Today marked the first day in a journey that is sure to take the Point2 Real Estate team to new heights.  It was the first day that the entire real estate development team started sprinting.  At 9:15 this morning we gathered as a team for our first kick-off meeting and listened as product owners described the vision and direction for each of their products and contextualized the work that is to be done over the next 4 weeks. It was a very exciting moment that was met with much anticipation.  One in which we all took the first leap in our trek from where we are today towards the future Point2, a company that will no doubt be a force to reckon with.  Although we have a clear idea about where we’re going and how to get there, we all know the course will change along the way, and so will the tools and practices, but we have to get started now and be ready for change.  I call it Ready-Fire-Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim…


Much work has gone into planning for this first sprint.  I especially want to thank the product owners that put so much time and energy into the monumental task of organizing and prioritizing all the features, tasks, bugs, and dreams that Point2 has ever had for it’s Real Estate products.  Your efforts are greatly appreciated!  I especially want to thank James Townley who went above and beyond and impressed us all. You inspire me with your tremendous work ethic and dedication.

It’s been a while since my last post.  I’ve been super busy with all the changes happening around here, but things are settling down now.  What’s new you ask?  Scrum is rolling and it’s as great now as it was every other time I’ve been part of a true Agile/Scrum environment.We are just wrapping up a pilot sprint that was run for one of the products with a smaller team. They hit their jellybean targets — jellybeans are used to estimate how much work a team can accomplish — and are wrapping things up with a full integration and regression test cycle and preparing for the next sprint. The development team, which comprises the gamut of skill sets that are required to make a truly cross functional team, are crazy excited about this new way of working.  For the first time they are involved in every step of the process from planning to QA and development and are encouraged to find ways to continuously improve.  We’re all embracing change.We will be starting our first official sprint on Feb 19th which will include all Point2 NLS related products.  The scrum area where our daily stand-ups happen is in the final stages of construction.  By the 5th we will have 25 feet of whiteboard and cork-board space for collaborating and tracking the project, bookshelves for our technical library, and several tables on top of which will be the planned tasks and story cards. I’ll post pictures.