© 2018 CollabraSpace

21 September 2018

Agile Roles and Responsibilities

Leah Burman

SPC4, CSM, CSPO, CSP-SM, CSP-PO

leah.burman@collabraspace.com

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Leah Burman

• SPC4, CSM, CSPO, CSP-SM, CSP-PO

• 9+ years agile experience

• Java software developer, now Agile coach

• Coached agile transitions ranging from a single team to over 29 teams

• Northrop Grumman Agile Center of Excellence enterprise agile coach

• TS/SCI with lifestyle poly

• DOD, intelligence, federal, and other customers

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Objectives

• To learn about Agile roles and what characteristics are important for

each role

• To learn how traditional systems engineering and management roles

work within Agile organizations

• To understand the certifications available for each role

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Experience

STAND UP IF:

1. You have been a scrum master

2. You have been a product owner

3. You have managed Agile teams

4. You have been a member of an Agile team

© 2018 CollabraSpace

World of Agile

• Scrum

• Kanban

• DevOps

• Continuous

Integration

• Planning Poker

• Stories

• Story Point

Estimation

• Daily standups

CERTIFICATIONS

ORGANIZATIONS

SCALED AGILE

PRACTICES

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Individuals & Interactions

Working Software

Customer Collaboration

Responding to Change

Processes & Tools

Comprehensive Documentation

Contract Negotiation

Following a Plan

Agile Values and principles

AGILE MANIFESTO

• 2001

• Jeff Sutherland, Ken Schwaber

and 15 others

• http://agilemanifesto.org/

Iterative, adaptive process built on

self-managing teams empowered to

embody the principles and values

in the Agile manifesto.

OVER

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Knowledge Does Not Equal Understanding

• Agile teams require people who are able to not just do agile but

be agile every day!

• Organizations adopting Agile need to embrace the Agile values

and principles

• Decisions made daily should be guided by those values and

principles

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Agile Teams

Team has all the expertise

needed to create a potentially

shippable product

Team size should strive for 7

plus or minus 2 (5-9 people)

Sys

Admin

System

EngineerSecurity/IATester

UXScrum

Master

Cross Functional

Developer

DeveloperProduct

Owner

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Roles

Engineering Manager

Chief Architect

Tech Lead

Program Manager

System Engineer

Supply Chain

Financial Analyst

Scheduler

SEIT

Requirements Analyst

Quality Assurance Agent

Staffing Manager

Team Members

Scrum Master

Product Owner

Scrum Roles

Agile Coach

Stakeholders

Customers

Chief Scrum Master

Chief Product Owner

Other Agile Roles

Release Train Engineer

(RTE)

Product Manager

Solution Architect

Lean Portfolio Manager

SAFe Roles

What About…?

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Product Owner

Recognizing the abundance of opportunities

and resources available to us, we succeed

by co-creating value with and for all of our

stakeholders.

Five Trademarks of Agile Organizations

“

”

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Product Owner Responsibilities

• Owns the priority and scope of the product backlog

• Is a member of the agile team

• Manages product backlog to maximize business value delivered

• Works with stakeholders and customers to determine the

business value and urgency for product backlog items

• Works with the team to define “what” needs to be delivered with

each story

• Accepts work agile team has completed

• Communicates team progress

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Ceremonies and the Product Owner

SCRUM CEREMONIES

OTHER MEETINGS

Sprint Planning Meeting

Sets the sprint goal and determines the priority and

scope of the work desired in the sprint

Daily Scrum

May attend and listen to the team collaborate.

May provided clarification on scope or priority if

requested by the team

Sprint Demo/Review

Demonstrates the state of the product

Provides visibility into the top priority for the next

sprint

Sprint Retrospective

As a team member, participates in inspect and adapt

process

Storytime (Backlog Grooming)

Release Planning Event

© 2018 CollabraSpace

High Performing Teams: Product Owner

Available to the team and stakeholders

Authorized and accountable to make decisions on priority, value, and scope

System Engineer, Business Analyst, Product Manager, Software Manager often well suited for this role

As close to the end user as possible, while still available to the team

Ability to translate and decompose customer needs or requirements into technical backlog understood

by the team

Consider Product Owner Proxy in some cases

Identifies with the team; Product Owner is a member of the team!

First-time product owners need time, trust, and

support to grow into their new role.

- Roman Pichler

“”

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Product Owner Certifications

• Two day in person

course

• Costs range from

$1000 – 1500

• Many offered in

MD/DC/VA area

• Two day in person course

• Costs range from $1000

– 1500; Can be offered at

CollabraSpace

• Many offered in

MD/DC/VA area

• Assessment cost of

$200 or $500

• Assessment does

not require course,

but significant

studying or a course

are recommended to

pass

• Courses offered on

less frequent basis

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Further Learning for Product Owners

• Scrum Product Ownership

• the Professional Product Owner

• User Story Mapping

• Beyond Requirements

• Visual Models for Software Requirements

• Requirements by Collaboration

• Empathetic Technical Leadership

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Master

When the manager plays the role of Scrum

Master, it’s highly unlikely the Team will ever

begin to self-organize. -Pete Deemer

“

”

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Master Responsibilities

• Servant Leader for the team

• Shepherds/protects team from outside distractions

• Breaks down impediments to team progress

• Agile process and practice mentor

• Enables team to be the most functional team possible, delivering

quality, high value products in an iterative cycle

• Not a decision maker; has no authority

• Facilitates scrum ceremonies

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Ceremonies and the Scrum Master

SCRUM CEREMONIES

OTHER MEETINGS

Sprint Planning Meeting

Facilitates Planning meeting, allowing team to plan,

estimate, and commit to the work within a set timebox

Daily Scrum

Facilitates daily scrum, ensuring it is focused on

collaboration instead of status and under 15 minutes

Listens for blockers and dependencies to take action on

Sprint Demo/Review

May or may not attend

Sprint Retrospective

Facilitates and participates in inspect and adapt

process

Scrum of Scrums

Storytime (Backlog Grooming)

Release Planning Event

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum of Scrum of Scrum

SCRUM OF SCRUM OF SCRUMS

SCRUM OF SCRUMS SCRUM OF SCRUMS

SCRUM

TEAM

SCRUM

TEAM

SCRUM

TEAM

SCRUM

TEAM

SCRUM

TEAM

SCRUM

TEAM

© 2018 CollabraSpace

High Performing Teams: Scrum Master

Encourages learning within the team

Demonstrates commitment and agility daily

Change agent

Resolves conflict with the team

Thinks outside traditional approaches

Team Dynamics aficionado

Root Cause Analyzer

Organized; detail oriented

Fun!

Motivated

Coach

Humble

Collaborative

Knowledgeable

Listens

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Maestro!

Reference

1. First Be Quiet

2. Feed Your Inner

Responsibility Junkie

3. Master the Art of

Checking In

4. Showcase the Team

5. Clear A Path

6. Be the Hardliner Your Team

Needs You to Be

7. Know Your Stuff – And Learn

When You Don’t

8. Assert Influence Without

Taking Over

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Alliance Scrum Master Certification

Scrum Alliance

https://www.scrumalliance.org/get-certified

• Certified scrum master is 2 day in person course. After the class, must

pass CSM test

• Over 40 offered in MD/DC area between Sept and Dec this year, cost

is $1000-$1300 per student.

• Test fee and 2 year membership included in training

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum.org Scrum Master Certification

Scrum.org

https://www.scrum.org

• PSM does not require course, but requires dedicated study time to pass.

• PSM courses typically in person two day and costs $1300-$1500

• Only 1 course in MD/DC area being offered through end of this year

• Customized training could be a one day course or study sessions in person

or virtually

• $150 per test attempt

© 2018 CollabraSpace

SAFe Scrum Master Certification

SAFe

https://www.scaledagile.com

• SAFe scrum master is 2 day in person course.

• Three offered in MD/DC area between Sept and Dec this

year, cost is $850-$1200 per student.

• Course includes one test assessment fee

CollabraSpace will be

offering SAFe Scrum

Master Certification course

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Further Learning for Scrum Masters

Upcoming Scrum Master Talk: October 19th

Scrum Master: Trick or Treat?

A good scrum master is key to many high performing teams. Discuss the

Dos and Don't of Scrum Mastery and learn tips and tricks from professional

scrum masters. In addition, this talk covers why you may want to join a

Scrum Master Community of Practice and how to get one started.

• Agile Estimating and Planning

• Succeeding with Agile

• The Goal

• Real World Agility

• The Scrum Field Guide

• Making Work Visible

• User Stories Applied

• Chief Agility Officer

• Message to Garcia

• The Four Tendencies

• Deep Work

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Agile Team Member

We live in a constantly evolving environment

and cannot know exactly what the future holds.

The best way to minimize risk and succeed is

to embrace uncertainty and be the quickest

and most productive in trying new things.

“

”You can’t solve someone’s problem with code if you don’t understand their problem.

- Adam Haney, Bellhops

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Team Member Responsibilities

• Estimates work to be done

• Commits to work to be accomplished

• Manages and self-organizes

• Collaborates with teammates

• Completes work according to Definition of Done

• Embodies agile values and principles by contributing to retrospectives

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Ceremonies and the Team

SCRUM CEREMONIES

OTHER MEETINGS

Sprint Planning Meeting

All team members participate

Daily Scrum

All team members participate

Sprint Demo/Review

May attend if interested

Often participate by demonstrating completed work

Sprint Retrospective

All team members participate

Storytime (Backlog Grooming)

Release Planning Event

© 2018 CollabraSpace

High Performing Teams: Team Members

Learn from each other

Do not hold information back

Raise Risks when they become known

Have Fun

Enjoy delivering value and being productive

Seek constant improvement

Knowledgeable in scrum

Trust each other

Open

Respectful

Focused

If you are the only person on your Scrum team that can

do a particular job, you should be fired.

- Jeff Sutherland

“”

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Team Certifications

• Three day in

person course

• Requires 2

additional days of

technical or Scrum

Master training

• Costs range from

$1400 – 1500

• Many offered in

MD/DC/VA area

• Two day in person course

• Costs range from $1000

– 1500; Can be offered at

CollabraSpace

• Assessment $200

• Assessment does

not require course,

but a course is

available

• Courses offered on

less frequent basis

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Further Learning for Team Members

• Agile Software Development with Scrum

• Agile Application Security

• Introduction to Agile Methods

• The Scrum Field Guide

• Scrum Shortcuts

• Message to Garcia

• DevOps Handbook

• Blameless Continuous Integration

• Software Ownership Transfer

• We the People: Consenting to a Deeper

Democracy

• Helping

• Empathetic Technical Leadership

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

© 2018 CollabraSpace

What About . . .

Tech

Leads?

Engineering

Manager

Tech Lead

Chief

Architect

Program

Manager

System

Engineer

Supply

Chain

Financial

Analyst

Scheduler SEIT

Requirements

Analyst

Quality

Assurance

Agent

Staffing

Manager

© 2018 CollabraSpace

SAFe Roles

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Agile Management

When given clear responsibility and authority,

people will be highly engaged, will take care of

each other, will figure out ingenious solutions,

and will deliver exceptional results.

“

”Five Trademarks of Agile Organizations

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Agile Management

• Decentralized decision making is key to empowering self-

organizing agile teams

• The people doing the work are best able to plan and estimate that

work

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Management Responsibilities

• Manage funding and performance measures

• Resolving impediments to team productivity

• Defining priorities

• Assigning business value to backlog

• Talent management

• Best Practices

• Team alignment

• Decentralize decision making when possible

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Scrum Ceremonies and Management

SCRUM CEREMONIES

OTHER MEETINGS

Sprint Planning Meeting

Nope – let the team do the planning

Daily Scrum

Nope – let the team coordinate daily efforts

Sprint Demo/Review

Provide feedback on work demonstrated

Communicate any changes in priority and near term

milestones

Sprint Retrospective

Support team’s autonomy by removing any

impediments to change

Key participant

Provide business context

Provide feedback on team planning

Resolve risks identified by teams

Release Planning Event

© 2018 CollabraSpace

High Performing Teams: Management

Coach team members to better understand business value

Guide team to solve problems

Ensure team visibility into management priorities and constraints

Addresses HR and training needs

Participates in Agile demos and release planning

Open

Encourage learning from failures

Trusts the team

Focus on large organizational problems

Serves the teams SAAB JAS 39E “Gripen” Managers

Decompose contract into backlog

Daily meeting with management

Authority to remove impediments

Use backlogs and burn down charts

to schedule incremental goals

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Management Certifications

• Two day in person course

• Costs range from $1000

– 1500; Can be offered at

CollabraSpace

• SAFe for Government, 1

day course is launching

next week; Can be

offered at CollabraSpace

• Assessment $200

• Assessment does

not require course,

but a course is

available

• Courses offered on

less frequent basis

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Further Learning for Managers

Team Member

• The Goal

• Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars

• The Phoenix Project

• SAFe

• Software in 30 Days

• Agile & Iterative Development: A

Managers Guide

• Leaders Eat Last

• Training From the Back of the Room

• Joy, Inc.

• The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the

Workplace

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Questions?

© 2018 CollabraSpace

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Women in Agile Mid Atlantic group is being formed now!

Aligned with Women in Agile, we are launching the

Women in Agile Mid Atlantic group at the Women in Agile

breakfast on October 4th at the SAFe Summit Conference.

© 2018 CollabraSpace

Retrospective

What challenges have you seen with a

particular Agile role?

When is the best time for SAFe Scrum Master

Training?

What other certifications/training are you most

interested in?