We’ve been doing lots of cooking and baking today. I started by making the stuffing and cranberry sauce for tomorrow’s turkey, both based on recipes from Gary Rhodes. When I was finished, I passed the baton to Birgit and Liam who baked Bratapfelkuchen.
In between we’ve been decorating the Christmas tree and listening to Jethro Tull’s “The Christmas Album”.
The Christmas spirit is rising! Merry Christmas!
I was listening to the radio this morning and had to go and do something else for a few minutes. I reached for the pause button – until I realised that this was live radio and not a podcast! Either an indication that I’ve been listening to too many podcasts or that podcasts are becoming more important to me than radio (or both).
If only I could get the Archers as a podcast, I would be largely free of normal radio (apparently not possible because of a rights issue). Although the Archers can be obtained through the BBC Radio Player which can be paused.
About Skype: “Offers 12 Months of Unlimited Skype Calls to Any Phone
Within the US and Canada for a Flat Annual RateSAN JOSE, Calif., December 13, 2006 %u2013 Skype, the global Internet communications company, is now offering U.S. and Canadian consumers the new Skype Unlimited Calling plan, a paid annual subscription service that allows registered users to make 12 months of unlimited SkypeOut%u2122 calls to any phones within the U.S. and Canada.”
When I first saw the headline I thought that this might apply worldwide. This looks like a fantastic offer for those in North America but how about a similar deal for other territories? I would even pay more (say 30 Euros for an annual subscription) for a European Union wide SypeOut flatrate.
My favourite German language podcast, Schlaflos in München, is back after a break of almost 3 months. Annik Rubens (nom de pod), its creator, took a break after 400 episodes of the original SiM.
Unlike the original, which was released on most weekdays, the new format is weekly and divided into different sections such as “Der Mann der Woche” and “Ratlos in München”. Two episodes have appeared already and so far I like it very much. The same wonderful voice with a new sense of purpose.
I’m in Munich again visiting my major new agile enablement client. Today we discussed the most likely candidate for a pilot project, the makeup of the team (4 developers, 1 tester, the customer, the ScrumMaster and myself as coach and mentor) and Sprint 0 activities. These will include training the team, establishing the development and test environment and preparation of the initial product backlog etc.
Over the next few months, we’re going to have to solve some tough issues concerning how to integrate the agile team into the wider organisation. Today showed that key people are really committed to making this a success and I’m very much looking forward to working with this team. Sprint 0 will kick-off in January.
As part of this engagement, I’ll be facilitating a Scrum quick start, something that I’ve facilitated for several teams recently. This combination of customised training and facilitation is a very effective means for helping a Scrum team go from zero to starting their first Sprint, and hence starting to deliver business value, within days. I’m combining the quick start with ongoing coaching and mentoring which means that I’m there to support the team and other stakeholders when needed. I have some capacity free – please contact me if interested.
Technorati Tags:
agile, scrum, Scrum quick start
The demand for agile method consultancy seems to be growing. I’ve secured two new clients during the last two weeks: one in Stevenage, UK and the other one in Munich, Germany.
This week I’m with the UK client, doing a Scrum Quick Start. Last week I introduced agile to some of the key stakeholders. Today, I’ve taught Scrum to the project team (two sessions of about 15 people each, with a mixture of business and developers). Definitely a good bunch of people and I think that they have an excellent chance of making this a success.
Tomorrow, I’ll be facilitating their first Sprint planning meetings and on Wednesday the teams will be starting their first Sprint. A Scrum of Scrums approach will be used to help coordinate the activities of the four Scrum teams. I’ll be supporting the teams with regular visits over the next few weeks. It should be an interesting engagement.
I’m also gearing up for my Munich engagement. Over several months I’ll be helping a household name select a pilot project and then transition to agile (again Scrum based).