Implementing the Scrum Framework

Pictures and outline by Eric Figueroa

Observed at Moving Player, November 2011

Scrum Terminology Sprint = name for a project (instills a sense of

urgency – it’s a race!) Product Owner = one team member who

represents the product’s stakeholders or users Scrum Team = team assigned to project Scrum Master = handles the administration

of the Sprint (not necessarily a “project leader”)

Product Backlog = list of all the User Stories necessary to achieve the Sprint goal

User Story = product elements written from the user’s perspective (not tasks!)

STEP 1: Sprint Meeting Build a new CROSS-FUNCTIONAL Scrum Team

For each new project, choose a Product Owner

Meet all together to discuss the project

During the meeting create the Product Backlog of User Stories

Decide on a Sprint length and goal

STEP 2: Planning Poker Each team member gets a deck of cards and

rates the “Complexity” of each User Story

The team comes to a consensus on each story’s complexity

Complexity, not time, is the basis for the performance metrics – why?

Because in developing certain projects (like software), time often cannot be predicted accurately

Planning Poker Deck

Use a non-linear scale (i.e. Fibonacci sequence)X = the User Story is impossible? = I have no clue

STEP 3: Daily Scrum Daily meeting timeboxed at 15 minutes

Each team member has: 1 minute to say what they did yesterday, 1 minute to say what they did today

The Scrum Master can identify problems early, because Friday is too late

As a manager you can engage with your employees, keep them informed about the state of the business, etc.

Daily Scrum

STEP 4: Weekly SprintEach week the team selects tasks from the Product Backlog and puts them into that week’s “Cold Room”

Throughout the week they move from TO DO to IN PROGRESS to DONE

This process is repeateduntil the Sprint goal is reached

Scrum Board

STEP 5: Weekly Release Release a beta or demonstrate a project

element to the client or Product Owner EVERY FRIDAY

NO EXCEPTIONS!

You can’t wait until the end of the project to know you’re on the wrong track or that your product doesn’t work

Clients rarely know what they want, know everything they want at the beginning, or know how to articulate it even if they do

STEP 6: Retrospective At the end of the sprint, meet with the whole

team to discuss what went right and what went wrong

Everyone gets a chance to speak

Agree on ONE major problem to correct for the next Sprint

Schedule a new Sprint Meeting for the next project or product development cycle

Accountability, part i After the first week of executing Scrum, you

will have the following figures:

Average Complexity Points each individual can execute daily

Average Complexity Points the team as a whole can execute daily and weekly

How long it will take the team to complete all the Sprint’s User Stories based on these figures

Accountability, part ii In successive weeks, you can compare individual

and team performance with previous weeks to identify productivity issues in REAL-TIME

Compare the Sprint deadline with the expected completion date based on your team’s actual performance

You can use Excel templates to graph all this data visually and keep track of User Stories

Post them all next to the Scrum Board

Results Most teams begin to report drastic

improvement within 3 months

There IS quite a lot of ritual but it can provide the necessary structure

Easy to start, difficult to master

This is just the beginning . . .