How to set up agile teams and backlogs? Zoltán Csutorás agile coach and trainer [email protected] www.scrummate.com http://www.scrummate.com/cz/
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How to set up agile teams and backlogs?
Zoltán Csutorás agile coach and trainer
www.scrummate.comhttp://www.scrummate.com/cz/
Some scenarios from our experience…
Small System Integrator Big internal devops department
Niche player vendor or „semi-vendor“
• 5-10 developers
• Operates some legacy systems
• Working on one or two new projects
• Their existence depends on some „gurus“ working there since the beginning
• Small projects, no chance to set up
• 40-100 developers
• Operates many legacy systems
• Working on some new projects
• # systems ≈ # developers
• Resource allocation meetings, fight for experienced „gurus“
• Project and line managers
• Many subcontractors
• 20-300 developers
• Develops and operates slightly modified versions of some (1-3) products
• Tension between accounts (clients) and products priorities
• Account managers vs. project managers vs. line managers
The Scrum framework
Product backlog
Sprint backlog
Daily Scrum
Sprint review, retrospective
Product increment
Sprint
The Scrum framework
!!!!
… defines what to build and sets up clear priorities, so everybody knows
what to do (and why) next. !
Backlog items are estimated.
The product owner …Product backlog
Team is self-organized
Product increment
Self-organized, ever improving team based on the three pillars
of Scrum. !
• Transparency
• Inspection
• Adaptation
The Scrum framework
Product backlog
Sprint backlog
!The team
!Measures and knows its velocity and commits to the amount of
work accordingly.
High quality outcome
Product backlog
Sprint backlog
Daily Scrum
Sprint review, retrospective
Product increment
Sprint
A fully tested and potentially shippable, valuable product increment is produced in
each sprint.
Kanban
Product backlog3 2 2 1
Work is limited and aligned to throughput
Sprint backlog
The team… 3 2 2 1
Scrum Kanban
Agile advantagesTeam velocity is known and respected, so everybody knows what can be realistically accomplished.
Based on an estimated backlog and known team velocity, management can (and need to) set priorities. This leads to a conscious, value-driven work.
The team is self-organized, solves problems quickly and takes responsibility of their outcome. Management can focus on strategy and on customers.
Motivated team members working with sustainable pace have the intention and capacity to continuously improve their practices.
Some scenarios from our experience…
Small System Integrator Big internal devops department
Niche player vendor or „semi-vendor“
• 5-10 developers
• Operates some legacy systems
• Working on one or two new projects
• Their existence depends on some „gurus“ working there since the beginning
• Small projects, no chance to set up
• 40-100 developers
• Operates many legacy systems
• Working on some new projects
• # systems ≈ # developers
• Resource allocation meetings, fight for experienced „gurus“
• Project and line managers
• Many subcontractors
• 20-300 developers
• Develops and operates slightly modified versions of some (1-3) products
• Tension between accounts (clients) and products priorities
• Account managers vs. project managers vs. line managers
Some excuses to not to use agile
„We can’t implement Scrum sprints because we can’t predict how many requests our clients will ask from us…“
„We can’t set up so many Scrum teams as many projects we have.“
„We have only a few …(replace) specialists in our company and all teams would need him. Therefore we can’t set up stable Scrum teams.“
„We have many legacy systems to operate, so we need to take out some specialists from teams very often to handle customer issues.“
„Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody
wants to die.“
Peter Tosh - Jamaican reggae Musician
The traditional way
The traditional way
The traditional way
The traditional way
The traditional way
The traditional way
Team velocity is known and respected, so everybody knows what can be realistically accomplished.
Based on an estimated backlog and known team velocity, management can (and need to) set priorities. This leads to a conscious, value-driven work.
The team is self-organized, solves problems quickly and takes responsibility of their outcome. Management can focus on strategy and on customers.
Motivated team members working with sustainable pace have the intention and capacity to continuously improve their practices.
Lost advantages
There is no team. There is no team velocity. Work estimations at individuals level.
Resource allocation is based on managers influence and loudness. It’s hard to set clear priorities.
Individuals don’t take real responsibility. All decisions need to be made by managers.
No, or low improvement. Individuals are fighting against work overload. „There is no time to sharpen the saw.“
„Fuzzy“ teams
„Fuzzy“ teams
2-3 member teams work fine!
This is not the solution.
Team velocity is known and respected, so everybody knows what can be realistically accomplished.
Based on an estimated backlog and known team velocity, management can (and need to) set priorities. This leads to a conscious, value-driven work.
The team is self-organized, solves problems quickly and takes responsibility of their outcome. Management can focus on strategy and on customers.
Motivated team members working with sustainable pace have the intention and capacity to continuously improve their practices.
Lost advantages
Teams are not stable and often can’t deliver value on their own. It’s hard to measure the velocity of the team.
We can manage an estimated backlog, but we don’t have a stable, known velocity.
If team members are often transferred to other teams, there will be no transparency within the team. No self-organization…
The lack of full transparency will prevent to effectively address improvement opportunities.
Some excuses to not to use agile
„We can’t implement Scrum sprints because we can’t predict how many requests our clients will ask from us…“
„We can’t set up so many Scrum teams as many projects we have.“
„We have only a few … specialists in our company and all teams would need him. Therefore we can’t set up stable Scrum teams.“
„We have many legacy systems to operate, so we need to take out some specialists from teams very often to handle customer issues.“
Kanban
Product backlog3 2 2 1
Short sprints
Product backlog
Sprint backlog
Daily Scrum
Sprint review, retrospective
Product increment
Sprint
1 week
Some excuses to not to use agile
„We can’t implement Scrum sprints because we can’t predict how many requests our clients will ask from us…“
„We can’t set up so many Scrum teams as many projects we have.“
„We have only a few … specialists in our company and all teams would need him. Therefore we can’t set up stable Scrum teams.“
„We have many legacy systems to operate, so we need to take out some specialists from teams very often to handle customer issues.“
All in oneOne team
(Up to 7-9 team members)One backlog, 1 theme/clientClients
Organize the backlog into ‘Themes’
And track progress
www.scrummate.com/cz
CharacteristicsTeam velocity is known and respected, so everybody knows what can be realistically accomplished.
Based on an estimated backlog and known team velocity, management can (and need to) set priorities. This leads to a conscious, value-driven work.
The team is self-organized, solves problems quickly and takes responsibility of their outcome. Management can focus on strategy and on customers.
Motivated team members working with sustainable pace have the intention and capacity to continuously improve their practices.
Works up to 7-9 developers. Not applicable for larger companies.
One backlog, more teams
More teamsOne backlog, 1 theme/clientClients
Characteristics
All of the agile advantages…
Works for large companies as well. The only way to work on large, multi-teams projects (Scrum of Scrums).
Only a few agile project management tools can really support it.
www.scrummate.com
One team per client or product
Some excuses to not to use agile
„We can’t implement Scrum sprints because we can’t predict how many requests our clients will ask from us…“
„We can’t set up so many Scrum teams as many projects we have.“
„We have only a few … specialists in our company and all teams would need him. Therefore we can’t set up stable Scrum teams.“
„We have many legacy systems to operate, so we need to take out some specialists from teams very often to handle customer issues.“
One team per client or product
Teams with 2-3 members are working fine!
Specialists can assist to other teams.
One team per client or product
Teams with 2-3 members are working fine!
Specialists can assist to other teams.
One team per client or product
Teams with 2-3 members are working fine!
Independent specialist (coach)
Some excuses to not to use agile
„We can’t implement Scrum sprints because we can’t predict how many requests our clients will ask from us…“
„We can’t set up so many Scrum teams as many projects we have.“
„We have only a few … specialists in our company and all teams would need him. Therefore we can’t set up stable Scrum teams.“
„We have many legacy systems to operate, so we need to take out some specialists from teams very often to handle customer issues.“
Issue
We need that team member…
Independent specialist (coach)Don’t take team
members out from
the team…
We need that team member…
Independent specialist (coach)
Issue
Put the issue into the team’s
sprint backlog or Kanban
board. Let the team
manage its activities.
Learning (multilearning from the „New New Product Development Game“ by Nonaka and Takeuchi)
Self-organization (transparency, honesty, motivation)
Overloading the team
Context switching
Neglecting priorities
Don’t underestimate the power of…
Thank you for your attention!
… and don’t forget to try ScrumMate :-)
Manage large backlogs easily. Organize backlog items into themes, use tags and set milestones.
Track progress and scope changes for each theme or any freely defined set of backlog items.
Real support for multiple teams working on the same backlog.
Each team can choose their own framework within the same project. (Scrum or Kanban.)
It’s free forever for up to 3 users.
www.scrummate.comhttp://www.scrummate.com/cz/
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