An Engineer Joke:
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the midst of the French Revolution the revolting citizens led a priest, a drunkard and an engineer to the guillotine. They ask the priest if he wants to face up or down when he meets his fate. The priest says he would like to face up so he will be looking towards heaven when he dies. They raise the blade of the guillotine and release it. It comes speeding down and suddenly stops just inches from his neck. The authorities take this as divine intervention and release the priest.
The drunkard comes to the guillotine next. He also decides to die face up, hoping that he will be as fortunate as the priest. They raise the blade of the guillotine and release it. It comes speeding down and suddenly stops just inches from his neck. Again, the authorities take this as a sign of divine intervention, and they release the drunkard as well.
Next is the engineer. He, too, decides to die facing up. As they slowly raise the blade of the guillotine, the engineer suddenly says, “Hey, I see what your problem is …”
-unknown
Perhaps this engineer could have taken a hint from his friends and left some of the technical details out.
Good Sprint Reviews:
In Scrum, the purpose of a Sprint Review is to show the completed software developed in the Sprint, gather feedback, and adapt the backlog for future iterations. The Sprint Review is an opportunity build a relationship with the business stakeholders and be a part of the solution. Impressions matter, even in the course of being transparent. A few tips for success:
Speak to business people like a business person
Its easy to get carried away with ‘geek speak’ when talking about software you made, I get it…but resist the urge to speak in a way that would impress a computer science professor and inch towards communicating in a way everyone can understand. Talk about the business problems solved by your solution and why thats important. Imagine this were your justification for investor funding for a startup. Why should the business be as fired up as you about the solutions you are providing? Draw attention to the solutions, not the features.
Be transparent
No one likes a liar. Especially people spending money on you. If you make a mistake or accidentally expose a bug, be open about it and explain you will be taking care of it. We all make mistakes, but when the pressure is on, keep your composure, be honest, and preserve the trust your team spent so long building with the business people attending your reviews.
Ask for help
You have the attention of important people in the Sprint Review. When they see how many problems you have solved in a short amount of time, they want to know what they can do to have more done. A Sprint Review is a great time to ask for things that would make your team more productive…like additional team members with skills you require, better hardware, better software, anything that helps your team deliver more value to your stakeholders
How well does your team represent itself in Sprint Reviews?
The Gospel According to Robb 