A Portrait of Scrum Project Management

A Portrait of Scrum Project Management


By Nader Khorrami RadProject Management Professional (PMP)

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)

Introduction Roles LifeCycle RollupTracking


Part 1

Introduction



ChangeRequest Change

Request

ChangeRequestChange

Request

What is Scrum?

Classical project management systems, as described in the PMBOK Guide and PRINCE2, and implemented in many classic IT development methods, is not as effective as it should be, in cases that:

Scope of work changes frequently and dramatically



Scope of work changes frequently and dramatically

You won’t find extreme changes in construction projects for example; a project initiated to build a hospital will never end up with a product such as a theme park.

But in IT projects, a “hospital” can turn into a “theme park”!



In case of IT projects, we prefer to use a project management system that delivers both of the following characteristics:

Being flexible and open to change requests

yet

Stays agile

What is Scrum?



But how?

What is Scrum?



There are a family of project management frameworks to deliver both flexibility and agility, which are called:

Agile Frameworks

What is Scrum?

Scrum is the most common Agile framework.



We will be both flexible and agile, by following these:

Everyone should be aligned with the goal of the project.Different functional departments with professionals who are doing their own jobs and do not bother themselves with the whole project, will not do it for us.

Team should be self-organized.The command-and-control system will not work in an agile environment.

We should continuously improve our process.Otherwise, we would not be agile enough.

We should work inside time-boxes.In order to stay focused and productive in an ever changing environment.

And many more things we will see together in this course…



Part 2

Roles



There are 3 roles in a Scrum project.

Defining other roles is forbidden!Because it’s harmful to the unity of the team, and is not

compatible with the philosophy of Scrum.




Product Owner ScrumMaster Team

1 personFull-time or part-time

Business oriented

1 personFull-time or part-time

Scrum coach and problem solver

Normally 3 to 9 peopleFull-time (recommended)

Technical





Product Owner:• creates and maintains the list of deliverables (elements of the

final product which are presentable to the customer and have a definition of “done”), aka Product Backlog.

• Maximizes the value of the team’s effort by keeping the backlog up to date and prioritized.

• Effectively communicates with all stakeholders.

• Prevents problems by keeping the backlog clear, transparent, realistic, and agreed upon.





ScrumMaster:• Makes sure that Scrum is understood and implemented

correctly in the team.

• Coaches and leads product owner and the team, in order to improve their productivity.

• Helps the team solve their problems.

• Directs scrum meetings.

• Keeps the team away from distractions.





Team:• Produces the final product in step by step

increments of the backlog, in a product-based way.

• Is cross-functional and does the A to Z of each backlog item.

• Is self-organized, and finds its way, instead of receiving commands.

• Is aligned with the goal of the project.





Designer

Coder

Tester

Senior Developer

Team Leader

Team Manager

Etc.





You’re not allowed to define any roles other than the 3 previously described roles of Scrum.

Team members have the same roles and titles, to be remindedthat they are supposed to work together with the same goal in mind;

although they have different kinds of expertise.





So, who is the project manager?

There’s not such a role in Scrum.And none of the 3 roles of the Scrum act as a project manager.

What happens to project management, then?There’s no central point for project management in Scrum. Project management tasks are distributed among the 3 roles of Scrum.




Now we’ll see what these people actually do…

TO SUCCEED!



Part 3

LifeCycle



Sprint Planning Sprint Sprint

DemoSprint

Retrospective

[ Time-box ]Time-box is an essential concept in Scrum.

It’s a period of time with a fixed duration, that repeats many times. Its duration can be revised, but not changed frequently.

Our solution to being focused and getting things done in an ever-changing environment.

Backlog creation and maintenance




DemoSprint

Retrospective

[ Time-box ]


Main activities in a Scrum project:

• Creating and maintaining the backlog • Sprint planning • Sprint • Sprint demo • Sprint retrospective




DemoSprint

Retrospective

[ Time-box ]Main activities in a Scrum project:

• Creating and maintaining the backlog (ongoing, not time-boxed)

• Sprint planning • Sprint • Sprint demo • Sprint retrospective





DemoSprint

Retrospective



• Sprint planning [Time-boxed]• Sprint • Sprint demo • Sprint retrospective





DemoSprint

Retrospective



• Sprint planning [Time-boxed]• Sprint [Time-boxed]• Sprint demo • Sprint retrospective





DemoSprint

Retrospective



• Sprint planning [Time-boxed]• Sprint [Time-boxed]• Sprint demo [Time-boxed]• Sprint retrospective





DemoSprint

Retrospective



• Sprint planning [Time-boxed]• Sprint [Time-boxed]• Sprint demo [Time-boxed]• Sprint retrospective [Time-boxed]





DemoSprint

Retrospective

1. Creating and maintaining product backlog


• Product backlog is a list of project deliverables.

• Creation and maintenance of the product backlog is the responsibility of product owner.

Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

Item 010

●●●




DemoSprint

Retrospective



Product Owner / Deliverables

• You should decompose the final product into backlog items in a way that all of them are presentable for the non-technical customer.

• You’d better decompose the final product as much as possible.

Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

Item 010

●●●




DemoSprint

Retrospective



Product Owner / Deliverables / Presentable / Decomposed Enough

• Product backlog is never completed; it’s always being updated to reflect the actual events, requested changes, etc.

Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

Item 010

●●●




DemoSprint

Retrospective



Product Owner / Deliverables / Presentable / Decomposed Enough / Never Completed

• Team estimates the volume of each backlog item.

• While product owner makes sure that items are clear and understood.

Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●




DemoSprint

Retrospective



Product Owner / Deliverables / Presentable / Decomposed Enough / Never Completed / Volume / Understood

• Product owner continuously ranks items based on business and technical factors. Higher ranks mean higher ROI.

• Product owner sorts the backlog based on the ranks.

Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●




DemoSprint

Retrospective



Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

Now that our near future is clearly reflected in the product backlog, let’s

start the work. We’ll improve and complete the backlog all the way to

the end of the project.

Here is the

product backlog

We are ready and waiting!




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

Now it’s time to plan the first sprint.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

• Sprint is the main time-box for doing the work of the project.

• Sprint planning is a meeting dedicated to choosing and clearing the work of the coming sprint.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

• You should fix the duration of this time-box at the beginning of the project. This time-box is usually fixed between 4 and 8 hours.

• All three scrum roles should attend the meeting.

• Others may attend the meeting too, but are not to speak.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

We need these two important outputs in this meeting:

• The list of the items selected for the upcoming sprint, aka Sprint Backlog.

• The Goal of the sprint.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

• Team had previously estimated the volume of each item of the product backlog.

• They also estimate their capacity for a sprint, and keep revising it.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

It’s how much we can do in a sprint.

Estimated capacity




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

A schematic backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Product Backlog

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

Sprint Backlog




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 003

Item 004

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●

Product BacklogSprint Backlog




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●





DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012

These three items would be our goal in the upcoming sprint.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012

We will continuously revise the product

backlog.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012

Continuously revised




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


But the sprint backlog should be

freezed.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


Freezed




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


FreezedWhat if customer

wanted to change the items in the sprint

backlog?




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


Freezed

We can’t change them; otherwise, it would be

impossible for the team to focus.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


Freezed

What if changes are dramatic?




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


FreezedIn extreme cases, product owner has the authority to cancel the

sprint and ask the team to start a new

one.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


FreezedBut no one can change the

backlog of an ongoing sprint. It’s

freezed.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


Freezed

I see…




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


Freezed

What if someone forces us to change the sprint backlog?




DemoSprint

Retrospective

2. Sprint Planning


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Item 003

Item 005

Item 006

Item 007

Item 008

Item 009

●●●


Item 010

Item 011

Item 012


FreezedYou should avoid it,

and report it to me, so I will explain them the reasons and try to fix

it forever.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

Now that we’ve finished planning the sprint, we can start it.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

Let’s focus on sprint backlog and get

things done.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

• Sprints are usually time-boxes of 2 to 4 weeks of duration.

• They should all have the same length, but we are free to revise the length, if it’s necessary.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

• Team works on the sprint backlog items during the sprint.• There should be a 15-minute time-boxed meeting each

day, named Daily Scrum.• Daily scrum should have a predefined time and location.

Definition of its time and location is done in the sprint planning.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

• Daily scrum meeting is only for the team members and the ScrumMaster. Others are free to attend, buy they should not speak.




DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

Each team member answers these three questions in each daily scrum:

• What did I do in the previous 24 hours.• What will I do in the next 24 hours.• What problems I might face.

ScrumMaster might follow on the mentioned problems and try to solve them, if their resolutionis out of reach of team or they just need help.



00Days left


DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

The team is now working, day by day… for the whole duration of the sprint (e.g. 2 weeks), trying to complete all the sprint backlog items and reach the goal of the sprint.

01Days left02Days left03Days left04Days left05Days left06Days left

07Days left08Days left

09Days left10Days left11Days left12Days left

13Days left14Days left



00Days left


DemoSprint

Retrospective

3. Sprint


Item 001

Item 002

Item 004

Sprint Backlog

The sprint is finished. Not a single extra day is allowed.

Hands up!Time is over…


A Portrait of Scrum Project Management

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