How Agile Teams Can Win at Ops + Project Work

Joel Bond • January 18, 2026

Plan for Ops Work in Sprint Capacity - Don’t commit to 100% project work.

Make Ops Work Visible - Separate lanes/backlogs for clarity.

Triage Random Requests - Set clear rules for unplanned work.

Rotate Ops Roles - One person handles ops each sprint, not everyone.

Protect Project Time - Block deep work hours to ensure progress.

Capacity Planning - Stop Overloading Sprints!


Rule #1: Never assume 100% of the team’s capacity is for project work. Operational work WILL happen, plan for it.


Try This: Set a Fixed % for Operational Work


Example: If a team typically spends 30% of their time on ops work, don’t commit to a full sprint of project work.

Track past sprints → How much work was actually done vs. lost to ops? Adjust accordingly.


Real world Example:

A DevOps team at a fintech company realized that 40% of their sprint was lost to unexpected outages. Instead of failing every sprint, they started committing only 60% of their capacity to planned work, reserving the rest for operational tasks. Their velocity became predictable, and stakeholders were happier.


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Make Work Visible: Separate Ops from Project Work

If ops tasks sneak into your sprint backlog without visibility, you’ll always feel behind.


Try This: Create Dedicated Swimlanes or Work Types


Option 1: Separate Swimlanes in the Sprint Board


Example:

Top lane → Project work

Bottom lane → Operational work (Incidents, support, maintenance)


Option 2: Separate Backlogs


Kanban for Operational Work (continuous flow, SLAs, priorities shift often).

Scrum for Project Work (sprint-based, planned effort).


- If your team is doing both, Hybrid Sprint + Kanban works great!


Real Example:

A team managing IT security struggled with balancing patching servers (ops) and implementing new security features (projects). They split their board:


Sprint Backlog → Project work

Ops Kanban → Security patching, audits, and compliance work

This stopped random work from derailing the sprint while still allowing flexibility for urgent issues.


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Become a member

Don’t Let Random Requests Hijack Sprints! (Use Work Intake)


If every “quick request” becomes a sprint backlog item, your Agile process is toast.


Try This:

Triage Unplanned Work

Categorize incoming work:

Urgent & Critical? Pull it into the sprint, but communicate trade-offs.

Important but Not Urgent? Schedule for the next sprint.

“Nice-to-have”? Add to the backlog, prioritize later.

Use SLAs (Service Level Agreements) for Operational Work


Example:

If a P1 Incident happens, it gets resolved ASAP.

But if it’s a P3 request, it follows normal backlog prioritization.


Real Example:

A retail product team was getting derailed by constant ad-hoc bug fixes. They created a “Bug Review Monday” policy — instead of dropping everything, they assessed non-critical bugs once per sprint and scheduled them properly. Suddenly, project work actually got DONE.


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Dedicated Ops Roles (The “Firefighter” Rotation)

Instead of pulling random people into ops work, assign one team member per sprint to be the “Ops Lead.”


Try This: The Rotating Ops Lead Model


One person handles operational work per sprint → The rest of the team stays focused on project work.


Example: On a 6-person team, each engineer rotates as “Ops Firefighter” every sprint.


They handle incidents, support tickets, and minor fixes.

Everyone else stays focused on planned work.


Example from the field:

A SaaS engineering team struggled with engineers being interrupted all day. They implemented a weekly “Ops Owner” rotation, where one person was on-call for any operational work. The rest of the team had uninterrupted time for project work.

Results? Their sprint success rate jumped from 40% to 85%!


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Project Work Deserves “Protected Time”

If you don’t defend project work, operational work will take over.


Try This: Set “Focus Time” for Project Work

Example: “No Ops Work Before Noon” Policy


Mornings → Deep project work (No Slack pings, no ops distractions).

Afternoons → Handle operational tasks.


Example from the trenches:

A product development team found that morning meetings + ops work destroyed their momentum. They blocked 9 AM — 12 PM daily for uninterrupted coding time. It doubled their velocity within 2 sprints.

Embracing Agility with Structure: A Balanced Approach to Agile Principles

By Joel Bond • January 16, 2026
In the realm of project management, Agile methodologies have fundamentally shifted how teams operate and deliver results. The cornerstone of Agile is its manifesto, prioritizing values and principles that promote adaptability, collaboration, and efficient product delivery. Yet, it’s important to view these principles as guidelines that complement, rather than replace, the necessary traditional processes and tools. This discussion delves into reconciling the flexibility of Agile with the structured elements that remain crucial. Valuing Individuals and Interactions Without Dismissing Tools and Processes Agile emphasizes the importance of human interactions, which are crucial for fostering effective team dynamics and facilitating problem-solving. Nevertheless, this focus does not diminish the value of processes and tools that bolster communication, especially in teams that are either complex or spread across different locations. Tools such as Jira, for example, play a pivotal role in enhancing transparency and improving the efficiency of project tracking. Similarly, collaboration platforms like Miro and Lucidchart are instrumental in ensuring team alignment and facilitating the flow of ideas. Maintaining Essential Documentation Alongside Working Software While Agile advocates focus more on functional software than exhaustive documentation, certain documents are indispensable, especially in regulated sectors or projects with long-term maintenance and scalability needs. An effective documentation strategy involves keeping vital records that aid in understanding and evolving the software, avoiding unnecessary paperwork. Collaborating with Customers While Respecting Contracts Direct engagement with customers is encouraged to ensure the product truly fulfills their needs. However, contracts remain fundamental as they safeguard both parties’ interests. Agile teams should navigate contract constraints with flexibility, adapting to evolving project scopes while maintaining legal and fiscal responsibilities. Planning Responsively to Change Agility is synonymous with adaptability. Nevertheless, this responsiveness should not negate the importance of planning. Agile involves continuous, iterative planning that adjusts to new insights and conditions, crucial for managing resources and expectations effectively. Upholding Non-Negotiable Elements in Agile and Scrum Agile’s adaptable nature does not imply a lack of structure. Certain aspects of Agile and Scrum are essential: Regular Sprint Ceremonies: Meetings like Sprint Planning, Reviews, and Retrospectives are vital for alignment and continuous improvement. Clear Role Definitions: Well-defined roles ensure clarity and efficiency in team operations. Adherence to Quality Standards: Standards such as coding practices and review processes are crucial for delivering high-quality outputs. Engagement with Stakeholders: Continuous stakeholder involvement is key to ensuring the project meets broader business objectives and user expectations. Conclusion Agile methodologies emphasize flexibility and rapid value delivery, but this should not lead to the abandonment of all structure. Balancing Agile principles with essential documentation and processes ensures both dynamic adaptability and operational stability. This comprehensive approach allows teams to navigate project complexities effectively while adhering to both Agile values and necessary procedural standards, fostering an environment conducive to delivering exceptional and sustainable outcomes.

Agile is Music, Music is Flow

By Joel Bond • January 16, 2026
Agile isn’t about rigid rules, it’s about finding your rhythm. It’s a flow, a jam session where teams sync up and create something great together. Some teams stick to a steady beat, while others riff and improvise. There’s no single “right way”, just the way that works best for your team. Like great musicians, Agile teams listen, adapt, and play off each other to make something remarkable. So, how do we embrace agility? Well, I put a little something together to have some fun! Enjoy! Agile’s like music, a rhythm, a beat, No single tempo makes it complete. Scrum is structured, like a tight four-four, Kanban flows like jazz, open to explore. Each team’s a band with their own sound, A melody shifting, ideas unbound. The PO’s the singer, the devs lay the groove, Become a member Testers fine-tune to keep us in move. Sprints are our cadence, steady or fast, Improving the song, so the tune will last. Retrospectives? The crowd’s review, Change the key if the notes aren’t true. No “one right way” to play this game, No single framework holds the flame. Waterfall’s rigid, like notes on a page, Agile’s the jam session, breaking the cage. So let’s improvise, let’s play it live, Adapt the rhythm, help teams thrive. Because Agile’s music, organic and free, A symphony of change, in harmony. What’s your Agile rhythm?