What we have learnt..

Agility & HR, Jan 2016

@

Delft, Netherlands

How to Kick Start a New Scrum Team

Screen recording of the presentation at - https://vimeo.com/gmaran23/HowToKickStartANewScrumTeam

Marudhamaran Gunasekaran @gmaran23

• Agile Coach / Security Specialist

• Agile coaching

• Scrum training

• Onboarding

• Scrum Kick-offs

• Ethical hacking

• Secure Programming Practices

• Compliance (ISO 27001)

Who’s presenting?

Employee Employer relation

Jobseeker

Prospective candidate

Selected and offered candidate

Employee

• New Employee

• ..

• ….

• …..

Alumnus

Employee Employer relation

Employee

•New Employee•..

• Flag Bearers

•…..

What’s your challenges?

in onboarding

To manage complexity or to control chaos –

Splits time into slices (Iterations) and provides opportunities (Events) to

compare reality with expected outcome (Feedback)

• Frequent Inspection and Adaption based on transparency

Agile and Scrum

For complex and adaptive software development

A framework of principles, roles and rules that thrives on people doing Scrum

Is very much about behavior, much more than it is about process

Is hard and disruptive

Scrum

Is it about finding the right people?

Or

Is it only about finding the right people?

Scrum, people, behavior, and company culture

Interpersonal skills

Cultural fit – does not need convincing

Moral – define personal character

Ethics – standards of behavior expected by a group / Culture

Moral and Ethics

Our experiments & lessons

Courage

Openness

Respect

Focus

Commitment

Scrum Values

https://ullizee.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/scrum-values.png

Transparency

Teamwork

Quality

Accountability

Passion

Prowareness Values & Culture

Gamify the onboarding

Build an onboarding

• around the values of the company

• around the values of Scrum

Training helps – but;

Is it tangible?

How to quantify or validate someone’s learning?

Build an onboarding – How?

Set expectations - define boundaries, define goals together

Intensify the feedback cycles - as frequent as possible

Create team environment - bring them together on a common purpose

Equip with the tools - they are comfortable working with

They like to be challenged - give them one & leave the room, however be available and approachable

Create roles (Scrum) within the team - and hold them accountable

Validations for learning - quiz, assessments, real software itself, recap, homework

Set expectations: ProX – Prowareness Experience

before they join, call them for an office tour

facilitated by the existing employees and the recruiters

Set expectations

1 month – what’s the expected outcome from the team of 6-9 members?

Intensify the feedback cycles

At least once per day

Transparent feedback

Based on evidence

Direct feedback

Facilitate feedback circle within the team

Transparent feedback – from the facilitators

Transparent feedback – Self Evaluation

Remember: Feedback is about providing information

Transparent feedback – Progress in 3 months

After the one month Pro-Seed (Induction) program, meet with them every

fortnight

They like to be challenged

Engineers like to design, create and build systems

Create a backlog of challenges that software could solve

(Operations automation, POC for a new business idea, … )

Real world challenges – identify them or ask other software teams

that do not have time to work on some dream features

Throw a challenge at them, and visit after a couple of hours

A team’s outcome in 90 minutes

Create team environment

A dedicated team room

No individual cubicles that impede communication in the name of privacy

Make the team accountable for a software creation

Create Scrum roles

Product Owner

Scrum Master

Cross functional Development Team

Form an alliance between the members

“Pair programming is a social skill …... You are striving for a cooperative way to

work that includes give and take from both partners regardless of corporate

status”

Pair them

http://www.extremeprogramming.org/rules/pair.html

“The best pair programmers know when to say

"let's try your idea first." ”

Equip with tools

Computer configuration with their preferred operating systems (Windows or

Linux)

High resolution dual monitors

Software and frameworks access

IT person and Scrum Coach at their disposal

tactics and cheat sheets

Tools, tactics, cheat-sheets

Scrum Coach

Coach them at their Scrum Events

Facilitate tip and tops, instill it as a habit

Always be available and approachable

Validations for learning

Assessments (Not the Yes or No type)

Assessments with open ended questions that require descriptive

answers

Provide some homework

Recap the next day

Let them teach

Learning experience

Facilitate, Instruct, Teach sometimes, and let them teach back

Learning tactics - validation questions

Learning tactics – presentations – make them the

tutor

If they are uncomfortable doing it, it is even better – they just spotted their area of improvement

Gamification – Daily score card based on company

values

Sample 2 week Agenda

If you don’t want to work with us – let’s chat

Cash reward for choosing not to work with us

Celebrate & Socialize often

* Also train & converse outside of the training room

After the 3 months probation period

Graduation Day

Training & Coaching Team

Dankjewel!

tot later