mythbusters - meetupfiles.meetup.com/1650604/agile mythbusters.pdf© 2011, scrum withstyle pty ltd...

© 2011, Scrum WithStyle Pty Ltd www.scrumwithstyle.com

Is what we hear about Agile fact or fiction?

MYTHBUSTERS

www.scrumwithstyle.com

[email protected]: @rowanb

au.linkedin.com/in/rowanbunning

Rowan Bunning


Fact or fiction?1. Agile is a specific methodology2. A Product Owner is like an agile Business Analyst3. A ScrumMaster is just like an Iteration

Manager or Project Manager4. An "Epic" is always a really big User Story5. Acceptance Test Driven Development is only for

testers6. Timeboxes create regular milestones


Fact or fiction?7. A good Iteration Review is about project status

and a demo8. The daily stand-up is primarily a status update9. Agile doesn’t involve any sort of micro-

management10.Agile means we don't work to a fixed release date11.Agile should not be used for high risk projects12.Agile is for IT project teams and does not affect

anyone else


Agile is a specific methodology

Fact or fiction?


Where did this “Agile” thing come from anyway?

eXtreme Programming

Scrum

DSDM

Feature Driven Development

Crystal

Adaptive Software Development

“Agile”


Agile is a specific methodology

“Agile” was coined as an umbrella term for several specific methods sharing common values and principles. Agile as a methodology usually refers to a custom/proprietary mashup.


A Product Owner is like an agile Business Analyst

Fact or fiction?


Some Product Owner responsibilities

Maximise the value of the work the Team does.Decide when to release to customer(s).Own the product vision and ensure that everyone involved is engaged with it.Establish goals necessary to optimise the Return On Investment including what, for whom and why.Manage the budget necessary for the work of the team to occur.....and lots more!!!


A Product Owner is like an agile Business Analyst

A Product Owner is a business decision-maker.


A ScrumMaster is just like a Project Manager or

Iteration ManagerFact or fiction?


Where did the “Iteration Manager” come from?

“When teams were struggling to find high-priority work to do on one particular project in 2000, the solution was to identify someone who could provide a continual stream of high-priority functionality at a sustainable pace to the delivery teams. This is the role that has grown into the iteration manager (IM).”

- ”What Is an Iteration Manager Anyway?", Tiffany Lentz, The ThoughWorks Anthology, 2008.

“The split between release and iteration managers reflects the style and preferences of the two individuals that do it... We don't think our solution is one that necessarily everyone should follow.”- http://martinfowler.com/articles/planningXpIteration.html


Iteration Manager"The iteration manager role, while not prescriptive, entails several daily responsibilities. Some of these are as follows:- Collects time spent on stories- Makes bottlenecks in the delivery process visible- Reports team status to the customer- Addresses issues, impediments, and obstacles raised at the daily stand-up meeting- Controls all work flowing into the team and manages the distribution of that work to maintain a sustainable pace" - ”What Is an Iteration Manager Anyway?", Tiffany Lentz,The ThoughWorks Anthology, 2008.


Project Management as a shared activity

Thanks to: our new Certified ScrumMasters in Perth!


Stakeholders Users

Management

ROI Delivery

Process

SM

Separation of concerns

How

Health

What

Develop the right thing

Develop the thing right

Facilitation


A ScrumMaster is just like a Project Manager or

Iteration ManagerThe ScrumMaster role is not limited to managing iterations. A ScrumMaster does not act as a connector, not a pipe and supports the team in deciding work distribution etc.With Scrum, Project Management is an activity shared by all three roles.


An "Epic" is always a really big User Story

Fact or fiction?


An "Epic" is a really large User Story

An “Epic” is simply a story that is too big for an iteration.


Acceptance Test Driven Development is

only for testersFact or fiction?


Acceptance tests help bridge the communication gap

User Story, Acceptance Criteria,

Acceptance Tests

Boundary ObjectA way for communities with different interests to have a

conversation with each other

Stakeholders

Users

Product Owner

ScrumMasterTesters

Developers

Business Analysts

Management

“Value driver”

“Something that would help me”

“Backlog item”

“Feature”

“Functionality”

“Plannable Unit of work”

“Requirement”

“Functionality with boundary conditions”

Thanks to: Jeff Patton


Acceptance Test Driven Development using FitNesse

Customer level

Shopping cart total

Order price?

Gold $49.95 $49.95

Gold $50.00 $42.50

Gold $50.05 $42.54


Acceptance Test Driven Development is a practice for testers

ATDD provides a way for all parties to collaborate on the details of user stories.


Timeboxes are about creating regular

milestonesFact or fiction?


We create iterations within a milestone period

Iteration N+1 Iteration N+2 Iteration N+3Iteration N

Inspect & Adapt Point



High stakesMilestone


Timeboxes contain risk and help us move to “Safe fail”


Timeboxes are about creating regular

milestones

Timeboxed iterations are an artificial construct that we create within a broader milestone period.


A good Iteration Review is about project

status and a demoFact or fiction?


It’s not just inspecting, it’s adapting too

“During the Sprint Review, the Scrum Team and stakeholders collaborate about what was just done. Based on that and changes to the Product Backlog during the Sprint, they collaborate about what are the next things that could be done. This is an informal meeting, with the presentation of the functionality intended to foster collaboration about what to do next.”

Source: The Scrum Guide.


Avoid smoke and mirror demos“Transparency ensures that aspects of the process that affect the outcome must be visible to those managing the outcomes. ...when someone inspecting a process believes that something is done; it must be equivalent to their definition of done.”

- Ken Schwaber, The Scrum Guide


A good Iteration Review is about project

status and a demo

A good review goes beyond status, beyond a demo, beyond feedback to... implications and decisions for the product going forward.


The daily stand-up is primarily a status update

Fact or fiction?


What is the daily standup for anyway?

Co-ordinationSelf-organisationOptimising the team’s path through the work

You don’t do all this just by talking about the past and impediments!

“The ‘Daily Scrum’ should probably be called the ‘Daily Planning’ meeting because that’s what it is primarily about.” - Joseph Pelrine


Part of the planning onionStrategy

Many years

Portfolio/InitiativeYears

Product/ProjectMany months

Release

2-9 months

Sprint2-4 weeks

Daily Scrum

24 hrs


The daily stand-up is primarily a status update

The daily standup is primarily about planning the next 24hrs.


Agile doesn’t involve any sort of micro-

managementFact or fiction?


Does agile involve micro-management?

Yes!!!

But not like this -->

Who is doing the micro-managing?


Agile doesn’t involve any sort of micro-

management

The team micro-manages itself... assuming conditions are conducive to self-organisation.


Agile means we don't work to a fixed release date

Fact or fiction?


Quality

Scope

Resources Time

“Pick three!”

We can constrain three and then actively manage the other to optimise returns.


Flipping the iron triangle Constraints

PlanDriven

Scope

Value / Vision Driven

Cost Schedule

Traditional Agile

Estimates Cost Schedule

The plan createscost/schedule estimates

Scope

The vision creates feature estimates

Source: Slinger, M., Broderick, S., The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility, Addison Wesley, 2008.


Doing better than project success

“Project success is not product success”

- Jeff Patton

“Which would you rather have:

your initial feature set,

or a successful product?”

- Joseph Pelrine


Agile means we don't work to a fixed release date

We can work to fixed time and cost constraints if scope (breadth and/or depth) is flexible.


Agile should not be used for high risk projects

Fact or fiction?


Waterfall and tackling riskRequirements

Analysis Design Code Integrate & System Test

PotentialImpact ofRisks being tackled

Time

Highest risk activities such asintegration, system testing,load testing are tackled late

First build and deliver

Source: Larman, C., Agile & Iterative Development, 2004.


Agile and tackling risk

PotentialImpact ofRisks being tackled

Time

All activities aretackled early

Iterations

First build and deliver

Analysis

Design

Code

Integrate & System Test

Analysis

Design

Code


Analysis

Design

Code


Analysis

Design

Code


Analysis

Design

Code


Source: Larman, C., Agile & Iterative Development, 2004.


Tackling complexity0.9

0.5

0.1Low Medium High

Complexity

Probabilityof success

Defined Empirical

Increased probability of success Flexible response to

unpredictability improves Success to Complexity relationship


Risk reduction using ScrumRisk of... Scrum Strategy

Not pleasing the customer Customer sees product constantly. Customer on-site.

Not completing all functionality

Develop in priority order.

Poor estimating and planning Small estimates tracked daily.Review and adjustment every iteration.

Not resolving issues properly Active daily management.Bi-directional reporting.

Not being able to complete the development cycle

Delivery of working software every iteration.Team forced to confront issues early.

Taking too much work and changing expectations

Clear goal and scope each iteration.No change within iterations.

Source: Schwaber, K., Beedle, M., Agile Software Development with Scrum, Prentice Hall, 2001.


Agile should not be used for high risk projects

Agile offers strategies for systematically tackling many of the biggest risks early.


Agile is for IT project teams and does not affect anyone else

Fact or fiction?


TransformationalSalesforce.com saw that Scrum involved not just the adoption of a new business process, but rather as a fundamental transformation of the way work was managed in the company. They were introducing a new way of thinking, speaking and acting in the workplace for both managers and workers.

Source: “Six Common Mistakes That Salesforce.com Didn’t Make”, April 18, 2011, Forbes.com: http://onforb.es/dYAzsG


Agile is for IT project teams and does not affect anyone else

When fully realised, Agile can be a blueprint for a different sort of organisation.


It’s a paradigm shiftWe can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

- Albert Einstein


The executive business case for Agile

[email protected]: @rowanb

au.linkedin.com/in/rowanbunning

Rowan Bunning

www.scrumwithstyle.com

Accreditation courses:Certified ScrumMaster

Certified Scrum Product Owner

Definitive Agile courses:Effective User Stories

Agile Estimating & Planning

Succeeding with Agile

Agile coaching & consulting:Agility assessmentOrganisational change consultingAgile kickstart workshopsAgile planning preparation and facilitationScrumMaster and Product Owner coachingAgile Team coachingRetrospective facilitationAdvice on agile tool selection

Win your agile game!

mythbusters - meetupfiles.meetup.com/1650604/agile mythbusters.pdf© 2011, scrum withstyle pty ltd...

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