Blog

If Your Team Feels Overwhelmed, It Might Not Be a People Problem

in Podcast on
Written by:
capacity planning

Does your team ever feel constantly busy, yet somehow always behind? Are stakeholders escalating concerns, leadership scheduling extra check-ins, and your people working weekends just to keep up? If that sounds familiar, today’s episode of Agile Driven Impact has something important to say: what looks like a people problem is almost always a visibility problem.   In Season 2, Episode 17, hosts Diane and Erich…

Read More

Beyond Heroic Efforts: How Nonprofits Can Break the Burnout Cycle

in Burnout on
Written by:
nonprofit staff burnout prevention

Heroic efforts carry a heavy cost in the nonprofit sector. We have all seen them happen. The grant application that forces the team to work all weekend. The deadline that means missing a child’s soccer game. The deliverable that gets finished only because staff members quietly absorb unsustainable stress.   On Monday morning, leadership sends a “we did it!” email. However, no one discusses what…

Read More

More Than a To-Do List: How Nonprofits Can Use the Product Backlog as a Strategic Tool

in Podcast on
Written by:
Nonprofit product backlog strategy

If your team’s product backlog is basically a running list of tasks, you’re leaving one of Scrum’s most powerful tools on the table.   That’s the message from JJ Sutherland, CEO of Scrum Inc. and co-author of Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, in the most recent episode (episode 16) of Agile Driven Impact. JJ joined hosts Diane and…

Read More

Boosting Nonprofit Impact: Why the Scrum Framework Is Your Solution

in Scrum on
Written by:
Scrum for nonprofits

Nonprofit professionals, unfortunately, understand all too well the constant pressure to achieve more with less. Shifting funding priorities, intense deadlines, and multiplying community needs can easily lead to overwhelming stress.   Are you wondering how your team can break away from constant fire drills and focus on what truly matters? The answer lies in the Scrum framework.   To see these concepts explained in detail,…

Read More

The “Heroic Effort” Trap: Why Saving the Day Is Hurting Your Team

in Burnout Podcast on
Written by:
The “Heroic Effort” Trap

If your team regularly scrambles to finish before a deadline—late nights, skipped lunches, one person doing the work of three—you might call that pattern dedication. I’d call it a warning sign.   In this Pit Stop episode of, How to Avoid Relying on Heroic Efforts to Achieve Your Goals, Erich and I dig into what Agile practitioners call the “heroic effort”—and why minimizing it is…

Read More