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History of Scrum @ Bluefly, Part 1 Matt Raines Vice President of Technology Bluefly [email protected] @matthewraines
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History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

Jun 29, 2015

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Matt Raines

Presentation at Agile Day 2010.
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Page 1: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

History of Scrum @ Bluefly, Part 1

Matt RainesVice President of Technology

[email protected]

@matthewraines

Page 2: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1
Page 3: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

About Bluefly

Pure play online retailer of high-end designer closing and accessories

Launched in Sept 1998

~$100mm in net revenue

Tech team of 18 plus outsourcing team / consultants

Page 4: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

Agenda

Page 5: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

Dawn of Man (circa pre-2006)

Unpredictable track record for project delivery

Poor communication and integration with business stakeholders

Struggled to meet expectations and deadlines

Delivered product was not always what the business wanted and it was too late to change it

Big platform migration project to implement Business users overwhelmed with

requirements - at least 6 months to define requirements

Lack of business users to define business solutions due to turnover

No thorough understanding of the new platform – hard to design, hard to define business solutions

Page 6: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1
Page 7: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

The Old Testament (circa dec 2006)

Tech mgmt made decision to implement Scrum

Limited number of people (managers) went to training

Engaged a Scrum Process Mentor to facilitate transition

Reorganized teams into Scrum teams

Applied this methodology to a platform migration project

Page 8: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

The Roman Empire (2007-2008)

Forced implementation during the largest project in the company’s history New eCommerce platform Multiple teams w/ multiple

disciplines Augmented with consultants

Product owner not trained to be a good product owner Prioritization of backlog Didn’t test the finished features Level of engagement ended at the

Review meeting

IT management was struggling to understand their new roles

Page 9: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

The Spanish Inquisition (2007-2008)

Team reorganization Role ambiguity = F.U.D. Reorg was not voluntary, rather it

was “imposed” from top down Loss of identity – my team doesn’t

exist anymore

Co-location Why do I have to move from where I

am. My communication is fine.

Who do I report to? Feels like I report to 7 managers

(team members)

Self organize, Dammit!

Why don’t you love Scrum?

Page 10: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

The French Revolution (present day)

Adapted Scrum to Bluefly

Integrated Sys Ops team to Scrum

Added outsourcing partner

Upgraded tools along the way

Design reviews

Project / product roadmap planning

Page 11: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1
Page 12: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

Preview of Coming Attractions(10 lessons learned)

1. Grossly overestimated our team’s tolerance for change2. Thought people would love Scrum – they didn’t3. Insufficient training, mentoring & coaching4. Democratic decision making can lead to mediocre solutions

Fine line between discussion and argument Reluctance of individuals to make a decision Not setting any boundaries for “team makes decisions”

5. Must have leaders – the stronger the better6. Thought that short iterations meant we would be faster7. Challenge of team vs. individual performance

impacts on performance reviews8. Must plan at least 2 quarters ahead9. It’s not about the tools you use10.Scrum is a framework that you must adapt to your

environment to be successful

Page 13: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

Roll the Credits (Wins) Teamwork

Finishing stories, carry each other through the sprint Confidence in what we can be achieved Increased ownership across functional boundaries Teams seek improvement in process Consistent story completion percentages

Genuine partnership with product owners Non-stop conversation about roadmap and prioritization Engaged at the idea phase of business planning vs implementation Releases included all expected features Increased communication

Improved Engineering practices Continuous integration, Automated Testing

Better prepared to handle the “audibles” that get called by the business – these happen a lot!

Page 14: History of Scrum at Bluefly, Part 1

Matt RainesVice President of Technology

[email protected]

@matthewraines