Scrum

Scrum in six bullets

Scrum is just a process tool:

• work in small self-organizing teams
• split work into small concrete deliverables
• prioritize and estimate
• split time into short iteration periods, where each period results in shippable/demonstrable code
• optimize after each iteration
• plan and prioritize with customer after each iteration

The goal is to work on the right parts of the product and give the programmers more time to code (rather than meet, talk, report).

The Nokia Test

Are you doing iterative development?

• Are iterations time-boxed to less than six weeks?
• Is the software working at the end of an iteration?
• Can iterations start before specifications are complete?
• Do you have testing in the middle of development

Are you doing scrum?

• Do you have a product owner who represents the customer?
• Do the product owner have a prioritized product backlog with estimates?
• Do you have a burndown chart and can you tell velocity from it?
• Do you prevent project managers disrupting work during iterations?

Source: Jeff Sutherland

A few thoughts on scrum

• Scrum is just another tool (no silver bullet).
• Scrum is not a method (nothing on analysis, coding, testing etc.).
• Scrum can result in bad architecture and design (design-by-sprint).
• Smart people do not need scrum to learn them to meet and plan their work.

Pitfalls

[...] they are trying to use Scrum to deliver the same releases that they
would have in waterfall -- only faster. They mistakenly
think that Scrum will let them build EVERYTHING faster --
not just the high-value stuff, but the low-value stuff as well. And
they think that Scrum is also a license to make changes without
consequences. This is not how Scrum works.

Source: Ken Schwaber, http://kenschwaber.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/agility-or-a-pig-on-roller-skates/

Scrum Master

The primary function is to maintain a healthy team with high productivity:

* The good: Team member and Scrum Master
* The bad: Scrum Master and Product Owner
* The ugly: Scrum Master, Product Owner and Team Member

Source: Mitch Lacey, Mixing Roles in Scrum. 2008.

The best ScrumMasters are real team players, who receive as much
satisfaction from facilitating others’ success as their own. They must
also be comfortable surrendering control to the Product Owner and
team. For those two reasons, traditional project managers don’t
usually make great ScrumMasters.

Source: http://scrummethodology.com

Overviews etc.

• INTRODUCTION TO SCRUM - AN AGILE PROCESS: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/topics/scrum
• Wikipedia has an ok overview article (focus is on form, not philosophy): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(development)
• Unofficial checklist (Kniberg): http://www.crisp.se/scrum/checklist
• Mixing Roles in Scrum (Lacey): http://mitchlacey.com/docs/MixingRolesinScrum_MitchLacey_APLNAtlanta2008.pdf

Literature

Articles

• Ken Schwaber: http://www.controlchaos.com/seminal-articles/

Reviews

• Agile Software Development with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle, and Agile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber. http://blog.go4teams.com/archives/two-scrum-books-one-of-them-more-scrumptious-than-the-other/5

Scrum and XP from the Trenches

• Henrik Kniberg, foreword/endorsed by Jeff Sutherland
• http://www.infoq.com/minibooks/scrum-xp-from-the-trenches

Scrum from a practical perspective, their implementation is pretty heavy on form, but still an interesting read.