Blog

  • Are my user stories too long?

    Are my user stories too long?

    As a Product Owner its tempting to try and capture as much detail as possible on a user story. I might start with a simple requirement, but then end up adding loads of additional information! Of course, we all know that a user story, at its essence is just meant to be a statement in…

    Continue reading

  • How can a Product Owner be on multiple teams?

    How can a Product Owner be on multiple teams?

    In an ideal world, there should be one Product Owner for one agile development team or squad. Or at a stretch, maybe one Product Owner for two teams, if they’re working on the same backlog. At the moment, I’m not in that ideal world. My current project has five squads working on different epics, and…

    Continue reading

  • Equifax does Countdown Champions

    Equifax does Countdown Champions

    We had good fun in the office this week playing “Equifax does Countdown”, our take on the popular Channel 4 daytime TV show. I joined with fellow Product Owner Iain to form winning team that granted us the temporary ownership of the teapot trophy.

    Continue reading

  • Being both Product Owner and Scrum Master

    Being both Product Owner and Scrum Master

    The Scrum Master for my team left for a new role at the end of August, and since then we’ve been without a dedicated Scrum Master. My role is that of the Product Owner, but in the past I’ve covered some of the duties of the Scrum Master (keeping the show on the road) during…

    Continue reading

  • Singing for Pope Francis

    Singing for Pope Francis

    On Saturday 26th August, I joined the Mornington Singers as the anchor choir on stage for the World Meeting of Families Festival of Families concert in Croke Park.

    Continue reading

  • Blockers to getting a story ready

    Blockers to getting a story ready

    I like that we have a Definition of Ready for our stories. As a Product Owner it gives me confidence that I’ve done my job properly in analysing and communicating the requirements, and also that the team is ready to hit the ground running when the sprint starts. Lately, however, it’s been more of a…

    Continue reading