This on-demand video course shows you how to: Cut through the confusion of what story points are. Start the workshop by asking the product owner (or key stakeholder) to explain the significant objective so everyone has a shared understanding of the goal. One of the challenges of agile development is coming to grips with the role of leaders and managers of self-organizing teams. Join Mike Cohn for Better User Stories, now offered Live Online. Deliver all planned scope. Scrum & Agile Training . Author and industry thought leader, Mike Cohn, is your class instructor for agile and Scrum training in Colorado. I tend. Although teams are continually looking for opportunities to improve, the sprint retrospecttive is focused specifically on inspecting how the last sprint went and identifying ways the team can adapt to increase quality and effectiveness. Jump up the. This really achieves the best of both worlds. Estimating & Planning Create reliable plans and estimates. However, Kanban’s primary. With three books on agile development topics, Mike Cohn is frequently sought after as a speaker, instructor, and agile coach. Their logic is that the most recent sprint is the single best indicator of how much will be accomplished in the next sprint. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. He is a co-founder and former board member of the Scrum Alliance, and a co-founder of the non. You can apply his powerful techniques in any project, agile or otherwise. Welcome! I'm Mike Cohn, founder of Mountain Goat, Certified Scrum Trainer, and co-founder of Scrum Alliance & Agile Alliance. When it comes to agile and. Scrum & Agile Training . I some goal. Although the Elements are grouped in three levels (Foundational, Improving, and Succeeding), our. ”. To do: Place for all cards that are not in the “Done” or “In Process” columns for the current sprint. Sometimes there is hardware to acquire or at least set up. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. Mike is a founding member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance and can be reached at [email protected] product can be a something physical (the chair). Mike Cohn's Better User Stories course is now available Live Online. However, Kanban’s primary advantage is also its biggest flaw. Scrum & Agile Training Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes August 23, 2023 • 31 minutes. Triangulating prevents estimate inflation because the use of two comparisons helps point out when estimates are beginning to inflate. R. #61: The Complex Factors in The Office Vs. Mike is CEO of Mountain Goat Software, and one of the industry’s most well-respected Certified Scrum Trainers. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile as well as the Better User Stories video course. In this two-day class, participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of Scrum so that everyone has the same understanding about what it means to be agile. Online and in-person training to help you succeed with agile. As input into sprint planning, the Scrum Master will bring data on the team’s average velocity and most recent velocity. 5 PDUs and 8 SEUs. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile. 70–80% Is a Win. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Hi! I'm Mike Cohn. Job stories originated at Intercom and were best explained by Alan Klement. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. Scrum & Agile Training. There are no agile NFTs. He is a co-founder and former board member of the Scrum Alliance, and a co-founder of the non-profit. All classes are led by Mike Cohn of Mountain Goat Software – a leading choice in agile training and Scrum certification for Fortune 500s, startups and everything in between. He is a co-founder and former board member of the Scrum Alliance, and a co-founder of the non. Learn how to create strong personal connections with your team members, the power of asking powerful questions to foster collaboration, and how to be more assertive. NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are everywhere. " That’s why agile teams (e. Mike Cohn is the founder of Mountain Goat Software, a process and project management consultancy that specializes in helping companies adopt and improve their use of Agile processes and techniques. Get the details here. Learn what sprint goals are and. At Mountain Goat Software there are different options for Mentoring and Coaching. When it comes to agile and. So if a team has a velocity of 30, they bring in 30 points of work. I am most definitely not saying they code something in a first sprint and test it in a second sprint. You can read more information about agile project management training expert and Certified Scrum Trainer, Mike Cohn. I some goal. Mentoring & Coaching Tailored support for agile teams. Contact Mountain Goat Software at 1-888-61-Agile (24453) or by e-mail at hello@mountaingoatsoftware. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile as well as the Better User Stories video course. Learn what sprint goals are and. To see how that works, imagine you chose a one-year sprint. Without burnout is important. 4. User stories are part of an agile approach that helps shift the focus from writing about requirements to talking about them. Leading agile speaker and author Mike Cohn has tailored a presentation specifically for you. Now raise your hand if your team is physically in the same space for each and every daily scrum meeting you conduct. It is built on certain agile principles, including small, cross-functional teams, frequent inspect-and-adapt feedback loops. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. Scott Harris 1 and Mike Cohn 2. Mountain Goat Software includes a free online Planning Poker tool as part of every Agile Mentors Membership. John Miller is a Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC) and the Chief Empowerment Officer for Agile Classrooms. In a number of game studios, this has led to a four-level definition of done: Done, Level 1 (D1) means the new feature works and decisions can be made. To see how, suppose you hop in a river and begin swimming. A sprint retrospective is a great way for teams to reflect on the. Agile teams need space and safety to experiment with new ideas and approaches. The next are NFTs that can be exchanged or. We are able to see how much work the team is really able to accomplish, but also able to look at the historical data and see how much went into the bug-fixing story each sprint. k. During the sprint planning meeting, the team selects some number of product backlog items, usually in the form of user stories, and identifies the tasks necessary to complete each user story. One of these free agile tools is the theme screening tool. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile. As such, product backlogs. Listen in for valuable advice from Chris and Brian on sidestepping the fear of going. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. By default there are six sliders, each of which reflects some dimension by which agile project success can be determined—for example, delivery of all planned features, quality, meeting an agreed upon schedule. This post explains how to use a Definition of Ready successfully and avoid it becoming a first step. Join Mike Cohn for a FREE user stories webinar, Wednesday November 8th at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Mountain Goat Software and Mike Cohn, author and Agile Scrum expert, have announced the release of. in-person coursesI read this today and want to share it as a great example of a ScrumMaster removing an impediment. The traditional Fibonacci series is 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 and so on. The Scrum resources section includes a Scrum overview with the major terms you’ll encounter every day in Scrum. Mike is CEO of Mountain Goat Software, and one of the industry’s most well-respected Certified Scrum Trainers. Present Upcoming Product Backlog Items. On-Demand Video Training Instant, streaming access to courses. Mountain Goat Software | 19,166 followers on LinkedIn. This is the actual piece of software or product that can be demoed in an informal way. It’s part confession, and part announcement of a new era at Mountain Goat Software (that I’m very excited about). Scrum & Agile Training . On a 15-week effort, a 13. Interestingly, the Scrum Master is a servant-leader who doesn’t have authority over the team, but does have authority over the process. A job story is focused less on the user performing some function than on the job to be done by that story. Sprint zero is usually claimed as necessary because there are things that need to be done before a Scrum project can start. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile as well as the Better User Stories video course. Mike's in-depth knowledge comes from 25 years of experience as a technology expert in companies of. Viewing 1-10 of 21. ”. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. First is that it helps the team determine how much work to bring into the sprint. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. Overall velocity is higher. But I do think we might have lost something as we’ve moved to shorter sprints. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Plan fixed-date and fixed-scope projects. The team should do just enough to answer that question. 10 items. For the past 16 years, I’ve averaged 24 weeks a year delivering training and. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. To see this, consider the team that is trying to decide between estimating a story as either three or five. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. We have two series of NFTs. Gallen hills in Switzerland. For over twenty years I've been building high-performing software development teams and organizations through the use of agile and Scrum. Convey that You Each Have the Same Goal. For animation, this was often “the character is animated in a white room. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. If an item is estimated at 5 points, the product owner may want the team to do it next iteration. Scrum & Agile Training . You can contact Mike via e-mail or follow him on Facebook , LinkedIn , YouTube , Threads , and Instagram. Feb 14, 2023 49 Comments. Mike even shares his personal experiences of when some of his agile beliefs turned out to be wrong, and how letting go of. Mountain Goat Software offers education and certified training on Scrum and agile processes to helpLearn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Agile Teams Plan. " This tool will give you new ways to tune and adjust what you and your teams are doing. It is built on certain agile principles, including small, cross-functional teams, frequent inspect-and-adapt feedback loops. It also can be a service (consulting on how to adopt agile). Companies large and small and across all industries have attended his training courses. Product backlog refinement—in the past called backlog grooming in reference to keeping the product backlog clean and orderly—is a meeting that is held near the end of one sprint to ensure the backlog is ready for the next sprint. Four syllables, ten letters. Squeeze 15% of the waste out of the 90% idle/blocked time and you get a 13. With that in mind, we've created this. Mike Cohn is co-founder of the Scrum Alliance, and founder of Mountain Goat Software. Chief Executive Officer. Tools. Scrum & Agile Training Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes Mountain Goat Software offers individual training, private team training, and onsite coaching to help you and your team get started and get better at agile and Scrum. 5% improvement in flow efficiency would reduce flow time by just over two weeks and we would have the. Planning Poker. The product owner or key stakeholders then. You'll not only understand the roles and responsibilities of this position, you'll learn how to craft a compelling product vision and then inspire teams to create it. Welcome! I'm Mike Cohn, founder of Mountain Goat, Certified Scrum Trainer, and co-founder of Scrum Alliance & Agile Alliance. He is a co-founder and former board member of the Scrum Alliance, and a co-founder of the non-profit. The final item on a sprint review agenda should be a discussion of the next work on the product backlog. When it comes to agile and. These tools are based on ideas described in Mike Cohn's books. Create great estimates, even on teams with diverse skills, experience, or personalities. Whether you're introducing agile or Scrum to your org. The product owner might be a new role for teams that are just adopting Scrum. Mike is a founding member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance and can be reached at hello@mountaingoatsoftware. Instead of a fast and slow runner, consider two programmers of differing productivity. Once an organization starts to work in accordance with the Succeeding Elements, agile has begun to transform an organization. In this episode, Brian Milner is joined by guest co-host Scott Dunn, Certified Enterprise Coach and Scrum Trainer, to get insights into delivering retrospective sessions that energize and inform the whole team — while ensuring they are effective at meeting goals. Learn what sprint goals are and. We’re excited to announce that you can now take your Advanced Certified ScrumMaster® class (A-CSM) with Mountain Goat Software. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Those may sound the same. Step 1: Enter the first initial of your company, product or project name. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Estimating & Planning Create reliable plans and estimates. Therefore, 1 point takes 3. Mountain Goat Software is delighted to be able to give users a choice of free agile tools that they can use to help with their agile and Scrum projects. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. No, they shouldn’t. Take the Free Assessment. remote teams. First, the value of small bits of functionality are often intertwined. When we get features that are too small (as good user stories are), it is very difficult to put a discrete value on each. Starting out as a developer, Brian worked up through management layers, then transitioned to Scrum Master and then Coach. Offer good on Scrum certified courses for a limited time. Scrum & Agile Training . Mountain Goat Software. Scrum is an agile way to manage work. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. m. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. When it comes to Scrum vs agile or Scrum in agile contexts, it helps to think of agile as an umbrella. It should not be up to the ScrumMaster or the product owner, but up to the team. Also included: A FREE poster you can download to. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. Learn how expected cost of change, useful knowledge, and learning gained from working software influence prioritization on agile projects. Passing score is 74%. Building on the popularity and success of Scrum, LAFABLE projects employ a variation of Scrum’s “sprints. Teams and the business use the feedback from each. Scrum & Agile Training . Mountain Goat Software has trained more than 9,000 agile professionals in Live Online certified classes and over 25,000 agile professionals in person certified classes, trained 100s of teams in private training, and issued more than. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user. About the Author. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Estimating & Planning Create reliable plans and estimates. As the author of three popular Scrum books and the founder of the Scrum Alliance, Mike's insight on agile and Scrum is highly respected. Step 1. S. user stories. Some personal implementation intentions can be formed at the start of the week. Mike is the author of User Stories Applied for Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile Software. I like to hold the product backlog refinement meetings three days before the end of the current. Your mentor will use exclusive materials developed by Mike Cohn for your tailored workshop. Live, online Scrum certification classes, short-course video training, and free downloadable resources to take your agile team from good to great. Mike Cohn's Better User Stories course is now available Live Online. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. time management topics tracking progress training transitioning transitioning to agile transparency trust ui design uncertainty unfinished work upfront thinking usage use cases user experience user roles user stories user story detail users vacation value vanity velocity video recorded video training virtual. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. They originate from the St. As stated in the Agile Manifesto: teams “should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. Mountain Goat Software has been taking agile teams from good to great since 2006. Scrum & Agile Training . About this Free Course. Choose from an on-demand video course or a one-day, live online class. I've worked with startups. Scrum & Agile Training . A high-performing team does it again and again, without burnout. agile processes. Team satisfaction. Scrum & Agile Training Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes Because these team members represent all disciplines on a software project, they’re better suited to the estimation task than anyone else. A user can search for jobs. These courses also count for continuing education units (SEUs) from the Scrum Alliance, as well as PDUs within the PMI. That’s actually probably true. Read. Starting out as a developer, Brian worked up through management layers, then transitioned to Scrum Master and then Coach. Learn what sprint goals are and. so that some reason. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. Learn more. The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM ®) is a two-day class, taught by one of our Certified Scrum Trainers (CST ®). Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. CSM Certification from Mountain Goat Discover Certified Scrum Master Training. Leading a Self-Organizing Team. For over twenty years Mike’s been building high-performing software development teams and organizations through the use of agile and Scrum. Select the Team’s Average Velocity. This is one of those things that needs to be left entirely up to the team. Our Working on a Scrum Team course, for example, is modular. Brian and Mike talk about why and how to use Story Points in estimating. While some refuse to exert any influence on their teams, others rely too much on command-and-control management styles. 3. As CEO of Mountain Goat Software, Mike’s focus is coaching, training, developing new courses, sharing ideas in his blog posts and tips, and participating in the Agile Mentors Community, especially with the live Q & A sessions. Even a modest (say 15%) improvement in flow efficiency has a large return on investment. High-performing teams sustainably exceed expectations. Product owners are full, first-class team members. It provides a structure to work within and desired outcomes to achieve, but leaves teams room to decide how best to achieve those outcomes in their specific context. Find agile practitioners from multiple industries and experience levels to build a mentoring relationship with. Today on the show, John joins Brian to share how he started introducing the Agile framework to educators. As a type of user. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver valueThe start items are things a team member thinks the team should add to its process. job stories. It isn’t just people who benefit when teams work at a sustainable pace. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Project success factors are in balance. Whether you are a manager, programmer, tester. This Scrum presentation is available in a variety of formats including Apple. He or she is told, for example, to make scope/schedule tradeoff decisions knowing that a product manager or customer might. The Scrum Master can facilitate and even ask for a vote on items brought up by the team. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Because the product backlog is prioritized, the smaller, high priority items reside at the top of the list, while the larger, less urgent items fall toward the bottom. Mike is CEO of Mountain Goat Software, and one of the industry’s most well-respected Certified Scrum Trainers. Over time, the team improves. When we estimate with story points, we assign a point value to each item. Others retain too much of their prior command-and-control management styles and fail to unleash the. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Scrum & Agile Training . com Learn About Agile New to Agile and Scrum? Mountain Goat Software consultants specialize in Scrum and agile practices. Scrum Masters exhibit a shared set of traits. To reinforce training, companies often provide opportunities (wikis, informal lunch-and-learns, cross-team exchanges) for teams to share information with each other. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Viewing 1-10 of 21. We’re fixing that today. 1 Montana State University-Billings sharris@msubillings. edu 2 Mountain Goat Software, LLC mike@mountaingoatsoftware. To get started with Planning Poker with your team, you can purchase Planning Poker cards from Mountain Goat Software. Today’s post introduces the second installment in the free video training series: Kanban Crash Course brought to you by Brendan Wovchko from HUGE IO. Each estimator has a physical or virtual deck. The Sprint Goal: What It Is and How It Can Help. courses. I help organizations succeed with agile. Sprint planning is a time set aside at the beginning of each sprint. Each episode features a guest co-host to discuss different aspects of agile as well as address your questions. Buy the NFT and become the exclusive owner of a JPG. 25+ team members. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile. Mountain Goat Software | 18,903 followers on LinkedIn. Items per page. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Mountain Goat Software offers individual training, private team training, and onsite coaching to help you and your team get started and get better at agile and Scrum. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile. Perhaps the most prevalent and persistent myth in agile is that a cross-functional team is one on which each person possesses every skill necessary to complete the work. How Does Planning Poker Work? At the start of this agile planning exercise, each estimator is given a deck of Planning Poker cards. Live Online Training Live, instructor-led courses. Certified Scrum Training. When applying Scrum, it's not necessary to start a project with a lengthy, upfront effort to document all requirements. The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM ®) is a two-day class, taught by one of our Certified Scrum Trainers (CST ® ). More than 11,000 agile professionals chose Mountain Goat Software for their Product Owner training and we'd love to welcome you to an upcoming course. 16-25 team members. When teams can maintain a constant pace they don't need to pause to rest or take time to slowly wind up at the beginning of the next sprint. Mountain Goat Software. Each card has one of the valid estimates on it, for. He is a globally recognized Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) working with start-ups, market leaders, government agencies, and public companies around the world, helping them to improve their agility through the implementation of Scrum. A user can limit who can see her résumé. Deliver on budget. As a product owner, agile product manager, or member of a customer team, you need help identifying user needs and communicating how best to meet those needs. Scrum Foundations is a short video course that provides an overview of the Scrum framework. A cross-functional team has members with a. This post explains how to use a Definition of Ready successfully and avoid it becoming a first step. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Please also feel free to share the. This is the actual piece of software or product that can be demoed in an informal way. Mike is a founding member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance and can be reached at hello@mountaingoatsoftware. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Create Your Free AccountLearn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Here at Mountain Goat Software we are pleased to offer the following books from leading agile authority Mike Cohn. If you’ve ever done agile estimating with story points or used Planning Poker ®, you may have used either the Fibonacci sequence or a modified Fibonacci sequence. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile. There are, unfortunately, some problems with these practices. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. With that in mind, we've created this. Scrum has five values that are essential for success: focus, openness, commitment, courage, and respect. They are subtly different. Brian Milner is Senior VP of Agile Training at Mountain Goat Software. This is simply not true. Theoretically, they can maintain a constant pace indefinitely. Membership in AMC is included as a benefit of training with Mountain Goat, but anyone can join AMC and receive access to the Planning Poker tool. buy decision involving a new component. Mike is a founding member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance and can be reached at hello@mountaingoatsoftware. adapting. Mountain Goat Software has trained more than 9,000 agile professionals in Live Online certified classes and over 25,000 agile professionals in person certified classes, trained 100s of teams in private training, and issued more than 12,000 licenses for on-demand video training. Complex stories are ones that cannot be split. Using Vertical Slicing and Estimation to Make Business Decisions at Adobe. Work at improving your estimating so that you're very predictable as a team, even if your estimates means you'll be "late". Mountain Goat Software 2600A East Seltice Way #377 Post Falls, ID 83854 phone: 1-888-61-AGILE (24453) hello@mountaingoatsoftware. Join Mike Cohn for a FREE user stories webinar, Wednesday November 8th at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Take the Free Assessment. com . Product Owners. The final product is also measured against the original sprint goals. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. Live Online In Person Configurable Two Days. Private Training. Scrum & Agile Training . Mountain Goat Software offers education and certified training on. As any regular reader of this blog knows, I advocate estimating product backlog items but only when actions will be made based on those estimates. In this episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, Lance Dacy joins Brian to delve into the intricacies of utilizing metrics in software development to ensure optimal performance while avoiding incentivizing adverse behaviors. Add your favorite exercises and you can easily create a half-day introduction to Scrum. In agile projects, a spike refers to a time-boxed research activity that helps teams make better decisions & deliver better products. An example might be a build vs. Learn what sprint goals are and. Scrum is a framework. Here’s some tips for common challenges in Planning Poker: Keep discussions productive: Consider purchasing a two-minute sand timer, and allowing anyone in the meeting to start it at any time. As the author of three agile and Scrum books, Mike tailors the class curriculum to cover the gamut of what you need to know to jump. Certified Scrum Training 2-day certification classes. Hi! I'm Mike Cohn. There. Learn more about Onsite Training. User Stories & Story Writing Capture user needs and deliver value. Mike explains the fundamentals of this framework starting with the five values. Learn agile and Scrum tips and techniques from expert ScrumMaster, educator and author Mike Cohn and the staff of Mountain Goat Software. You can meet them here: LeadershipAbout Mike Cohn and Mountain Goat Software. CSM Certification from Mountain Goat Discover Certified Scrum Master Training. Starting out as a developer, Brian worked up through management layers, then transitioned to Scrum Master and then Coach. The short 15-minute daily scrum meeting can be either the fuel that drives a team’s collaboration each day or the bane of the developer’s daily existence. For each user story or theme to be estimated, a moderator (usually the product owner or an analyst) reads the description.