jacob svalastoga. effective scrum
DESCRIPTION
Supposedly agile methologies like Scrum and Kanban are currently very popular and often encouraged by developers, management and consultants from outside. It is often presented as an evolution or natural next step, while it may impose radical changes and actually prevent or hinder the goal of implementing the correct strategy for the company. This presentation is a review of the effects of implementation of scrum in an already agile software company. The aim of the presentation is to deliver the message that we should be careful with scrum and to provide the viewer with a perspective on team work as well as implementation strategies when dealing with Scrum. Covering: Scrum, Agile, Agile workers, team work, X-Y theory (McGregor) and more.TRANSCRIPT
Effective Scrum
By Jacob Svalastoga
Jacob
•Works at MarkMonitor Copenhagen (Anti-Piracy)
lDtecNet won the Gazelle (most growing danish company) award in 2010 and was subsequently acquired by MarkMonitor which was then acquired by Thomson Reuters
•Likes:–Agile software development–Reverse-engineering–Challenges / bets–My motorcycle and my dog–Any racquet sport (orig. tennis)
You
What about you? :-)
Introduction...
lBefore scrum:
lJFDI
lNo development improvement
philosophy
The level 0 scrum
•Product owner–Product vision, Fill the backlog
•Scrum Master–Facilitator/secretary (organize rituals, track progress)
•Team member–Worker (take task, complete task, do scrum updates)
•Time wasters–Reminding people to do their work/update burndown bla bla –Punish other people for 1 persons short comings–Robot-Retro
Robot retrospective
An automated band-wagon response instead of a continuous improvement focus
New mindset
lMindset: Long term greedy
lTime spent on anything that is not development is an investment in the future
lSimple/small changes could be big discoveries
lExperiment, do not be afraid
My mission
•Creating/nursing teams of productive and happy people
•Chasing technical excellence and software quality
•Keep people inspired, passionate, proud and interested* in the future
*
•Passion–Passion is when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is ambition that is materialized into action to put as much heart, mind body and soul into something as is possible. –Urban dictionary–Caring beyond responsibility
•Pride–Take pride in achievements
Delivering the mission
To deliver the mission we must find a way to understand
people better and also understanding our work better
McGregor
The X and Y theory of McGregor can help to understand people
Understanding people: McGregor X
•Unwilling to give the best, motivated by fear of loosing the job, does not take responsibility, not optimistic about the future
•Unintentional failing of sprints, ex.:lHigh complexity lBad estimates
•Bad retrospectives•Hopelessness•Change request ignored, change not in effect
Understanding people: McGregor Y
•Wants to work, puts a lot of energy into each objective
•Failing and learning from it, cause and effect•Celebrating achievements/victories•Learning from retrospectives•Delivering hard objectives•Solving complex problems•Succeeding with changes
There are both attractive positive and dangerous negative spirals centered around the retrospective
This fact makes the retrospective by far the most important ritual to improve
Understanding people: Findings
Understanding PCW:
Comfort zones
The Special Operation Forces (SoF) comfort zone model
can help to express the perceived complexity of our work (PCW)
Understanding PCW:
Comfort zones
lWork complexity
lComfort/simple
lChallenge
lRed zone / Finding Unicorns
lMicro-management potential
lManageable
lPartially manageable
lUnmanageable
lMcGregor type compliance
lX
lY
lY
Velocity oriented/Managed team
lComfort
lChallenge/spike
lDrawbacks
lPush backs
lComfort zone does not feel as good as yellow zone
lIllegitimate inventions
lPlanning overhead
High performance team
lComfort
lChallenge
lR&D time budget
lDrawbacks:
lLess stable
lNeeds high efficiency
lVulnerable to Prio 1s
lVelocity as a performance parameter is unreliable
Understanding PCW: Findings
Both models can work well. Its necessary for teams to decide with strategy to use.
The high performance strategy has way more output usually, but also more risk.
Effective scrum
•All non-development related activities are meaningful
•All development activities are focused
•Convert problems into challenges–Challenge every team member to solve it
•Improvement contract
Q & A
Q & A
Team reflections
Some team member qualities can grow and be nourished
The Great Product Owner
•Has a strong product vision•Knows about strengths and weaknesses of the product(s)•Knows the market and the customers•Takes interest in areas that might affect requirements (customer processes, market related information)•Is capable of answering any customer/csm question with minimal help from team•Is passionate about the products and follow development of them with great interest•Is also a teamplayer!•Loves automation•Likes value more than most other things•Is a catalyst for team approved changes
The Great Scrum Master
•Not afraid of anybody or anyone•Knows and understands some change management•Favours micro changes and evolution over revolution•Thinks about the future and involves the team•Is a catalyst for team approved changes•Creates and facilitates the continous improvement dialogue
The Great Team Members
•Works fast and efficient when not disturbed•Works on something interesting•Ambition/pride/passion•Fills the empty space•Listens and understands•Asks good questions•Does not hide many secrets from team
The Great Rituals and Meetings•Good Participation •Timely •All come prepared•Parking slot
•Improve duration and frequency
Final things to consider
•A team should own everything they build
•Build trust, keep promises, explain rationales
•People are always running FROM something and TOWARDS something else and they can be VERY different
•Simple goals are good
Goals
Simple goals are good
My dog has very simple goals
lMaximize food intake
lMaximize attention from people
lSleep if none of the above goals can be worked on
My dog is very successful