Anyone who has worked in project management or software development knows the sinking feeling of facing an ever-growing backlog of tickets. What starts as a tool for organisation can quickly spiral into a graveyard of half-finished, poorly defined tasks. This is what we call Ticket Death. It's the phenomenon where the ticketing system becomes cluttered with incomplete or empty tickets, slowing down teams and losing track important issues in the chaos and noise. But Ticket Death doesn’t just waste time… It risks something far more damaging: the loss of valuable knowledge. As tickets lie un-actioned and without content, the context behind them fades, especially if the author leaves the team or company. Key insights can be lost for good.

In our years of working with various organisations, there is one challenge that has repeatedly caught our attention: Leaders struggling with effective delegation. Even the most capable executives can become deeply involved in tasks which have nothing to do with their core responsibilities. Rather than empowering their staff by leading and supporting their self-sufficiency, they step into the trenches and waste their time on work in which they should have no business being involved.

Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches play a crucial role in guiding teams through the Agile development process. However, those who are junior or new to the role can face significant challenges in effectively managing their teams, projects and their own workflows. This article explores the common issues faced by Scrum Masters, analyses the underlying problems, and proposes some guidance through team optimisation, leadership development, and process improvement.

In the fast-paced world of agile project management, flexibility and adaptability are key. However, one significant issue that often arises is the neglect of proper documentation. While agile methodologies emphasise working directly in software over comprehensive documentation, this doesn’t mean documentation is unnecessary.