By Merlyn Jyothi ([email protected])
Practicing SCRUM
Guidelines Taken From:
• Mike Cohn – Agile Estimating and Planning
FAQs
1. How is the length of the iteration determined?
2. Does a team sprint indefinitely?3. Is there any disadvantage in timing the
release at the end of the quarter?
1. HOW IS THE LENGTH OF THE ITERATION DETERMINED?
Guideline – 4 or 5 opportunities to gather end-of-iteration feedback
Factors Influencing Iteration Length
• Shorter the release; shorter the iteration• More the uncertainty; shorter the iteration• More feedback during the iteration; shorter
the iteration• Higher the frequency of change in priorities;
shorter the iteration
Factors and Their Influence - contd
• Higher the need to validate software; shorter the iteration
• Higher the cost of iterating; longer the iteration
• Greater the need for urgency; shorter the iteration
2. DOES A TEAM SPRINT INDEFINITELY?
Break from the Sustainable Pace - 6*2+1
• 6 2-week iterations followed by a 1-week iteration
• 1 week to be used by the team to work off technical debt incurred in early or pre-agile days
• Team chooses their own work for this 1 week• Not a slack-off period
3. IS THERE ANY DISADVANTAGE IN TIMING THE RELEASE AT THE END OF THE QUARTER?
Avoid End of the Quarter Release
• Pressure to meet quarterly revenue goals (especially in publicly traded companies)
• If a software project does not deliver on the end-of-quarter date then revenue from pre-sales and upgrades cannot be recognized in that quarter
• Software development has too many unknowns and uncertainties to plan in the absolute
To be contd …