Agile Development with Scrum

Gloria StoilovaScrum Product Owner

OutlineOutlineWhat is Scrum?The Scrum Team

The Scrum EventsThe Scrum Artifacts

Organizational Impacts of Scrum

Who uses Scrum Resources

What is Scrum?What is Scrum?

Scrum is a framework for dealing with complex work such as software product development. It’s an alternative to

traditional approaches known and used so far in

manufacturing and construction.

The meaning of The meaning of ScrumScrum

A rugby scrum

restarts a

rugby game

after a minor

infringement

of the rules.

Understand

what goes on.

Who puts in?

How do you win?

Rugby Scrum 101

Instead of "Pause, Engage" the match

official will simply call "Set".

Putting in the ball

Scrumaging

Scrummaging is the very

"technical" area of the game

…. Scrum is a flexible, holistic product development framework within which you can employ various processes and techniques based on Empirical approach.It is where a development team:

works as an unit to reach a common goal, challenges assumptions of the "traditional, sequential

approach" to product Development, Scrum introduces feedback loops, encouraging us to

inspect and adapt the product that we are building and the processes we’re using to build that product

Enables teams to self-organize by encouraging physical co-location or close online collaboration of all team members, as well as daily face-to-face communication among all team members and disciplines in the project.

SCRUM definition:

… Scrum roles, Scrum events, Scrum artifacts, and the Scrum rules that bind them together.

Scrum is: Lightweight

Simple to understand(but) Difficult to master

Scrum brings challenges to individuals, teams, and organizations. It is an attempt to put chaos in a box, making the most of uncertainty.

SCRUM definition consists of:

SCRUM framework:Scrum provides a structure of Roles, Artifacts, Meetings and

Rules ….

Three pillars uphold every implementation of empirical

process control: transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

Transparency - Significant aspects of the process must be visible to those responsible for the outcome. Those performing the work and those accepting the work product must share common definition of DONE.

Inspection - Scrum users must frequently inspect Scrum artifacts and progress toward a Sprint Goal to detect undesirable variances. Adaptation - If an inspector determines that one or

more aspects of a process deviate outside acceptable limits, and that the resulting product will be unacceptable, the process being used must be adjusted. An adjustment must be made as soon as possible to minimize further deviation. Scrum prescribes 4 formal inspections and

adaptations Sprint planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint review, Sprint retrospective.

Please don’t go there. There are obstacles waiting.

But why? If they are waiting, I won’t let them wait long.

Lets get serious about how Lets get serious about how Scrum works ….Scrum works ….

I said Serious!!!

PRODUCT OWNER

SCRUM DEV TEAM

SCRUM MASTER

The Scrum RolesThe Scrum Roles

Product

Owner

Scrum MasterBusiness owner /

stakeholder

Stakeholders

Scrum Team

QA/Testing

Developers

Or Scrum Product Owner

Stakeholders

Stakeholders (Business owners)

Anybody whose interest is positively or negatively affected by the project OR who can exert an influence on the project.

Examples of Stakeholders in Scrum Project: Team (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers) Management Customers End users Vendors/Contractors or external contributors

Scrum development team

The team model in Scrum is designed to optimize flexibility, to optimize flexibility, creativity, and productivity.creativity, and productivity.Scrum Teams deliver products iteratively and incrementally, maximizing opportunities for feedback. Incremental deliveries of “Done” product ensure a potentially useful version of working product is always available.

The Scrum Development The Scrum Development Team (DT) Team (DT)

Self-organizing and cross-functional group of 4 to 7 professionals that choose how best to accomplish their work and build a potentially shippable increment fulfilling the definition of “Done” at the end of each Sprint.

DT is structured and empowered to be self-organizing, manage their own work & continuously improving their overall efficiency and effectiveness.

Team determines how to transform Product Backlog Items into shippable functionalities;

Scrum recognizes no titles for DT members other than DEVELOPER, regardless of the work being performed by the person; there are no exceptions to this rule!!! Scrum recognizes no sub-teams in the DT, regardless of particular domains that need to be addressed, like testing or BA; there are NO exceptions of this rule!!!Accountability belongs to The Team as a whole – no matter that DT members may have specialized skills and areas of focus.

Important notes in regards DT’s work:

Product Owner (Product Owner (further further

PO)PO) PO is the sole person responsible for ROI of development effort.

PO is managing the Product Backlog (further PB) – Responsible for product vision, clearly expressing PB items, Ordering the items in the PB to best order to achieve goals and missions; Optimizing the value of the work the Development team (further DT) performs; Ensuring that the PB is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows what the DT will work on next; Ensuring the DT understands items in the PB to the level needed to perform their

work.

Represents stakeholder interests, but remains accountable;

Plans product releases and maintains product roadmap; ONE person, not a committee!!!; Ultimately responsible for product’s success.

Important notes in regards Po’s work: For the Product Owner to succeed, the entire

organization must respect his/her decisions; The Product Owner’s decisions are visible in

the content and ordering of the PB No one is allowed to tell the DT to work from

a different set of requirements; The DT is NOT allowed to act on what

anyone else says. The PO may represent the desires of a

committee in the PB, but those who want to change a PB item’s priority must address the PO.

The Scrum Master The Scrum Master (or the most misunderstood and neglected (or the most misunderstood and neglected

role in Scrum)role in Scrum)Manages relationship between Product

Owner and rest of the team.Ensures Scrum is understood and Scrum

theory, practices and rules are enacted. SM is a servant-leader for the Scrum

Team, he/she acts as coach, fixer, and gatekeeper;

A leadership role rather than managerial; Plans individual Sprints together with team members;Facilitates all of the Scrum events;

Scrum Master protects the team from distractions and interruptions! I will

protect you from that bad wolf and his endless ideas!

Scrum Master Service to the Development Team.

Helps resolve impediments. Creates an environment conducive to team

self-organization. Facilitates the processes, helps ppl use Scrum. Shields the team from external interference

and distractions to keep it in group flow (a.k.a. the zone).

Enforces time-boxes. Keeps Scrum artifacts visible. Promotes improved engineering practices. And somehow does all this with NO

management power over the team

The Scrum Product Owner – (or the hybrid breed in Scrum Roles

)The Scrum Product Owner serves the organization and the Development team as one fully operational PO plus all the above mentioned for SM and in several additional ways:Leading and coaching the organization in its Scrum adoption; Planning Scrum implementations within the organization; Helping employees and stakeholders understand and enact Scrum and empirical product development;Causing change that increases the productivity of the Scrum Team; and, Working with other Po’s to increase the effectiveness of the application of Scrum in the organization.

Scrum EventsScrum EventsPrescribed events are used in Scrum to create regularity and to minimize the need for meetings not defined in Scrum.

All events are time-boxed events, as every event has a maximum duration. Once a Sprint begins, its duration is fixed and cannot be shortened or lengthened.

Other than the Sprint itself, which is a container of all other events, each event in Scrum is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt something.

The events are specifically designed to enable critical transparency and inspection. Failure to include any of these events results in reduced transparency and is a lost of opportunity to inspect and adapt.

The Sprint contains and The Sprint contains and consists of: consists of:

The Sprint Planning, The Daily Scrums, The development work; The Sprint Review, The Sprint Retrospective.

Consistent duration throughout project (2 – 4 weeks);

Team composition and quality goals remain constant (5 – 7 people);

NoNo changes made that affect Sprint Goal!!!;

Scope can be clarified or re-negotiated as more is learned (new backlog entry is created);

Risk is limited to cost of one sprint.Scope may be clarified and re-

negotiated between the PO and the DT as more is learned.

How Sprints work? How Sprints work?

24 Hours

task

Expanded tasks

task

Estimated task

increment

Daily Scrum

meeting

Sprint Backlo

g

Product Backlog

Potentially shippable product

14 Days

task

task

taskEstimated

task

task

task

How a Sprint looks like?

Kind of like this…

SprintSprint PlanningPlanning MeetingMeeting

Time-boxed meeting to determine work to be done in 1 Sprint – 4 h. max.

First event of every Sprint.Answers “What will be delivered in this Sprint?”Answers “How the work will be achieved?”

!!!

Daily Scrum (Standup)Daily Scrum (Standup)Daily meeting within 15 min. time-box

(max).Each team member answers three questions: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? What obstacles are in the way?NOT a status meeting.Only DT can participate.

Sprint ReviewSprint Review

DT demonstrates work done in the Sprint.PO determines what has been “Done” or

“not Done”. PO discusses the PB as it stands with

projected completion dates and releases. Results in a revised Product BacklogForms planning for the next Sprint, timeline, Potential capabilities.

A Sprint review is held at the end of the Sprint to inspect the increment and adapt the PB if needed and DT and SH collaborate about what was done.

Sprint Retrospective

Final activity of every Sprint, time for the DT to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during next Sprint.

Team reflects on the Sprint in terms of people, relationships, process, and tools

Identify what went well and what not so well, where improvements are needed.

Team plans how to implement improvements

Sprint review meeting

inspects on debts about the

Product

Sprint retrospective

meeting is about the team to inspect any debts about the

Process.

Safety check Safety check Safety Gradient table histogram Invisible gun effect…. !!! Boss – subordinates

Classic Scrum retrospective Classic Scrum retrospective What went well – pluses – what to be learn? What can be improved – deltas – what still puzzles us? Focused Conversation Principles Focused Conversation Principles – a.k.a. Focused Conversation model. Objective Questions – what happened? Reflective Questions – how do we feel about it? Interpretive Questions – what does it mean? Decision Questions – what are we going to do about it?

SilentSilent writingwriting - - write down the actions

Timeline Retrospective Timeline Retrospective – Team writes actions.

Some types of Retrospective meetings:

Scrum ArtifactsScrum Artifacts

Product Backlog (PB) Product Backlog (PB) An ordered list of everything that might be needed in the

product. PB exists as long as product exists. PB is a lists all features, functions, requirements,

enhancements, and fixes that constitute the changes to be made to the product in the future releases.

PB is a single source of requirements and changes to the product;

Requirements never stop changing, so a PB is a living artifact.

Ordered by unique priority – defined by PO after BVD with SH.

Never complete. It evolves as the product and the environment in which it will be used evolves.

Anyone involved can contribute to it, but…. PO is responsible for the PB, including its content,

availability and ordering/prioritizing.

The Product Backlog is a force-ranked list of everything we might ever do, prioritized (or "ordered") by the Product Owner.

Product Backlog Items (PBIs) are often written in User Story form.

* One symptom of a less-effective Scrum implementation is a Product Backlog containing conventional tasks rather than well-

formed Product Backlog Items representing customer-centric functionality.

Product Backlog refinement

PB refinement is the act of adding details, estimates, and order to the items in the PB.

Ongoing process in which items are reviewed and revised.

Takes up to 10% of the DT capacity, the rest is updated and clarified at any time at the PO’s discretion.

Highest priority items are usually clearer and have the most details;

More precise estimates are made based on the greater clarity and increased detail;

Detail on lower priority items deferred until it’s needed.

Sprint Backlog (SB)

Set of Backlog items that the Team commits to delivering in ONE sprint.

SP is a plan with enough detail that changes in progress, but can be understood in the Daily scrum (standups).

Forecast by the DT about what functionality will be in the next increment and the work needed to deliver that functionality into a “Done” endpoint.

Serves as a real-time picture of how work is progressing, it makes visible all of the work that the DT has put into tasks.

Belongs solely to the Development Team

Definition of “Done”

A shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete, to ensure transparency.

Everyone must understand what “Done” means and when work is considered Done.

Defined at the beginning of the projectApplies globally to the project, in case

multiple DT work on the system or product release;

Scrum Organizational Scrum Organizational ImpactImpactTransitioning to Scrum is not always easy

– Resistance to changes is heavy! Very

Heavy! We are used to this –

And now we must start using this -

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

Working software over comprehensive documentation.

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items onthe right, we value the items on the left more.

Scrum brings challenges to individuals, teams and organizations…IF it is not disrupting your organization, you probable not doing Scrum…. That’s the case most of the time people claim to be doing Scrum.

Difficulty of leaving the traditional understanding of roles.Scrum addresses uncertain requirements and technology risk by grouping people from multiple disciplines into 1 DT – this means to maximize the communication bandwidth, visibility and trust.In the adaptation phase the basic Agile principles may be destroyed – that’s scary. Traditional roles change together with cultural changes.Commitment to continuous improvement.Scrum roles, artifacts, events and rules are immutable and although implementing only parts of Scrum is possible – The result is NOT SCRUM.

Organizational Impacts

1. Simplicity of principles and apparent easiness of their employment.

2. More transparent communication with the SHs and more accurate planning of tasks.

3. Scrum is in fashion! Indeed

WHY TEAMS SWITCH TO SCRUM?

IN CONCLUSION: Scrum is NOT a panacea

to solve all the problems.

…. BUT ….

Scrum principles reveal the problems, and it IS people who are to solve

them.

Who uses Scrum?Who uses Scrum?

http://www.scrum.org/http://www.scrumalliance.org/All Things Product Owner by Roman Pichler Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken SchwaberSucceeding with Agile: Software Development

Using Scrum by Mike CohnA Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum by

Elizabeth WoodwardAgile Retrospectives by Esther Derby/Diana LarsenGuide to Participatory Decision making by Sam KanerThe Skilled Facilitator by Roger Schwarz.

ResourcesResources