tpo magazine 2013 - visual collaboration for agile software development and scrum

7/28/2019 TPO Magazine 2013 - Visual Collaboration for Agile Software Development and Scrum

1/4Summer 2013 1

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Visual Collaboration for AgileSoftware Development and Scrum

BY STEVE WILSON

THE PROBLEM: SCRUM DISPERSAL

Whats a ScrumMaster to do? When media management anddistribution provider VBrick Systems opened a seconddevelopment oce in January, it needed a way to continueholding its daily Scrum sessions, Scrum o Scrums, and ReleasePlanning Sessionsthe key components o the Agile sowaredevelopment methodology it relies on or work organization. Te15-minute Scrum at the start o every morning gets the companysdevelopers on track and covers the time they report their progresson projects to the ScrumMaster, who tracks the project workowon a Scrum Big Visible Chart and makes changes to identiyblockages. Tis process literally gives everyone a picture o whatthey need to do or the day.

Te Scrum idea seems simple, but its a hard discipline,says Bryan Watts, one o VBricks ScrumMasters. People wantto say Heres what I did yesterday and heres why, but all the

ScrumMaster needs to hear is what youre doing today and iyoure blocked or notto keep it short, sweet and on track.

With the oce expansion, these invaluable Scrum sessionshad the potential to become a logistical nightmare. How to gatherthe developers in Connecticut and the new oce in Herndon,Virginia (as well as employees working rom home) or individualprogress updates, sprint planning sessions and reviews? Howto get everyones eyeballs on the same Big Visible Chart and itsever-moving Post-It Notes? How to gauge body language overconerence calls? How to keep on giving VBricks customers thequality o service theyd come to expect?

With the expansion we suddenly had developers all over the

VBricks Scrum room combines video-

conerencing and data collaboration

delivered to a large interactive white-

board. A collaborative PC either hosts

or is connected to all o VBricks pro-

ductivity applications, including Micro-

sot Lync, Microsot Ofce, VersionOne

and internal tools. A Crestron panel

simplifes calling and data display. The

room has been designed to be eec-

tive or both video and local meetings.


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placein Connecticut, Virginia and athome, says Henry Zektser, VBricks chiesoware architect. We had to get everyoneon the same page, literally and guratively.We needed to nd a way that theyd be ableto see and interact with each other as ithey were all in the same room. Ultimately,we had to nd a seamless solution that

would bring everyone together so that theyall had a shared, solid understanding owhat was going on.

THE CONSULTATION: SCRUM MEETS

HUMAN PRODUCTIVITY LAB

The project came to ruition throughserendipity. Over lunch with VBricksCEO, HPL President Howard Lichtmandiscussed a recent project designing anAgile-Scrum solution or a 2,000-persontelecommunications company. Lichtmanrecounts the CEOs reaction: He said,

thats unny. We just opened a new ocein Virginia, we just hired a new CO andchie soware architect working out othat oce that will be managing teamsin Connecticut and remotely, and we justput our developers through Agile-Scrumtraining. Tey discussed how VBrickalready had in place some o the necessarycomponents: LieSize videoconerencingendpoints, Microso Lync, and VBricksown Distributed Media Engine, a platormdesigned to record, store, archive, and

stream videoconerencing sessions, amongother applications. Te challenge wastying it all together into a system thatwould make it easy to use and optimizethe less-than-ideal conerence roomspace. And then there were the small butessential touches needed to make thecompanys visual collaboration as efectiveas possiblecamera angles, lighting,control system, and user interace; and allo the various elements that make visualcollaboration run more smoothly.

THE NEXT STEP: BEYOND THESCRUM

In the rst ew months o operation,the system required a ew minutes obackend work to make sure everyonecould log in successully and the HPLmade changes to the Crestron menu thatimproved the ease-o-use. But now thatthe companies have streamlined the sign-on process into a one-button experience,the company plans to use the new systemor more than Scrum. VBricks Vice

President o Product Rick Rumbarger sayshe plans to roll out the room or otherareas o the company in coming months,including executive-level meetings,project management, and I. Te HPLsdesign supercharged our Scrum sessionsbut also provided tools to improve everymeeting held in that room, he says. Now

we plan to use it or everything.

THE SOLUTION IN ACTION:

SCRUMMING ALONG

Once in place, the Agile-Scrum roomworked better than the company hadhoped. Now, at the daily Scrum, sprintplanning sessions, and other development-related meetings, the ScrumMaster has thepower to share the companys VersionOneAgile-Scrum project management toolsto large-ormat screens at each locationor over web conerence to the laptops o

remote participants. Te participants canwork efectively with data, whiteboardinginteractively with remote sites, annotatingover diagrams and saving those annotationsand whiteboard drawings to les that canbe worked on at later times or emailed to allparticipants directly rom the room.

Being able to have that whiteboard upin both rooms during the Scrum makes ahuge diference, says Watts. Te ScrumMaster can be touching tiles and say OK

well throw this down until later, butwell bump this up instead. I can makechanges in ront o the group and remoteparticipants and capture their eedbackin VersionOne as the discussions arehappening.

Te SMARBoards ability to shareother images has also proven a boonor the team. Te solution has madethe process o explaining and workingthrough problems much more ecient.For example, not long ago we were using

a particular diagram that was very denseand would have been a pain to explain toeveryone over the phone. But with thissolution we were able to call it up on thewhiteboard and work it through it in veminutes, says Zektser. Tis is signicantbecause not only does it save precioustime, it also makes comprehending theprocess so much easier or everyoneinvolved. It makes meetings go aster, butit also saves a lot o efort and conusionon the backend, because theres no

AGILE SOFTWAREDEVELOPMENT& SCRUM: A PrimerAgile sotware development, or the

uninitiated, is an iterative and incremental

sotware development methodology

with a ew simple key precepts: working

sotware is delivered requently with

continuous eedback rom customersand stakeholders, while the sotware

development cycle is time-boxed and

locked-down into sprints where no

changes are permitted until the current

planned unctionality is fnished.

Agile teams are small (the average size

is seven members plus or minus two) and

cross-unctional, including people dedicated

to planning, designing, coding, and testing.

Team members ideally work together in

a collaborative workspace where they

requently brain storm, problem solve and

participate in a short, fteen minute daily

meeting called a Scrum. During Scrums,

team members report on what they did

yesterday, what theyre doing today and

what roadblocks stand in their way. The

ScrumMaster manages the process,

keeping the team ocused on the current

sprint goal and deliverables with help rom

an all-encompassing Big Visible Chart

similar to a Kanban board.

VBrick Sotware Architect and ScrumMaster Bryan

Watts makes a change to his teams Task Board

in VersionOne in Herndon where it is mirrored on

a large-ormat display in Connecticut. The set-up

also reaches remote team members over web

conerencing, and the meeting is recorded or

those who cant make it.


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tpo magazine 2013 - visual collaboration for agile software development and scrum

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