scrum in distributed teams
TRANSCRIPT
February 2016
Working with Remotely Distributed Teams on an
Agile/Scrum ProjectDr. Scott S. Elliott
© 2016 Presented by
© 2016 Page 2Presented by
Scott S. Elliott• Former Engineer & Executive for HP Test &
Measurement (now Keysight Technologies) • Led New Product Development & Manufacturing• Speaker, Consultant, Coach and Board Member• Founded and led TechZecs LLC for 15 years• PhD EE from the University of California• Contributing Author
[email protected] +1.415.830.5520
© 2016 Page 3Presented by
Learning Points Burn-DownReview Scrum Terms
Qualify & Monitor Agile Partners
Project Planning & Monitoring
Execution Across Time Zones
Collaboration
EffectiveTool
Backlog ofPoints
One Hour Sprint
We will introduceSome simple, graphical
tools
© 2016 Page 4Presented by
Agile Development Terminology (Scrum)• Backlog & Grooming• Burn Down Chart• Customer Owner or Product Owner• Information Radiators • Planning Poker • Release• Retrospective• Scrum • Sprint• Stand-Up Meeting• Story Points• Timeboxing• Task Board• User Stories & Epics
Epics Backlog In Process DoneUser & Technical Stories
#1 As a Nurse,I need to. . .
Mary
Hamid
Sue
Phil
Bob
Zhan
© 2016 Page 5Presented by
Typical Sprint Agenda (2-4 Weeks)Before Sprint• Overall Project Goals & Status• Results of previous Sprint(s)• Collect & Prioritize User Stories
Sprint Planning (1/2 day)• Desired Sprint Outcome (Scoping)• Estimate Task Durations (Story Points)
& Risk• Plot dependencies / Critical Path• Prioritize the Backlog & Plot Burn
Down Target
During Sprint• Daily Stand-ups• Monitor the progress (Burn Down)• Do the work individually or in teams
End of Sprint• Review objectives and
accomplishments• Review overall Project• Conduct Sprint Retrospective
© 2016 Page 6Presented by
Software Scrum Team (Typical)
Scrum Master
ProductManager
Architect
Coder
Coder
Tester
Runs Sprint ProcessLeads Stand-ups
Leads RetrospectivesKeeps metrics
Defines Requirements & User Stories
Leads Release Mtgs
Defines Solution Architecture
Top-level Interactions
Implementation PlanningExecution
Regression TestingSolution Verification
© 2016 Page 7Presented by
• Partner Management Basics• The Partner Relationship Lifecycle• Roles & Responsibilities• Qualifying and Monitoring Partners• Setting up a Distributed Agile
Team• Distributed Team Meetings
Teaming with Distributed Partners
© 2016 Page 8Presented by
The Partner Management Lifecycle
Qualification
Engagement
Symbiosis
Leverage
Disengagement
PartnershipActivity
Search
© 2016 Page 9Presented by
Roles & Responsibilities in the Partner Lifecycle
• Each phase of the Lifecycle may require different leadership roles
• Confused roles can cause confused expectations in any phase
• Roles can be clarified with a Circle-Dot chart
Role 3
Role 4
Role 2
Role 1
Process or Phase
Lead/Co-Lead
Involved
Informed
Not Involved
© 2016 Page 10Presented by
Circle-Dot Diagram for R&RsProcess/Phase
Role
© 2016 Page 11Presented by
• The Procurement Specialist forms a team to qualify potential partners
• Choose 6 to 8 parameters that are important for project success; example:o Proven Programming capabilitieso Work in an Agile/Scrum environmento Excellence at test and debugo Built-in quality documentationo Reasonable cost of partnershipo Business stability
• Visit Partner and perform due diligence on the above parameters
Qualifying & Monitoring the Partner
© 2016 Page 12Presented by
• Here are 6 axes• 0 to 5 scale• Acceptability
criteria defined
Qualifying & Monitoring Tool
© 2016 Page 13Presented by
Qualifying & Monitoring the Partner
© 2016 Page 14Presented by
Partner Communications Map ToolExec
Pro-cure
FMPL
TLSME
1
SME2
AccountManager
ContractManager
ResourceManager
LeadProgram.
2
LeadProgram.
1
RelationshipHealth
ComplianceBusiness
Competence &Availability
DailyTechnical
DailyTechnical
TechnicalCoord
TechnicalProgress
Schedule &Budget
ResourceCoord
PartnerPerformance
Prime Co. DevelopmentPartner
© 2016 Page 15Presented by
Webinar Points Burn-DownReview Scrum Terms
Qualify & Monitor Agile Partners
Project Planning & Monitoring
Execution Across Time Zones
Collaboration
EffectiveTool
Backlog ofPoints
One Hour Sprint
© 2016 Page 16Presented by
Project Planning & Execution – for Distributed Agile Development
Needs• Seamless Communication tools with Global
Visibility ofo The latest Prioritized Customer
Storieso Overall Project Boundarieso Sprint Boundarieso Sprint Burn Downo Task Queue and Priorities*o Everyone else’s plan*o The Critical Path*o Near Critical Paths*o Resource Availability*
• Ability for each team member to easily update his/her plans and progress*
• Recalculation of Critical Path after updates*
For a co-located team, these communications happen at the daily stand up meetings and frequent side conversations
For a globally distributed team, the * items are much more difficult to coordinate (even co-located)
© 2016 Page 17Presented by
Tool Set for Distributed Agile Development
Recommended Tools:• Standardized web meeting tool for
o F2F Communicationo Screen or App sharingo Meeting documentation
Recommend Zoom, Webex or GoToMeeting
In addition Chat software can be handy for quick side conversations (Skype, Google Chat, WeChat, Jabber, etc.) – Standardize!
• Seamless Communication tools with Global Visibility of
o The latest Prioritized Customer Storieso Overall Project Boundarieso Sprint Boundarieso Sprint Burn Down
© 2016 Page 18Presented by
Best Practices for Web-based Meetings
• Specify who needs to attend• Investigate for cultural diversity and
sensitivity for participants• Decide upon the type of meeting:• Determine agenda• Define topics• Allow for enough time for each agenda item• Set break times to accommodate telephone
calls, restroom trips, and refreshments• Set start time and end time• Select communication method and specify
infrastructure requirements• Prepare materials
BESTPRACTICE
© 2016 Page 19Presented by
Best Practices for Web-based MeetingsNo “Speakerphone Conference Call!”• Poor quality communication• Remote folks are “second-class”
participants with no visual cues
BESTPRACTICE
Ask everyone to use his/her PC in a quiet place with headset – same footing!
© 2016 Page 20Presented by
Webinar Points Burn-DownReview Scrum Terms
Qualify & Monitor Agile Partners
Project Planning & Monitoring
Execution Across Time Zones
Collaboration
EffectiveTool
Backlog ofPoints
One Hour Sprint
© 2016 Page 21Presented by
Remote, Cross-Cultural Teaming• Every region & company has a
unique culture• Working symbiotically is not
automatic• Steps to build a NEW working
culture– Get everyone physically together at
least once if practical, then Either F2F or Remote:
– Discuss the cultural norms of each party – differences and similarities
– Ice-breaking exercises– Develop guidelines for the new culture
© 2016 Page 22Presented by
Collocated Scrum Space• Reference Epics and
Product Backlog• Prioritized Story & Task
Backlog (readiness & criticality)
• WIP & Who• Completed Stories• GANTT with Critical Path• Progress Metrics (Burn-
Down)
Epics Backlog In Process DoneUser & Technical Stories
#1 As a Nurse,I need to. . .
Mary
Hamid
Sue
Phil
Bob
Zhan
Capacity?
© 2016 Page 23Presented by
Tool Set for Distributed Agile Development• Shared, Distributed Project Planning Tools
o Dynamic resource & work visibilityPrioritized Task Queue
o Visibility of Critical and Near Critical Paths
o Capacity for backlog taskso Team Member planning and
updating done by team members
• Seamless Communication tools with Global Visibility of
o Task Queue and Prioritieso Everyone else’s plano The Critical Patho Near Critical Pathso Resource Availability (Capacity)
• Ability for each team member to easily update his/her plans and progress
• Recalculation of Critical Path after updates
Also need shared file systems forControlling documents, code, drawings • Shared Wikis• SharePoint• Secure Cloud storage sites• Etc.
© 2016 Page 24Presented by
The Daily Web Huddle15 minutes or so, depending on team size, at a mutually agreed time.
Agenda - Each person answers three questions:1. What did you do since the last Huddle?2. What will you do before the next
Huddle?3. What obstacles are you facing?
Rules:• No discussion• Concise, crisp updates• Anything requiring further discussion
goes on “Parking Lot” for assignment to subgroups
• Everyone show up and don’t skip days!
BESTPRACTICE
© 2016 Page 25Presented by
Playbook Tool – Distributed Project Management
Outline Created by Project Manager
Critical and Near Critical Paths displayed Automatically & Dynamically
Details Supplied by Team Members
http://playbookhq.co/
© 2016 Page 26Presented by
Playbook – Distributed Project Management
PlanView
Prioritized Backlog
“Huddle” View
ResourceAvailability
http://playbookhq.co/
© 2016 Page 27Presented by
Webinar Points Burn-DownReview Scrum Terms
Qualify & Monitor Agile Partners
Project Planning & Monitoring
Execution Across Time Zones
Collaboration
EffectiveTool
Backlog ofPoints
One Hour Sprint
Q&A
© 2016 Page 28Presented by
Summary• Partner Management Basics• The Partner Relationship
Lifecycle*• Roles & Responsibilities* • Qualifying and Monitoring the
Right Partner*• Setting up a Distributed Agile
Team• Distributed Team Meetings• Tools for Agile Partner Projects*
*Some simple, graphical toolsProvided
© 2016 Page 29Presented by
For your kind attention
Scott ElliottTechZecs LLCSan [email protected]+1.415.830.5520
Connect with me on LinkedIn!https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dr-scott-elliott/0/15a/a09