1. Agile Scrum and Pitfalls Dan Monahan and Mohammad Faiz September 12th, 2013

2. Scrum and Avoiding Common Pitfalls Intro to Agile Scrum in Under 10 Minutes A crash course in Agile Scrum projects, just in case youre new to it. Why Scrum? Key benefits and why we would want to consider it. Q&A Intro Scrum Pitfalls Scrum Masters are supposed to be masters of Scrum, right? Benefits Pitfalls Offshoring Q&A Offshoring Scrum Managing cross-border projects is always tricky. 2 3. Origins of Scrum Lean Management and The Toyota Way Muri, muda, and mura XP (Extreme Programming) Scrum was first defined as "a flexible, holistic product development strategy in 1986 by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka in the "New New Product Development Game. 3 4. Agile Scrum in Under 10 Minutes 4 5. Benefits of Scrum High visibility of progress Consistent feedback from customer Inspect & adapt Predictably rhythm Measurable & demonstrate productivity (via burndown, velocity charts, etc.) Cross-functional, self-organizing teams Low bureaucratic overhead (Discussions, documentation, etc.) Emphasis on face-to-face communication No Scrum 2.0 For more details, read The Agile Samurai by Jonathan Rasmusson. 5 6. Scrum And You: Lets Start Discussing Use Post-It notes and pencils. Start writing & posting on the wall or whiteboard. What went well in your recent project? What could have been done better in your recent project? A problem or questions that you may have? 5 Minute Activity 6 7. 5 minute 5 minutes End 7 8. Scrum and Avoiding Common Pitfalls Intro to Agile Scrum in Under 10 Minutes A crash course in Agile Scrum projects, just in case youre new to it. Why Scrum? Key benefits and why we would want to consider it. Q&A Intro Scrum Pitfalls Scrum Masters are supposed to be masters of Scrum, right? Benefits Pitfalls Offshoring Q&A Offshoring Scrum Managing cross-border projects is always tricky. 8 9. Common Scrum Pitfalls But Scrum sounds so great! What can possibly go wrong? 9 10. Predicting the Product, Budget, and Technology What will be created in the end? Requirements are always changing Lack of prioritization How many online PM tools do we need? 10 11. Lack of Training and Knowledge 2-3 days training, no practical experience Scrum rites not followed Burndown charts not maintained, velocity not tracked. Doing waterfall phases across various sprints. IT department gets training, but what about the business and users? 11 12. Organizational Model Culture is deeply rooted in traditional & set waterfall model Not focused on delivering value Lack of prioritization at the portfolio level Availability of personal with right skill General resistance to change Management vision & support Developers do QA? Huh?! No PMs?! 12 13. Communication and Collaboration Availability, involvement and responsiveness of product owner. No constructive criticism; no transparency in issues. Scrum masters difficulty to facilitate. Conflict resolution techniques missing. 13 14. False Assumptions Scope used to be fixed up front, but now its always changing. Too many developers working on too many things. Estimates are way off every sprint. Why? 14 15. Lets see what we have on the whiteboard! 15 16. Suggested Solutions Pitfall Suggested Solutions Predicting the Product, Budget, and Technology - What will be created in the end? - Requirements are always changing - Lack of prioritization - How many online PM tools do we need? - Emphasize that no business can predict what they want in six months time; business is dynamic. (Ex: Mobile phones are replacing watches after destroying portable music devices & cameras) - Track and demonstrate value, compare value with scope (Apply 80-20 concept) - Track velocity, target XX size in XX months, demonstrate XX size as XX value to business. - Provide iterative releases, reduce time to launch and encourage feedback. - Tie your budget with your project schedule. - Less online tools, more whiteboard and paper = greater transparency. 16 17. Suggested Solutions Pitfall Suggested Solutions Lack of Training and Knowledge - 2-3 days training, no practical experience - Scrum rites not followed - Burndown charts not maintained, velocity not tracked. - Doing waterfall phases across various sprints. - IT department gets training, but what about the business and users? - Understand that Scrum is like chess: You can learn in one day but it takes years to master. - Encourage group discussions, blogs, knowledge sharing. - Have Agile sessions that involve the entire team (including PO) specially at the beginning and continue throughout the project. - Educate value of Scrum rites, follow religiously. 17 18. Suggested Solutions Pitfall Suggested Solutions Organizational Model - Culture is deeply rooted in traditional & set waterfall model - Not focused on delivering value - Lack of prioritization at the portfolio level - Availability of personal with right skill - General resistance to change - Management vision & support - Developers do QA? Huh?! - No PMs?! - Train BOTH business users and IT on Agile Scrum. - Emphasize on reduced time to market - Short, iterative releases give business users something to play with. - Users often dont know what they really want until they see it. - Give people time to consider Agile. - Screen potential team members for the right skillset and background. - Demonstrate the value of developers assisting with QA. - PMs can be part of the new organization by bringing valuable experience to the team. 18 19. Suggested Solutions Pitfall Suggested Solutions Communication and Collaboration - Availability, involvement and responsiveness of product owner - No constructive criticism; no transparency in issues. - Scrum master ability to facilitate - Conflict resolution techniques missing - Organize site visits, face to face interactions to improve trust and comfort level - Create and implement communication matrix at the beginning - Use smart presence (PO & Team logged on to video cam through out the day) - Use situation walls - Encourage business canvas, Product canvas approach 19 20. Suggested Solutions Pitfall Suggested Solutions False Assumptions - Scope used to be fixed up front, but now its always changing. - Too many developers working on too many things. - Estimates are way off every sprint. Why? - Knowledge is power, use numbers to justify - Use metrics extensively to bring clear and objective thinking - Productivity - Predictability - Quality - Business value vs. cost - Risk register, wake up frequently - Publish burndown charts to product owner daily! - Publish task management tool to product owner daily! 20 21. Situation Walls 21 22. Scrum and Avoiding Common Pitfalls Intro to Agile Scrum in Under 10 Minutes A crash course in Agile Scrum projects, just in case youre new to it. Why Scrum? Key benefits and why we would want to consider it. Q&A Intro Scrum Pitfalls Scrum Masters are supposed to be masters of Scrum, right? Benefits Pitfalls Offshoring Q&A Offshoring Scrum Managing cross-border projects is always tricky. 22 23. Common Issues With Offshoring Scrum Requirements understanding Quality assurance Intellectual property protection Differing processes, lack of alignment Communication, Scrum rites Roles and responsibilities in a Scrum environment vs. a traditional project team structure Lack of understanding of Scrum No control over who is assigned to your team. Its not just an extension of your own company. 23 24. Continuous integration to avoid integration headaches Contact visits to build trust Implement & educate security and compliance Don't underestimate the culture change Start sharing cultural & mind set thoughts Use wikis/sites to contain common information Clear roles & responsibility and communication matrix Use regular, short status meetings Use short iterations to get regular feedback Separate teams by functionality not activity Get multiple communication modes working early Avoiding Issues In Offshoring Scrum For more details, read Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development by Craig Larman and Bas Vodde. 24 25. Smart Presence 25 26. Second Activity: Activity will have two sessions (We can do more if we have time) Use the logistics available on the desk at left side of the screen Listen & read the instructions carefully Respect time Give space for everyone to move around freely 15 minutes activity 26 27. Do you all remember this from your childhood? 27 28. Session 1 Create paper aircrafts Fly paper aircrafts from Line 1 To be successful, your aircraft must cross Line 2 Once crossed, the aircraft is a done product, cannot be re-used Count number of aircrafts your team could fly beyond Line 2 You have 2 minutes 28 29. Session 1 Timer 2:001:591:581:571:561:551:541:531:521:511:501:491:481:471:461:451:441:431:421:411:401:391:381:371:361:351:341:331:321:311:301:291:281:271:261:251:241:231:221:211:201:191:181:171:161:151:141:131:121:111:101:091:081:071:061:051:041:031:021:011:000:590:580:570:560:550:540:530:520:510:500:490:480:470:460:450:440:430:420:410:400:390:380:370:360:350:340:330:320:310:300:290:280:270:260:250:240:230:220:210:200:190:180:170:160:150:140:130:120:110:100:090:080:070:060:050:040:030:020:01End2:00 29 30. Session 2 Ask team to select a scrum master Plan your activities & roles before you start, break down tasks Create paper aircrafts with following specifications Each aircraft should have Star mark on right wing Each aircraft should have should have team name on left wing Each aircraft nose needs to be flattened Fly paper aircrafts from Line 1 To be successful, your aircraft must cross Line 2 Count number of aircrafts your team could fly beyond Line 2 You have 2 minutes 30 31. Session 2 Timer 2:001:591:581:571:561:551:541:531:521:511:501:491:481:471:461:451:441:431:421:411:401:391:381:371:361:351:341:331:321:311:301:291:281:271:261:251:241:231:221:211:201:191:181:171:161:151:141:131:121:111:101:091:081:071:061:051:041:031:021:011:000:590:580:570:560:550:540:530:520:510:500:490:480:470:460:450:440:430:420:410:400:390:380:370:360:350:340:330:320:310:300:290:280:270:260:250:240:230:220:210:200:190:180:170:160:150:140:130:120:110:100:090:080:070:060:050:040:030:020:01End2:00 31 32. What did we learn? Business requirements change, changes are inevitable Each aircraft should have Star mark on right wing Each aircraft should have should have team name on left wing Each aircraft nose needs to be flattened Productivity needs to be tracked; productivity increases as team becomes experienced on scrum and start using planning and task management techniques Definition of done is important A workable product is created after every sprint Try this game with your team at your office, add steps like demo, retrospective, spec changes in each session and start analyzing productivity 32 33. Scrum and Avoiding Common Pitfalls Intro to Agile Scrum in Under 10 Minutes A crash course in Agile Scrum projects, just in case youre new to it. Why Scrum? Key benefits and why we would want to consider it. Q&A Intro Scrum Pitfalls Scrum Masters are supposed to be masters of Scrum, right? Benefits Pitfalls Offshoring Q&A Offshoring Scrum Managing cross-border projects is always tricky. 33 34. Q&A 34 35. Contact Dan Monahan dan_monahan@yahoo.com Mohammad Faiz mdfaizu@gmail.com LinkedIn Project Management in Tokyo (PMiT) Agile Project Management in Tokyo (APMIT) 35 36. Case Study #1 A team has been working for a 2 months on a 3 month project; 1 month of development is left. There is a consumer expo that if the company attended, could demo their product. So the team adds stories to the backlog to brush up the UI and make it more presentable. To meet the schedule, the team adds extra resources to handle this extra workload; the team of 5 developers is doubled to 10, and a new PO is added. Issues: Some of the original stories are not being completed. The new team members estimates are completely off. UI originally developed needs to be scrapped for new UI. Stakeholders think project is disorganized. Two POs have conflicting priorities. Consumer Expo 36 37. Case Study #2 A new team is formed to release a new widget: a BA as a PO, three developers, a PM as a SM, and two QA engineers. The SM is creating a project plan the first Sprint produces the scope of the project, the second the requirements, the next 5 Sprints for development, and the final two sprint for testing. The SM also created work estimates for the team, the BA submits a list of requirements to the developers to estimate, and the QA engineers are writing test cases. Whats wrong with this picture? A New Project Team 37 38. Case Study #3 The PO and SM for a new team are in Japan. The developers sit in China. Daily meetings are held over video conferencing, but the network connection is slow so communication is tough. The project is on track, but its not delivering the results expected by the PO stories are mostly done, but not complete. Quality suffers because of disagreements by the developers on how to proceed. And when the direction is clear, a lot of technical support is needed as the developers are new to the cloud computing technology used as part of the project. Senior management in Japan is not happy with the progress of the project. How can this project be rescued? Distributed Teams 38 39. Case Study #4 One team works on software development, another team handles infrastructure requirements, another team provides production support and another team is a pool of POs. With so many cross-functional teams, the team is getting bogged down with meetings, emails, status updates, different TLAs, and even though they are all co-located, increase communication seems like increased inefficiency. How can these teams be better organized and breakdown a large set of requirements and work more efficiently? Cross-Organizational Project 39 40. Case Study #5 A Scrum team is divided into having a PO in the local office with the SM and development team offshore. Maintaining the backlog and status is tough across borders, so the team uses an online tool (Rally/JIRA/Redmine)for their stories. Even though stories are broken down, the PO feels as if progress isnt living up to expectations and cant get a good picture of the progress, and feels that the team is having challenges collaborating with other teams (sharing code, managing dependencies). What are some ways the team can move away from online tools to improve efficiency? Another Offshore Team 40