Scrum is not enough v2.0

Scrum Is Not Enough v2.0or

A few stumbling blocks that many companies have encountered with Scrum

Ari TanninenAgile Saturday, Estonia, May 15th

Friday, May 14, 2010

Ari TanninenSoftware engineer, freelance agilist

Decade of product developmentTelecom, on-line gaming, startupsCurrently ScrumMaster & lead designer

[email protected]/aritanninen

Six years agile, three years ScrumFive Scrum projects, coach in three


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://stopandfix.blogspot.com

http://stopandfix.blogspot.com

Hello, who are you?


Scrum is great!

• Individuals: clarity, pride, and joy in work

• “Move task to done, go home.”

• Companies: good projects, high quality, time to market

• Agile is the best way to build software (that I know of)


Scrum in a nutshell


Scrum is simple but difficult.

It’s greatest benefit is that it surfaces problems, but Scrum is not enough to solve them.

Many companies fail with Scrum because solving problems is difficult and change is painful.

More companies would succeed with Scrum if they would anticipate or avoid some of the

problems.


Scrum is simple

• Minimalistic framework: demands little

• Multi-purpose

• Surfaces problems

• Catalyst for improvement and change (if done correctly)


Scrum is difficult

• Minimalistic framework: no toolbox

• Depends on change in thinking, culture, organization structure

• Depends on trust, collaboration, teamwork

• Assumes goals, strategy, leadership


Typical problems


Broken team


Broken team

• Unclear purpose and goal

• Missing skillsets

• Part-time members

• Distributed

not gett

ing things done

due to dela

ys and waiting

Team does

not form


Missing teamwork

Broken team


Missing teamwork

• Cross-functional team, full-time members, clear goal, yet:

• Little collaboration

• Low energy

• Unhappy team members

• Inattention to results

Poor performance


Team vs. group

1. Do we trust each other?2. Dare we communicate openly?3. Do we understand our shared goals?4. Are we truly dedicated to achieving these goals?5. Can we solve our differences?6. Is everyone participating?7. Do we enjoy being a part of this team?


Missing teamwork

Inadequate skills for agile

development

Broken team


Inadequate skills for agile development

• Team working fine, good energy, yet:

• Software not “done”

• Refactoring sprints

• Bugs

• Frustration

Software

collapses

project doomed


From Waterfall to Agile

Analysis Design Impl. Testing Deploying

February March April May June

A D I T D A D I T D A D I T D A D I T D A D


Analysis

Implementation

Design

Testing

Deploying

Specification

GUI

Integration

Architecture

Documentation

Packaging

Handover

1-4 Weeks!


Missing skills

• Automated regression testing

• Version control

• Incremental architecture, GUI design, testing...

• Test-Driven Development, Refactoring, Continuous Integration

• Task planning, self management, discipline



The Product Owner role

Missing teamwork


development

Broken team


The Product Owner role

• “How do I prioritize the Product Backlog?”

• “Figure it out!”

• No customer contact

• Unable to answer team’s questions

• Frustration At best the wrong

product is built


CustomersEnd users

Developers

Scheduling

Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

v. 1.0

v. 2.0

Business model

Product

Acme

Scrum

Domain

Stakeholder



Organizational silosThe Product

Owner role

Missing teamwork


development

Broken team


Organizationalsilos

• Scrum running fine, teams happy, still:

• Not much gets done

• Teams lack support

• Turf wars between units

Not much real

improvement

“Scrum does not work”


Product developmentAcme

Accounting Projects IT



Owner roleMissing or

wrong goals

Missing teamwork


development

Broken team


Missing orwrong goals

• “Our goal is to be agile”

• “What are we doing and why?”

• Missing success criteria

• Missing business drivers

• No buy-in No change

Failure



Owner roleMissing or

wrong goals

Missing teamwork


development

Broken team


Managed organizationProduct

management in check

Business drivers for

Scrum

Teamwork

Good agile development skills

Good team


Done correctly Scrum helps you to succeed.

Scrum will not solve problems for you,you need a plan for solving them.

Keep your eyes open, and good luck!
