are some ways to do...
04.25.2022
Value and Kanban: isn't Kanban just about outputs? Isn't Kanban missing a trick with value and organizational capability?
How do we deliver value in Kanban? In this episode, John starts off by talking about by briefly introducing evidence-based management (EBM) and explains its 4 key values: time to market, ability to innovate, current value and unrealized value. John then moves...
04.12.2022
Balancing UX with shipping fast in scrum? A deeper look into each box of the Lean UX canvas - are you doing User Experience the right way?
Is there such thing as balancing UX with shipping fast in scrum? Is there even such thing as shipping fast in scrum? How can we know what is value when we don't know the end-user? What happens in each box of the...
03.30.2022
Daily Flow - dealing with complexity in a Kanban footprint
How can we better deal with complexity in a Kanban footprint? Join me in this short episode to explore how. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/agilityisland/message
03.29.2022
Daily Flow - a story about story points and an alternative, throughput
In this episode, I go through some field stories regarding story points - why you shouldn't use them and offer alternatives. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agilityisland/message
03.29.2022
Daily Flow: Sizing & Forecasting
Popular patterns for sizing including "exact" time/cost, relative, right-sizing, and #noestimates. Popular patterns for forecasting include Gantt charts(ugh!), burnup/down charts(hmmm), and probabilistic forecasting(oooo). An emerging trend is with right-sizing and probabilistic forecasting. It's not all sunshine and honey, context matters,...
11.09.2021
Daily Flow - where does Scrum Master end and agile leader begin
Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:22 scrum master vs agile coach 1:46 The conversations you might have as a leader/scrum master/agility coach 3:48 What I expect a scrum master or agility coach to do 10:00 What about a leader? 13:17 Some things to consider stopping Watch the video...
11.03.2021
Daily Flow: Scrum definition of done for non-software, Kanban board & column exit criteria
Let's focus on non-software - let's consider a people recruitment process as an example. What does "done" mean? Valuable, useful, and usable in Scrum, whatever the organization/team decides it is. "When someone's need was met" in Agendashift. Maybe a near to...
10.29.2021
Daily Flow: Product backlog refinement and why is it encouraged?
Product Backlog Refinement is an activity in (single team) Scrum, with supporting events for multi-team Scrum in Nexus and LeSS. Why is it encouraged? Is there something equivalent in Kanban? 0:00 Introduction 0:27 Product backlog refinement in Scrum 8:03 How...
10.28.2021
Daily Flow: How do projects and Scrum go together?
Projects are artificial constructs to get money to get some work done. Key metric include time, scope, and cost. Products don't have scope. Scrum is for product development and works even better with Lean UX and Kanban as a powerful...
10.15.2021
Daily Flow - what is LeSS and why is it needed?
Daily Flow - what is LeSS and why is it needed? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agilityisland/message
10.05.2021
Daily Flow - all the meetings and no time to get work done
Are you in an agile team? Does it feel like meeting mania? It doesn't have to be. Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:24 Meetings with agile 2:12 Three questions in the Scrum guide 4:04 The situation to strive for 7:13 Sprint planning 10:15 Product backlog refinement 13:50 Having a...
10.01.2021
Daily Flow - a chat with Steve Tendon about constraints in knowledge work
Daily Flow hosts the amazing Steven Tendon to discuss constraints in knowledge work. This episode is packed with fun anecdotes as well as the story of Herbie. Join us in discussing Steve's amazing work in his own Tame Flow. 1:48 - Basics...
07.23.2021
Daily Flow - what to not talk about at the Daily Scrum, what to not do at the Daily Scrum
Remember those three annoying questions? Thank goodness they no longer exist in the Scrum guide. 0:00 Introduction 2:05 Five domains to think about when working on problems... 3:49 What to talk about in the daily scrum 5:15 From a flow perspective... 7:58 Getting...
07.23.2021
Daily Flow - what is Nexus, and why is it needed?
Nexus is Scrum.org's scaling/de-scaling pattern. It's simple and it's practical. 0:00 Introduction 1:03 The cake metaphor 4:55 A basic Nexus 7:58 Why I like Nexus 10:50 Minimising dependencies 12:49 The Nexus daily scrum 15:47 The 2021 update 18:25 A key...
07.22.2021
Daily Flow - what to not talk about at the Daily Scrum, what to not do at the Daily Scrum
Remember those three annoying questions? Thank goodness they no longer exist in the Scrum guide. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dailyflow/message
07.22.2021
Daily Flow - Scrum - How long should our Sprint be?
Two weeks is the most popular sprint length for Scrum teams, so we should use that right? What if we have multiple teams for the product? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agilityisland/message
07.22.2021
Daily Flow - spot the difference - enterepreneurial product ownership & product leadership
On the Xagility ™ podcast at https://anchor.fm/xagility, Marty Cagan explained his view on product ownership & product management, calling it "CSPO pathology". Listen to John Coleman's personal opinion on the following: What does it mean for teams? What does it mean...
07.11.2021
Daily Flow - a chat with Prateek Singh about Work Item Age
Prateek Singh is Director, Business Agility at UKG(Ultimate Kronos Group) Speaker, Blogger, and co-host of the fabulous DrunkAgile podcast. DrunkAgile https://youtube.com/channel/UC758reHaPAeEixmCjWIbsOA --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agilityisland/message
07.11.2021
Daily Flow - a chat about intent with David Nixon
intent and Impulse. Why do we do what we do? What is the narrative that sits behind our actions? Understanding the difference between these two terms and their true meaning is a process of reflection and exploration. Two of the...
07.07.2021
Daily Flow - "take the time it takes so it takes less time" vs "it takes as long as it takes"
Nik Antonelli made John Coleman aware of the expression "take the time it takes so it takes less time"; complexity aside, it's about being able to afford to do it twice when one could have done it properly once. "It...
07.07.2021
Daily Flow - time to think
In another episode, John Coleman talked about "turning off the tap". A few weeks after turning off the tap, work level anxiety can still be high. It can be tempting to re-open the tap before your workload has normalized. Don't....
07.07.2021
Daily Flow - Why I love Scrum with UX
Lean UX was co-created by Joshua Seiden and Jeff Gothelf. Scrum and Lean UX were formally combined in recent years, and John Coleman loves this combination. He refers to it as a heat-seeking missile for value. Find out why. --- Send...
07.07.2021
Daily Flow - let's talk about policies
In Kanban, explicit policies are visible/accessible to Kanban system members. Implicit policies are assumptions, and they might not be shared assumptions. Let's talk about policies. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agilityisland/message
06.22.2021
Daily Flow - Kanban charts basics
Wouldn't know a cycle time scatter plot if it hit you on the head? You're in the right place to look at that and a few other sleep-inducing charts. What a way to start the weekend! --- Send in a voice...
06.22.2021
Daily Flow - What is Kanban?
What is Kanban? John Coleman will refer to https://kanbanguides.org. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agilityisland/message

What's Agility Island - for practitioners & coaches in Product Management, Lean, Agile & Scrum about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Agility Island - for practitioners & coaches in Product Management, Lean, Agile & Scrum episodes:

Kanban Series: How to manage discovery and delivery work on a Kanban board

Kanban Series: Classes of Service

What is a "Funnel" in Kanban?

The definition of workflow

Sizing: the Do's and Don'ts

Tom Gilb on eliciting what stakeholders need & solving customer problems, opportunities and threats, the principles of success planning & impact estimation tables

Product Management Series: Product Owner vs Product Manager vs Product Leader and the Scrum accountabilities

Product Management Series: What is the difference between product management and scrum?

What is throughput in Kanban and how do you measure it?

The 1 question to figure out where you are in the product life cycle

Product Owner Coping Strategies

Product Management Series: Different Types of Product Owner

Agility Island: What is Large Scale Scrum (LeSS)?

Agility Island: Advice I would give my younger self (from an active practitioner and scrum master with 18 years of experience)

What's the difference between a scrum master and an agile leader?

Agility Island: leader vs scrum master (scrum master vs agile coach?)

Agility Island - Sustainability

Setting Expectations In Scrum

Agility Island - What is a product goal?

Retrospectives and Techniques

Constraints, work capability, throughput & flow

How do you measure value in scrum?

Trust and its impact on the definition of done in scrum

What the developers do in the last week of the sprint?

Can scrum and agility be scaled and what’s the best way to do it?

Value and Kanban: isn't Kanban just about outputs? Isn't Kanban missing a trick with value and organizational capability?

Balancing UX with shipping fast in scrum? A deeper look into each box of the Lean UX canvas - are you doing User Experience the right way?

Daily Flow - dealing with complexity in a Kanban footprint

Daily Flow - a story about story points and an alternative, throughput

Daily Flow: Sizing & Forecasting

Daily Flow - where does Scrum Master end and agile leader begin

Daily Flow: Scrum definition of done for non-software, Kanban board & column exit criteria

Daily Flow: Product backlog refinement and why is it encouraged?

Daily Flow: How do projects and Scrum go together?

Daily Flow - what is LeSS and why is it needed?

Daily Flow - all the meetings and no time to get work done

Daily Flow - a chat with Steve Tendon about constraints in knowledge work

Daily Flow - what to not talk about at the Daily Scrum, what to not do at the Daily Scrum

Daily Flow - what is Nexus, and why is it needed?

Daily Flow - what to not talk about at the Daily Scrum, what to not do at the Daily Scrum

Daily Flow - Scrum - How long should our Sprint be?

Daily Flow - spot the difference - enterepreneurial product ownership & product leadership

Daily Flow - a chat with Prateek Singh about Work Item Age

Daily Flow - a chat about intent with David Nixon

Daily Flow - "take the time it takes so it takes less time" vs "it takes as long as it takes"

Daily Flow - time to think

Daily Flow - Why I love Scrum with UX

Daily Flow - let's talk about policies

Daily Flow - Kanban charts basics

Daily Flow - What is Kanban?