Getting Agile With Scrum - Mountain Goat Software

Getting Agile with ScrumMike CohnNovember 11, 20081Mike Cohn - background Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 2

Agenda Overview of Scrum Product backlogs Sprints and sprint backlog Tracking progress Scrum meetings 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 3The Agile Manifestooveroveroverover Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 4

It shouldn’t be all-or-nothingoTraditinalScrum 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 5 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 6Sunday, November 9, 2008

We’re losing the relay race“The ‘relay race’ approach to productdevelopment may conflict with the goals ofmaximum speed and flexibility. Instead aholistic or ‘rugby’ approach—where a teamtries to go the distance as a unit, passing theball back and forth—may better serve today’scompetitive requirements.”Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka, “TheNew New Product Development Game”,Harvard Business Review, January 1986. 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 7 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 8Sunday, November 9, 2008

Scrum roles and responsibilitiesProductOwnerScrumMaster Defines the features of the product, decides on release date and contentIs responsible for the profitability of the product (ROI)Prioritizes features according to market valueCan change features and priority every sprintAccepts or rejects work results Ensures that the team is fully functional and productiveEnables close cooperation across all roles and functions and removesbarriersShields the team from external interferencesEnsures that the process is followed. Participates in daily scrum, sprintreview and planning meetings Team Cross-functional, seven plus/minus two membersSelects the sprint backlogHas the right to do everything within the boundaries of the projectguidelines to reach the iteration goalOrganizes itself and its workDemos work results to the Product Owner 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software Scrum924 hoursSprint2-4 weeksSprint pProductbacklogSprintbacklogPotentially shippableproduct incrementCoupons Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 10

Scrum Is results-oriented Is commitment-driven Is value-focused Empowers and respects teams 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 11 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 12Sunday, November 9, 2008

Product backlog The requirements A list of all desired work onthe project Ideally expressed such thateach item has value to theusers or customers of theproduct Prioritized by the productowner Reprioritized at the start ofeach sprint 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 13A sample product backlog Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 14

User stories as backlog itemsCard Stories are traditionally writtenon note cards. May be annotated with notes,estimates, etc.Conversation Details behind the story comeout during conversations withproduct ownerConfirmation Acceptance tests confirm thestory was coded correctlySource: XP Magazine 8/30/01, Ron Jeffries. 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 15Samples from a travel websiteUse this template:As a type of user ,I want some goal so that some reason . Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 16

2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 17The product backlog icebergSprintPriorityReleaseFutureReleases Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 18

Some useful termsUser StoryThemeA collection of relateduser stories.A description of desiredfunctionality told from theperspective of the user orcustomer.EpicA large user story. 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 19An exampleEpics?Clearly an epic Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 20

An example 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 21 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 22Sunday, November 9, 2008

A sprint backlogCode the user interface848Code the middle tier1612104Test the middle tier81616118888884Write online helpWrite the foo class128Add error logging 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 23Potentially shippable productincrement At the end of each sprint, the team mustproduce a potentially shippable productincrement High quality, tested, complete, done, what it does itdoes well Potentially shippable shippable Product increment may not be cohesive Print preview but no print Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 24

Always deliver You must have a potentially shippable productincrement at the end of each sprint Do not miss the end of the sprint The deadline is sacredFunctionality may vary 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 25 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 26Sprints Sunday, November 9, 2008

Architecture built over timePercent of Effort100806040200123456Sprints789 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 27Reciprocal commitmentsThe team commits to deliveringsome amount of functionalityThe business commits to leavepriorities alone during the sprint Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 28

No changes during a sprint What the team commits to—and what theproduct owner agrees to—during sprint planningshould be what is deliveredHowever, keep in mind that. We start with vague requirements Our understanding of those requirements isrefined during the sprint 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 29Abnormal terminations If change cannot be kept out of a sprint. The sprint may be abnormally terminated An extreme circumstance, not done very often Raises visibility of priority changes Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 30

Deciding to abnormally terminate Team can abnormally terminate if They feel they cannot meet the sprint goal Business priorities change Management can abnormally terminate if After abnormally terminating. All work from the current sprint is undone Code reverts to where it was at the end of the priorsprint Next step is to plan a new sprint 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 31Release sprints Always target a potentially-shippable productincrement But, some polishing can occur in a releasesprint Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) testingSome stress, performance or usability testingComplianceDocumentation touchups (final screen shots) Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 32

2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 33A product backlogStoryPoints DoneAs the site editor, I can add an article to the site.As a site visitor, I want to read a new article onthe front page about once a week.As the site editor, I can include a teaser witheach article.As a site member who has read a teaser on thefront page, I want to read the entire article.As a site visitor, I can do a full-text search ofarticle body, title, and author name.As a site visitor, I can subscribe to an RSS feed ofarticles.As a site visitor, I can post comments aboutarticles so that others can read them. Sunday, November 9, 20085 5 358513 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 34

Velocity A useful long-term measure of the amount ofwork completed per sprint403020100123456789Sprints 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 35When will this project be released?Story Points (or Ideal Days)40030020010001 Sunday, November 9, 20082Sprints345 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 36

2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 37A sprint burndown chart1,000Hours800600400 Sunday, November 9, 20085/24/025/20/025/13/025/6/0204/29/02200 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 38

Code the user interface848Code the middle tierTest the middle tier16812161016Write online help12711850Hours403020100MonTueWedThuFri 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 39Task boardsStoryTo Do Sunday, November 9, 2008InToProcess VerifyDone 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 40

A sample task board 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 41 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 42Sunday, November 9, 2008

A cork task board 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 43Velcro in a team room Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 44

2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 45 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 46Scrum meetings Body Text with a bullet andSunday, November 9, 2008

Sprint planning meetingSprint prioritization Analyze and evaluate product backlogSelect sprint goalSprint planning Decide how to achieve sprint goal (design)Create sprint backlog (tasks)from product backlog items(user stories / features)Estimate sprint backlog in hours 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 47Sprint planning Team selects items from the product backlog they cancommit to completingSprint backlog is created Tasks are identified and each is estimated (1-16 hours)Collaboratively, not done alone by the ScrumMasterHigh-level design is consideredCode the middle tier (8 hours)Code the user interface (4)Write test fixtures (4)Code the foo class (6)Update performance tests (4) Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 48

The daily scrum Parameters Daily15-minutesStand-up Whole world is invitedOnly team members, ScrumMaster, productowner, can talk Not for problem solving Helps avoid other unnecessary meetings 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 49Everyone answers 3 questions These are not status forthe ScrumMaster They are commitments infront of peers Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 50

The sprint reviewpresents what it accomplished during Teamthe sprinttakes the form of a demo of new Typicallyfeatures or underlying architecture Informal No slides2-hour prep time guideline Whole team participates Invite the world 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 51Sprint retrospective Periodically take a look at what is and is not workingTypically 15–30 minutesDone after every sprintWhole team participates ScrumMasterProduct ownerTeamPossibly customers and others Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 52

Start / Stop / Continue Whole team gathers and discusses what they’dlike to:This is just oneof many waysto do a sprintretrospective. 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 53A start, stop, continue list Showing the software to customers early Specifying acceptance tests early and withcustomers Doing code inspections Getting FitNesse into the nightly builds Trying to finish one story before moving to thenext Being disrespectful of QA Making progress with the canonical database Emphasizing test automation Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 54

Scrum of scrums 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 55Scrum of scrums of scrums Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 56

Is Scrum right for you?Yes, probably. But. Remember that Scrum requires empowered teams Can you allow the team the freedom to self organize? Do your teams have the discipline to be agile ordo they equate agile to lazy? Will you have the courage and stamina to resolvethe issues that Scrum surfaces? The problems were always there, but now they’re morevisible Remember, Scrum is an approach, not a list of rules 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 57Upcoming public classes Mountain Goat Software, LLCSunday, November 9, 200858

Mike Cohn contact info Sunday, November 9, 2008 2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software 59

2003–2008 Mountain Goat Software Scrum roles and responsibilities Defines the features of the product, decides on release date and content Is responsible for the profitability of the product (ROI) Prioritizes features according to market value Can change features and priority every sprint Accepts or rejects work results Product Owner .