Scrum Agile Project Management Expert

Open Source Planning Poker Tools

scrumexpert — Wed, 27 May 2026 10:00:29 +0000

The first thing to say is that the term “Planning Poker®” is a registered trademark of Mountain Goat Software, the Mike Cohn company. This is why this agile planning practice could be sometimes names differently: scrum poker, agile poker, etc. This article presents a list of free and open source planning poker tools and plugins that are also directly available as online tools. Planning poker is originally a card game used by Scrum teams to estimate effort or relative size of user stories or features when during sprint planning. Team members estimates by playing numbered cards face-down to the table. Then the cards are revealed and the estimates are discussed. Discussion is the main interest of playing planning poker, because some developers will share why they vote differently from the consensus. This can be done with paper cards if the team is collocated, but in the case of a distributed Scrum team, you need to use a software to do it. Using a tool also makes it easier to record and remind previous planning estimations. There are many open source implementations of the Agile planning poker practice. I have decided to present only those who have also an online website or that are built as a plugin for another application like Slack, Jira, Trello, Discord or the Azure Boards. If a good tool is missing from this list, do not hesitate to contact us, and we will add it in a future update. Updates May 27 2026 Added: Card Estimator [...]

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Agile in Security and Security in Agile

scrumexpert — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:01:16 +0000

This presentation explores how Agile and security works together in an Agile banking environment. Is security conflicting with Agile methodologies? Scrum or Kanban, which one is better with Agile and fast and secure delivery? The following topics are discussed in this presentation: Looking for ways to improve our delivery securely. Is security a bottleneck? Let’s integrate security in our CI/CD pipelines. Don’t forget about security open source project: OWASP is playing an important role in today security world. We want to deliver software faster and more secure. Video producer: https://www.devoxx.com/

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Play4Agile, Johannesberg, Germany, September 10-13 2026

scrumexpert — Wed, 20 May 2026 07:00:56 +0000

The Play4Agile conference is an event about Agile gamification taking place in Germany. This conference is for Agile, Scrum and Lean coaches, facilitators, game and innovation experts who want to exchange questions, ideas and experiences on using games in Agile project management teams and organizations. Play4Agile follows an unconference format where the participants can create their own conference, proposing their own discussion on Agile topics: sessions, games you want to play, game ideas you want to develop, evening activities. The Play4Agile conference provides an open playground to inspire each other and to learn how using serious games can help us achieve our goals. Play4Agile is a gathering of experienced peers from all over the world to create and play games in an inspiring environment. Web site for the Play4Agile conference: http://play4agile.org/

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Lean, Agile & Scrum Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, August 27 2026

scrumexpert — Wed, 20 May 2026 06:00:06 +0000

The Zurich Lean, Agile & Scrum Conference (LAS) is a conference taking place in Zurich, Switzerland. It focuses on Lean and Agile approaches for software development like Scrum and Kanban. The conference provides both German and English content. In the agenda of the Zurich Lean, Agile & Scrum Conference you can find topics like “Can AI Kill Agile? The Rise of AI and teh Future of Agile Leadership”, “Organizational Smells and What to do about them”, “Successful teams through self-selection”, “Agile, 18 Years Later”, “Methods kill innovation”, “Multiple Selves?! Growing leaders applied”, “Is the agile culture the soil for diversity?”, “Making decisions as a team”, “Enterprise Agility with Beyond Budgeting, Open Space & Sociocracy”, “Risk and the Agile Organisation”, “Cynefin Applied”, “From Goal to Code”, “Agree or Disagree, but Commit”, “Facilitation Dojo”, “Process- and Team-Performance”, “Transforming your Culture with Working Agreements”, “Storytelling in a Technical World”. Web site for the Zurich Lean, Agile & Scrum Conference: https://www.lean-agile-scrum.ch/

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Sacred Agile: Religious Approaches to Software Development

scrumexpert — Tue, 12 May 2026 16:19:04 +0000

You know that when you deal with this type of topic, you are writing about a touchy subject. When I write that Agile has sometimes been sacralized, my aim is not to hurt any religious or philosophical belief, but rather to see how men behave when adopting new ideas. Raised as a catholic, what will follow is mainly comparison of the respective adoption patterns of Christian and Agile, but I think that it might apply to other philosophical and technological approaches. Ultimately, my conviction is that the values you are trying to respect in your daily personal and professional life are more important than what you claim to be. And sometimes laughing a little bit at ourselves can help to put things in perspective. The year zero of the Agile movement is linked to the creation of the Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles. Like the 10 commandments, they should regulate the life of the Agilists. Like all texts, the Manifesto is subject to interpretation (exegesis) and to translation choices for non-native English persons, like me. This leads naturally to many different “flavors” of Agile based somewhat on differences as theoretical as theological quarrels. Some of the early Agile approaches, like the oriental Christian churches of the beginning of the Christian era, are now mostly forgotten. I doubt that there are still many practitioners of Feature Driven Development or the Crystal methodology. Agilists, initially considered by traditional project management followers as “cowboys” or “anarchists”, quickly also devised a name for [...]

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Learn the Culture First, Before Going Agile!

scrumexpert — Wed, 06 May 2026 17:18:30 +0000

Agile is everywhere. Everybody is talking about it. Everybody wants to start the Agile journey with the various Agile frameworks like Scrum. And then, many hit the ceiling and give up the Agile journey altogether. This interactive session shares the story of how an organization started with understanding its culture first and then brought agility that sustained. At the end of the video, you will: * learn where to start when bringing agility into the organization. * become aware of why it is important to have a systemic view when bringing agility into the organization. * get introduced to a model to identify your current and desired organizational culture. Video producer: https://agileswarming.com/

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How Software Testing Supports Better Performance

scrumexpert — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 20:37:31 +0000

Have you ever asked yourself why some apps, websites, and software tools feel smooth, fast, and easy to use from the first click? The answer often comes back to software testing. It plays a quiet but very useful role in making software work in a clean, stable, and comfortable way. When testing is done with care, the final product feels more polished, more responsive, and more ready for daily use. That is why software testing is closely linked with better performance for Scrum teams. How Testing Builds A Strong Base For Performance Good performance starts with a strong base. Software testing helps create that base by checking each part in a careful and practical way. When teams test features step by step, they get a clear idea of how the software is performing in normal use. This makes the whole system more balanced and more dependable. Performance is not only about speed. It is also about smooth flow, stable response, and easy movement from one screen to another. Testing helps support all of this. It gives developers useful feedback so they can shape the software in a better way before it reaches users. Testing Helps Software Run Smoothly When software is tested early and regularly, it becomes easier to keep everything running in a clean manner. Each function gets reviewed properly, and this supports better response time. A button click, a page open, a search result, or a payment step can all feel more natural when testing has been done [...]

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How Software Quality Assurance Supports Long-Term Product Success

scrumexpert — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:53:17 +0000

Have you ever used an app or website and felt happy because everything worked in a smooth and simple way? That good feeling does not happen by chance. Behind that easy experience, there is usually a strong quality process. Software quality assurance helps products stay useful, stable, and trusted for a long time. It supports Scrum teams in building software that people enjoy using again and again. When a product works well from the start and keeps improving over time, users feel comfortable with it. They trust it more. They return to it more often. This is one of the main reasons quality assurance matters for long-term product success. It is not only about checking errors. It is also about helping Agile teams build a product that stays strong as user needs grow. Quality assurance supports a product at every stage. It helps teams review features, check user flows, test performance, and confirm that updates fit the original purpose of the product. With this kind of steady support, software can stay clear, useful, and dependable for years. Why Quality Assurance Matters For Long-Term Success A successful product is not only one that launches well. A successful product is one that keeps serving people in a useful way over time. Quality assurance helps make that possible by giving structure to the full development process. When teams test early and review often, they understand the product better. They can see how each feature connects with the full user experience. This makes future [...]

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Nine Questions for a Good Scrum Team Structure

scrumexpert — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:07:40 +0000

In his book “Succeeding with Agile”, Mike Cohn present nine questions that you should ask for a current or proposed team. Questions should be asked iteratively… until you answer “yes” to each. Here are the questions: * Does the structure accentuate the strengths, shore up the weaknesses, and support the motivations of the team members? * Does the structure minimize the number of people required to be on two teams (and avoid having anyone on three)? * Does the structure maximize the amount of time that teams will remain together? * Are component teams used only in limited and easily justifiable cases? * Will you be able to feed most teams with two pizzas? * Does the structure minimize the number of communication paths between teams? * Does the structure encourage teams to communicate who wouldn’t otherwise do so? * Does the design support a clear understanding of accountability? * Did team members have input into the design of the team? Reference: “Succeeding with Agile”, Mike Cohn, Addison-Wesley, 463 pages, IBSN 978-0-321-57936-2 Besides the cultural bias (in Italy, one pizza will usually feed one person, but it might be different in the USA…), you could use these questions for every Agile project that you are currently running or plan to run to check the quality of your Scrum team.

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How Continuous Validation in Scrum Improves Content Readiness for AI Search

scrumexpert — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:37:28 +0000

The era of traditional search is rapidly fading into the past, giving way to smart algorithms and generative responses. Simply filling a website with keywords to rank high is no longer enough. Modern systems analyze the depth, veracity, and structure of content with the meticulousness of an experienced QA engineer. The team of experts at Netpeak is confident that agile methodologies are what enable the creation of such high-quality content. An agile approach transforms chaotic text writing into a streamlined production cycle with measurable results. Scrum as the Foundation of Data Quality Implementing Scrum methodology into the content creation process is a game-changer for the entire marketing team. Instead of endlessly preparing one massive piece of content, the team works in short, clear, and effective sprints. This allows for constant testing of hypotheses and checking data readiness at each intermediate stage. AI search requires impeccable logic, the absence of factual errors, and the avoidance of so-called “hallucinations” in texts. Short content development cycles enable editors and optimizers to quickly adjust the data structure. To achieve the ideal result, the team completes the following list of tasks within each work sprint: Fact-checking. Checking technical page markup. Analyzing readability for algorithms. Testing query responses. Validating the structure of all headings. Assessing the relevance of link mass. Verifying the uniqueness of each paragraph. Continuous validation within each sprint ensures that every piece of information passes a rigorous filter. Testers and editors now work together to identify weaknesses even before publication. This rhythm minimizes [...]

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