Scrum

Santhosh Srinivasan

Outline

What is Scrum Why Scrum Scrum Practices Why Scrum works Pros and Cons Case Study Summary

What is Scrum

Scrum is an agile, lightweight process that can be used to manage and control software and product development using iterative, incremental practices [3]

History

Origin in Rugby

Getting an out of play ball into play

Used to describe hyper-productive development in 1987 by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi

Why Scrum

Software Development Lifecycle

Requirements Gathering and Analysis Design Implementation Testing Delivery

Output of one stage serves as input for the succeeding stage

Why Scrum 2

Assumption

Each stage produces a predictable and defined output Application of the process results in repeatable outputs Loss of control Surprises Incomplete or wrong products

Results

Why Scrum 3

Major approaches to controlling processes

Defined process control Empirical process control Well defined set of inputs Repeatable outputs upon completion

Defined process control

Why Scrum 4

Empirical process control

Expects the unexpected Provides and exercises control through frequent inspection and adaptation Imperfectly defined processes that generate unpredictable and unrepeatable results

Scrum Practices

Scrum Master

Interface between the management and the scrum team Typically an experienced engineer Responsible for removing impediments that stall the progress of Scrum Team Members Should be able to make quick decisions based on incomplete data

Scrum Practices 2

Product Backlog

List of features under consideration Business features and technology features Sorted by priority Sole owner of the product backlog Changes to the product backlog have to be approved by the product owner Technical lead or Project Manager

Product Owner

Scrum Practices 3

Scrum Team

Cross Functional Designers, Testers, Technical Writers? Recommended Team Size 5 - 10

Scrum Practice 4

Sprint

Lasts for about 30 days Implement the top priorities in the Project Backlog called as the Sprint Backlog Sprint estimates updated as tasks are completed or new tasks crop up Potentially shippable product increment

Scrum Practices 5

Daily Scrum Meeting

Lasts about 15 minutes What was achieved since the last meeting? What are the impediments to your tasks? What will you achieve before the next meeting?

Scrum Practices 6

Sprint Review

Lasts for about 4 hours Provides feedback to the management Provides feedback to the next Sprint

Scrum Practices - Summary

24 hours Daily Scrum Meeting Sprint Backlog tasks expanded by team 30 days

Sprint Backlog

Product Backlog As prioritized by Product Owner

Potentially Shippable Product Increment

Source: Adapted from a presentation on Scrum [2] that has Adapted from Agile Software Development with Scrum by Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle.

Why Scrum Works

Most of the defined model assumptions are removed Constant feedback Focused on What can be done instead of Why it cant be done

Pros

Great emphasis on team work Team learns and contributes throughout the process Team becomes autonomous and strives for excellence Rotation of leadership depending on the phase gives a distributed nature of project execution

Pros 2

The management team has a pulse on the progress of the team, stepping in whenever required Organizations sometimes learn about obstacles created by established practices Creates an open environment and encourages feedback Evaluation of effort and subsequent rewards are based on the team performance

Pros 3

Reduced need for meetings, authorization and reporting Iterative model leading to a delivery every 30 days Can act as a wrapper for practices already in place

Cons

The basic premise that the team is committed to the project. If the team is not committed then process collapses The management's comfort level in delegation of tasks Emotional impact of failure on team members if the project fails

Cons 2

The size of the team is restricted due to the involvement of all team members Suited for development of new products and not for enhancement of an existing product Reliance on experience

Case Study

Year

1996 Individual Inc Personal News Page (PNP) 8 engineers

Company

Team

Case Study 2

Problem

No features delivered in 8 months Bad reputation within the company Features under implementation shelved for Hot Ideas

Causes

Case Study 3

Approach to the problem

Head of product management made product owner Product Backlog created Product Owner controlled the Product Backlog Sprint Backlog followed First Sprint with Daily Scrum meetings

Case Study 4

Difficulties

People still approached engineers for adding new features including Product Owner Daily Scrum meetings lasted lot longer than 15 minutes initially Existing policy created interference Non-team members attend Daily Scrum meetings

Case Study 5

Results

A release within the month First release in 9 months Demo for management More attention to engineers problems Team spirit and confidence up Customers happy to see functioning system and the potential

Summary

Scrum is an agile process Scrum questions the basic assumptions of defined process control model Scrum practices Case Study Pros and Cons

References
1.

Agile Software Development with Scrum

Ken Schwaber, Mike Beedle Prentice Hall 2001

2.

3.

http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/ pres/RedistributableIntroToScrum.ppt http://www.controlchaos.com/

Questions