Distributed Scrum: Trials and Tips from the Trenches Brian Saylor Software Development Manager Scripps Networks Interactive

Scripps Networks Interactive Today

Food Travel & Country Music Home

Scripps Networks Interactive Digital

Travel & Country Music Home Food

170 million peopleconsume our content each month

Source: Nielsen Media Research, Three-Way Interaction Table of Scripps Networks Interactive networks, websites and magazines, average monthly reach, Persons 2+, 2Q12.

Our Locations

Primary Team Locations

Knoxville, TN

Chevy Chase, MD

New York

Reasons for Geographically Dispersed Teams

Cost •  Hire from cheaper/more competitive labor pool Talent •  Easier to find special skills in a different location Customer proximity •  Keep some staff closer to customers & stakeholders

build relationships and respond faster Office space •  Place people where there is available real estate Client support •  Placing employees across time zones allows for

24-hour/extended support

There is no silver bullet!

Why Collocate?

Communications/Collaboration •  Lowering barriers to collaboration

•  Reducing risk of miscommunication

•  Align with LEAN principles and minimizes inefficiencies

Team Identity •  Unity

•  Respect

•  Trust

Binary Distribution Two Scrum rooms

Hybrid Distribution Scrum room with remote individuals

Distributed Team Arrangements

Fully Distributed Individuals in many locations

Communications Tools

Video Conferencing

Instant Messaging & Chat Rooms

Audio Conferencing

Collaboration Tools

Screen Sharing

Document Sharing

Smartboards Digital Wallboards

Team Identity Tools

Communications Tools

Audio Conferencing

•  Someone puts the conference “on hold”, and we all get to listen to hold music.

•  Someone on the conference will be unaware that their passionate side discussion is being heard by everyone.

•  People “on the phone” get ignored.

Communications Tools

Audio Conferencing

•  Brian’s Law of Teleconferencing •  The more important the meeting, the more likely that

some one will put their line on hold. With hold music.

Communications Tools

Video Conferencing

•  Video lag

•  Poor quality

•  High client bandwidth / CPU requirements

•  Limited participants

Communications Tools

Instant Messaging & Chat Rooms

•  Everyone uses a different client

•  Mix personal and business accounts

Team Identity Tools

Team Identity

•  Communications

•  Face time

•  Kick-off / wrap-up events

•  Swag

•  Success

Instant Messaging Clients

Novell

GroupWise®

Instant Messaging Clients • Skype / Skype for business

• AIM

• Windows Live/MSN Messenger

• Microsoft Lync

• Yahoo Messenger

• Google Talk

• Atlassian HipChat

• Yammer

• Convo

• Campfire

•  Trillian Astra

•  Thompson Reuters Messenger

•  IBM Sametime

• Cisco Jabber

•  Facebook Chat

• Novell GroupWise Messenger

• Mxit

•  ICQ Messenger

• KiK

• WhatsApp

Instant Messaging Group Chat Rooms

•  Persistent group chat –  Use it! –  Even when collocated –  Less disruptive to context

switching then verbal.

Instant Messaging Guidelines 1.  Privacy: Group membership should be by invitation. No casual

snoopers. Remember that the chat belongs to the team.

2.  Visible Membership: Membership list should be visible.

3.  Administration: Remove members from the group when necessary.

4.  Member Status: Members currently online or offline should be visible.

5.  Offline: Should see messages that were sent while they were offline.

6.  File Sharing: Should be able to post files to the group. Shared files can be downloaded by group members even if the member sharing is offline.

7.  Hosting: No single “Owner” that must be online for group to function.

Instant Messaging Guidelines 8.  Clients: Support Windows, Mac, and Linux.

9.  Mobile: Full support for mobile devices. iOS and Android, Phones and Tables.

10. Continuous: Continue chats while switching between devices. Should be able to continue a conversation while switching from a desktop to a laptop to a tablet and to a phone.

11. History: Keep track of old conversations.

12. Timestamp: It should be clear the date/time what any message is posted.

13. Security: Chat traffic carried over the Internet should be encrypted.

14. Ad Free: Client should be free of distracting ads.

Document Sharing

•  Real-time document collaboration or Pair-programming

Smartboards

•  Smart whiteboards: SMART, E-Beam •  Digital agile wall boards

Distributed Development

•  Project Development Problems –  70% Communication –  20% Technical –  10% Other

–  Note: Other may not equal stupidity

–  Warning: This figures are made up

Putting it together: Binary Distribution

Two Scrum Rooms

Putting it together: Binary Distribution

•  One Virtual Room –  Room to room video –  IM and group chat –  SMART board –  Digital Wallboard

•  Travel –  Kick offs in single location –  Exchange developers between locations

periodically

Putting it together: Fully Distributed

No Central Scrum Room

Putting it together: Fully Distributed

•  One Virtual Room –  Multi point video –  IM and group chats –  No SMART boards –  No Digital Wallboard

•  Travel –  Kick offs and wrap ups in single location

Putting it together: Hybrid Distribution

Scrum Room with Remote Developers

Putting it together: Hybrid Distribution

•  One Virtual Room –  Multi point video –  IM and group chats –  No SMART boards –  No Digital Wallboard

•  Travel –  Kick offs and wrap ups in single location

Developer Quality vs Efficiency

Dev

elop

er Q

ualit

y

Developer Efficiency

Summary

Pick out your communication tools

Hand pick your developers

Keep them close together

Don’t do it

Arrange a team kick-off

Pick out your collaboration tools

There is no technological replacement for direct human interaction

If you expect to save time and money by distributing your team, be prepared to be disappointed

THOUGHTS

Q&A Contact Me Email: bsaylor@scrippsnetworks.com Blog: http://www.chaosincomputing.com/ Careers: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com