the nexus. focused. effective. viable. scaled professional ... · by scrum.org –improving the...

by Scrum.org – Improving the Profession of Software Development

Scaled Professional ScrumThe Nexus. Focused. Effective. Viable.

Gunther Verheyen

Shepherding Professional Scrum

Scrum.org

Scrum Deutschland

Düsseldorf

6 November 2015

2© 2015 Gunther Verheyen, Scrum.org, All Rights Reserved

MIN

3

Which software development processes does your organization use?

• Lean (software development)

• Kanban

• DevOps

• SAFe

• The Spotify Model

• DAD

• eXtreme Programming

• Scrum

Short Survey About You and Your Process


Two Decades of ScrumScaled Professional Scrum

“A person with a new idea is a crank until the

idea succeeds.”

– Mark Twain


Is That a Gorilla I See Over There?

Source: https://www.versionone.com/pdf/state-of-agile-development-survey-ninth.pdf

https://www.versionone.com/pdf/state-of-agile-development-survey-ninth.pdf


A Tool for Complex Problems (1995)

A bounded environment to:

• Create Done Increments of Product

• Frame people’s creativity

• Controlling risk

• Enable validated learning

• Move toward goals

• Thrive on discovery

• Deliver Value


Scrum’s DNA

Self-organization

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

Empiricism

Frequent decisions of adaptation are based on knowledge gained through inspection and experience.


Empiricism, Closing the Loops


Scrum, Essentially

1. 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


Scaling a Gorilla?

Source: https://www.versionone.com/pdf/state-of-agile-development-survey-ninth.pdf

https://www.versionone.com/pdf/state-of-agile-development-survey-ninth.pdf


MIN

3

Raise your hand if your organization defines ‘scale’ as…

• Multiple teams working on one product

• Multiple teams working on their individual products

• Multiple teams working on a product bundle

• A single team working on several products

• The complete IT department adopting Scrum

• The complete organization transforming toward Agile

Short Survey About The Definition of ‘Scale’


Focus. Transparency.

Sc

ale

d S

cru

m


Definition of Scaled Scrum

1. Any implementation of Scrum where multiple

Scrum Teams build one product or a stand-alone

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 a Product Owner.

2. Multiple Teams create integrated Increments.


Integrated 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

✗


• People (skills, 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


The ability to scale depends on the

ability to continuously:– Identify and remove dependencies

– Integrate work across all levels

– Inspect and adapt frequently


The NexusScaled Professional Scrum

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns

something he can learn in no other way.”

- Mark Twain


The Nexus, Craving Space for Collaboration

–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


Multiple Teams Building One Product? Help!


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


In Addition to Scrum

• New Role – Nexus Integration Team

• New Artifact– Nexus Sprint Backlog

• Scaled Events– Nexus Sprint Planning

– Nexus Daily Scrum

– Nexus Sprint Review

– Nexus Sprint Retrospective


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

Avoid Dependencies Corrupting Your Outcome

Proactive Reification*

*Reification:

Making something real, bringing something into

being, or making something concrete.


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 Practices

Dependencies 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 experimentationand 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

Pro

du

ctiv

ity

Teams


Scrumble

• Scrumble is a period of remediation.

• When technical debt, domain knowledge and test results overwhelm forward progress, Scrumble

• Improvements are made so Nexus Sprints can be resumed through the creation of integrated Increments Teams

Pro

du

ctiv

ity


Remediations You Want To Look For When Scrumbling

• Upgrade the development environment to support the Development Teams

• Revise and upgrade the development practices

• Train people in practices using the development environment

• Refactor existing work into a sustainable code and test base

• Develop system specific tools and components to reduce dependencies and facilitate integration

• Ends with the creation of a usable, reviewable integrated Increment


MIN

2

Why is your organization scaling its

development?

• What are they hoping to achieve?

• How do they know they are on the right

track?

Measuring the Progression of Your Scaling Effort


Measuring the Progression of Your Scaling Effort

“Our highest priority is to

satisfy the customer through

early and continuous delivery

of valuable software.”


Measure one level up. Measure outcomes, not teams.

1. Direct Value

3. Ability to

innovate

2. Time to

Market

Value

Release FrequencyRelease Stabilization

Cycle Time

Installed Version IndexUsage IndexInnovation RateDefect Density

Revenue per EmployeeEmployee SatisfactionCustomer Satisfaction


The Nexus augments Scrum:– Exhibits Scrum’s principles and DNA

– Widens communication and inspection

– Fosters continued transparency

Eschews fixed, defined solutions that add overhead


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)”


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)”

Mail [email protected]

Twitter @Ullizee

Blog http://guntherverheyen.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://twitter.com/

http://ullizee.wordpress.com/


Look at Scrum.org for next steps

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the nexus. focused. effective. viable. scaled professional ... · by scrum.org –improving the...

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