Articles

Just Another F’ing Agile Conference

Mar 16, 2017  ·  Brenda Leeuwenberg

It’s a funny thing, the Agile world. Globally accepted as the right and logical way to do things most of the time, it is still pretty much in the ramping up phase in Aotearoa. Nomad8 started out in 2007 as a group of people who loved Agile and who wanted to share that love with people and organisati... continue reading

Helping Teams Deal with Conflict

Mar 15, 2017  ·  Tony O'Halloran

The retrospective ended with two team members storming out of the room in opposite directions, two others toe-to-toe in heated dispute and Leah, the Product Owner handing out orders to whoever would listen. I started to realise how stuck this team actually was... Over the few previous days I’d witne... continue reading

Breaking Bad: The cult of not giving bad news

Jan 09, 2017  ·  Anthony Boobier

This post was originally published in Methods & Tools magazine as Breaking Bad: The cult of not giving bad news. I have updated it since then and re-published here as I have collected more learnings since then. It stemmed from something I kept observing, which really bothered me; why is it so ha... continue reading

Time for a Change in Principles?

Oct 07, 2016  ·  Tony O'Halloran

As Agilists, our principles and values underpin the way we work and decisions we make. A good principle should be timeless and non-prescriptive enough to be valid across many contexts, but specific enough to add practical value and help us make decisions. I feel that one Agile Manifesto principle in... continue reading

Giving teams the best start

Sept 20, 2016  ·  Sandy Mamoli

How you kick-off a team is important! In fact it’s so important, that when you get it right your team can perform up to 30% better. That's what research by J. Richard Hackman tells us and it’s certainly consistent with my own observations. What exactly is a kick-off? A kick-off is a series of meetin... continue reading

Is Talking to Users Enough?

Aug 23, 2016  ·  Tony O'Halloran

Recently a friend of mine formed a startup with a goal of making the One-On-One Meeting an easier and more valuable process. Their aim was to help managers and their direct reports easier handle the goals and issues that arise from these sessions. The assumption they made was that their customers (p... continue reading

Everyone needs Kanbanfor1

Jul 11, 2016  ·  Sandy Mamoli

I've never met someone who doesn’t have a problem managing their time. We all wish there were more hours in the day! While we can’t add extra hours to the day, we can find ways to be more effective with the time we have. Experience and research show that the best way to do this is to: stop multi-ta... continue reading

Video: Self-Selection at Agile Australia 2016

Jun 26, 2016  ·  David Mole

This year's Agile Australia conference was an absolute blast! I loved having the opportunity to catch up with old friends, hang out with my Australian coaching colleagues and to meet new and interesting people. David Mole and Sandy Mamoli gave a talk on self-selection and creating great teams in Mel... continue reading

Self-selection on a Page

Jun 14, 2016  ·  Sandy Mamoli

Everything you need to know about Self-Selection on a page. Download the quick overview guide. Download the Self Selection On A Page If you'd like to know more get our book "Creating Great Teams - How Self-Selection Lets People Excel".... continue reading

Case Study: Xero

May 24, 2016  ·  Sandy Mamoli

Inspired by our squadification experiences at Trade Me and other large companies, Xero set out to try self-selection for themselves. People were asked to figure out who should be in which team and choose who they wanted to work with. Read our interview with Jordan Morris, a software engineer and Agi... continue reading

Case Study: Fairfax Media

May 16, 2016  ·  Sandy Mamoli

Guest post by: Jaume Durany, Agile Coach at Fairfaxmedia. This post originally appeared on fairfaxmedia.co.nz Boundaries are everywhere, always. And, as Jurgen Appelo explains in his book Management 3.0, a complex system can self-organise only when there’s a boundary around it. That is, every outbre... continue reading

Just Another F&#k!ng Agile Conference - We did it!

Apr 29, 2016  ·  Sandy Mamoli

So, we (Nomad8) are now the proud creators of #JAFAC - just a another fk!ng Agile conference, which we ran for the first time on April 22nd and 23rd at GridAKL. It was a conference and an unconference. A day of speakers followed by some food, drinks, music and conversation. Then a day of Open-space,... continue reading

Personal Kanban as an Organisational Lens

Apr 19, 2016  ·  Sandy Mamoli

One of the most useful tools when introducing Agile into an organisation is personal Kanban. It gives me unique insights into an organisation's culture and values, and helps me determine my next steps. As an Agile coach, the process of getting people into personal Kanban facilitates insights into ho... continue reading