scaled professional scrum (agile greece summit 2015, gunther verheyen)

by Scrum.org – Improving the Profession of Software Development

Scaled Professional ScrumFocused. Effective. Viable.

Gunther VerheyenShepherding Professional ScrumScrum.org

Agile Greece SummitAthens

18 September 2015

2© 1993-2015 Scrum.org, All Rights Reserved

MIN3

Which of the following software development processes is your organization using?• Lean (software development)• Kanban• DevOps• SAFe• DAD• eXtreme Programming• Scrum

Short Survey About You and Your Process

The Spotify Model?


Two Decades of ScrumScaled Professional Scrum

“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”

– Mark Twain


Designed for Complexity (1995)• Framing people’s

creativity• Controlling risk (time-

boxing)• Enabling validated

learning• Driven by goals• Thriving on discovery• Delivering Value• A bounded environment

for action


Scrum’s DNASelf-organization

A system’s components interacting purposefully toward a shared goal without externally exerted power.

EmpiricismFrequent decisions of adaptation are based on knowledge gained through inspection and

experience.


A Craze Since the Conception of Agile (2001)

scrum·pede/skrʌmˈpiːd/

Sudden frenzied rush of (panic–stricken) companies to do Scrum because they want to be agile, too.

Inspired by © Tomasz Włodarek.


Scrum, Essentially1. A team pulls work from one Product Backlog.

2. Each Sprint delivers a releasable Increment of product.


What if we would start with Scrum before attempting to ‘scale’ it?


Scaled ScrumScaled Professional Scrum

“It takes two to scale.”– Gunther Verheyen


An Even Bigger Craze (2012)

scrum·pede/skrʌmˈpiːd/

1. Sudden frenzied rush of (panic–stricken) companies to do Scrum because they want to be agile, too.

2. To flee in a headlong rush to bigger Scrum because more software is needed, now.

Inspired by © Tomasz Włodarek.


MIN3

Raise your hand if your organization defines ‘scaled’ as…• Multiple teams working on one product• Multiple teams working on their individual products• Multiple teams working on a suite of integrated

products• One team working on several products in parallel• The complete IT department adopting Scrum• The complete organization transforming toward Agile

Short Survey About Scaled Scrum


Focus. Transparency.Sc

aled

Scr

um


Definition of Scaled Scrum1. Any implementation of Scrum where multiple Scrum

Teams build one product or a standalone set of product features, in one or more Sprints.

2. Any implementation of Scrum where multiple Scrum Teams build multiple related products or sets of product features, in one or more Sprints.


Multiple Teams Building One Product 1. A product has one Product Backlog managed by one Product Owner.

2. Multiple Teams create integrated Increments.


MIN2

What are YOUR biggest hurdles when scaling Scrum, implementing Scrum

at a larger scale?

The Challenges of Scaled Scrum


The Integration of Work (or the lack thereof)

THE MEDUSA EFFECT

Poorly maintained codebases have…


One Scrum Team Doing Work


Some Scrum Teams Doing Work


Many Scrum Teams Doing Work

Dependencies


• People (communication)• Business domains and

requirements• Technology• Software• Infrastructure

• Intra-team• Cross-team

• External

Dependencies

Dimensions Where


Unresolved Dependencies Cause A Shift in Money Spent

Adding

New Features

Fighting Technical

Debt


Your ability to scale depends on your ability to continuously:

– Handle dependencies– Integrate work across all levels– Create integrated Increments


The NexusScaled Professional Scrum

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”

- Mark Twain


Nexus–noun

\ˈnek-səs\: a relationship or connection between people or things

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nexus

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nexus


3-9 Teams Building One Product? Help!


The Nexus™ – An Exoskeleton for 3-9 Scrum Teams


Identify and work around dependencies:• Prior to work occurring• Ongoing• Persistent• In all dimensions

Reveal dependencies that remained unnoticed:• Frequent integration• Acceptance testing• Continual build and

delivery• Minimize technical debt

Designed for Dependencies

Proactive Reification*

*Reification:Making something real, bringing something into being, or making something concrete.


The Nexus Augments ScrumBuilds on Scrum principles, values, and foundations• Creates communication pathways• Widens and deepens inspect and adapt mechanisms• Fosters continued transparency• Relies on bottom-up intelligence

Eschews fixed, defined solutions that add overhead.


The Nexus Integration Team• A Scrum Team• Works off of Product

Backlog• Members are full or part

time• Composition may change

between Sprints• Focus is dependencies

and facilitation of integration


Scaled Professional Scrum PracticesDependencies Reification

Feature teams ALM artifact automation

Micro-services Test-driven development

Product Backlog metadata Continuous integration of all work

Continuous Product Backlog refinement Frequent builds

Story mapping Frequent testing

Product Backlog cross-team dependency mapping

Limited branching

Communities of practice Descaling and Scrumble

Architecture contains experimentation and A/B switches

Thin sliced Product Backlog items compose Sprint backlog for ATDD


Descaling• Scale up with caution• Add practices or tools• Reduce the overall pace by

reducing the number of teams to a more sustainable number (and/or velocity)

• Clean up and integrate the current software so it can be built upon in future Sprints

Prod

uctiv

ity

Teams


Scrumble• When technical debt, domain

knowledge and test results overwhelm forward progress, Scrumble

• Scrumble is a period of unknown duration and staffing when work is done to allow forward progress to resume

• Staffing should be minimized and talent applied maximized

Teams

Prod

uctiv

ity


The Nexus interconnects 3-9 Scrum Teams:

– Exhibiting Scrum’s principles and DNA–Creating one reified Increment of product– Minimal overhead, maximized outcome


ClosingEmpirical Management Explored


“The future state of Scrum will no longer be called ‘Scrum’. What we now call Scrum will have become the norm, and organizations have re-invented themselves around

it.”Source: Gunther Verheyen, “Scrum – A Pocket Guide (A Smart Travel Companion)”, 2013


About

Gunther Verheyen• eXtreme Programming and Scrum since

2003• Professional Scrum Trainer• Shepherding Professional Scrum at

Scrum.org• Co-developing the Scaled Professional

Scrum framework at Scrum.org• Author of “Scrum – A Pocket Guide (A

Smart Travel Companion)” (2013)

Mail [email protected] @Ullizee

Blog http://guntherverheyen.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://twitter.com/

http://ullizee.wordpress.com/

http://ullizee.wordpress.com/


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