Post on 06-Aug-2015
The Slippery Slope
Are we still Agile?
Photo Credit: Slippery Slope by S.Rae / Cropped
Alida Cheungwww.linkedin.com/in/alidacheung
@AlidaCheung
This is Not…
• Defining or explaining Scrum smell
• Arguing what is or is not Scrum
• A prescription for what you should do
This is…
My observations, experience, and reflections over the years
Scrum is an Agile Framework
Therefore you can and should adapt and change it to fit your environment and situation
…how do you know you have gone too far?
But…
When you found yourself on a slope, you ask…
• How steep is the slope?
• Will I slip?
• How far will I slip?
• How did I end up here in the first place?• Is it the beginning of creativity or the
beginning of the end?
But can you even tell that you are on a Slippery Slope?
“Let’s do it!!”
At the beginning of the transformation, spirit is high…
Perhaps at some point (perhaps very soon)…
You want to …
• Skip story estimation• Not use relative sizing• Carry stories to the next sprint• Skip daily standup• Move team members around• Put together a geographically distributed team• Ask for detail specs• Have a separate technical backlog
“We don’t have time!”
Team skips Story Estimation
Slippery Slope Index
“We don’t have enough details.”
“Let’s just start working and we’ll see.”
Team does not use Relative Sizing
=3
=1
=5=1
=2=1
=1
=1
“One experienced person-day equals 1 story point!”
“But one new person-day equals 3 story points!” Slippery
Slope Index
“Dev day:QA day = 2:1”
Relative Sizing is one of the most difficult and novel concepts to grasp!
But it is a fundamental concept in Scrum. Teams who do not get it may decide to simply skip it.
For those who do, they still need to practice to make it stick.
Estimation
Making Estimation Stick
Just like any sport, with practice, it will become second nature! But you need to put in the effort.
• Help the Team understand the rationale behind• Explain the concept again• Don’t give up when the situation becomes
difficult• Practice it at every opportunity• If necessary experiment with different type of
scales, e.g. Fibonacci numbers, T-shirt size, etc.
Team does not observe Sprint Boundary
“Let’s just carry the stories to the next sprint, what’s the big deal?!”
Slippery Slope Index
When Sprint Boundary is ignored…
• Rhythm is destroyed• Planning becomes futile• Commitment is disregarded• Predictability is jeopardized• Risks will likely be pushed down the path• Work will likely pile up at the end, compromising
quality
You are not reaping the benefits of Scrum at all!
Team Stops Meeting Daily
Slippery Slope Index
Seek to Understand First
Why is the Team not meeting daily?
•Poor execution? (Punctuality issue, lack of information radiator, takes too long, gets moved around or canceled, becomes a reporting meeting, etc.)
•Not seeing the values?
• Not understanding its purpose?
If a Team does understand the Purpose of the Daily Standup and
can achieve all these without one…• Synchronize and collectively provide the big picture of
the sprint • Collectively plan for the next 24 hours• Bring blockers to the forefront• Inspect sprint execution and improve
…then perhaps they can experiment image: www.freeimages.co.uk
Teams got Re-shuffled Frequently
“We need to put all the stars together to get something done fast!”
“We need a new team for this new feature.”
Slippery Slope Index
When Teams got Reshuffled…• Both the new and old Teams have to gel• Teams have to build velocity all over again• Productivity and predictability will take a hit; so might
morale
What to do?
• Build “steel-thread” teams in the first place so that each team is self-contained and self-sufficient
• Redistribute stories across backlogs instead• Think before your leap. If you do need to create
a new Team, make sure it is a permanent Team, not a quick-fix. Give Teams (new and old) time to form and gel
Teams become Geographically Distributed
Slippery
Slope Index
When a Team is Distributed…• Technology can compensate, but there are also
quality and bandwidth issues that come with it• There is no comparison to a face-to-face real
time conversation• More meetings will have to be formally
scheduled and set up
• Missed communication may take many hours to reschedule
If a Geographically Distributed Team is Inevitable…
• Minimize the time zone differences among the team members– A 3-hour difference is manageable– A 12-hour difference just doesn’t work
• Have face-to-face planning meetings• Have team members design their own
communication agreement and protocol
Image credit: christmasstockimages.com
Detail Specs
Slippery Slope Index
Seek to Understand First
• Who wants detail specs?– The Team? The Product Owner?
• What’s the reason?– The Team is extremely geographically distributed – To protect oneself (which is an indication of a lack of
trust)– Product Owner not available?
Solve those root causes instead!
Those Specs …
…should NEVER be used to replace conversations!
Slippery Slope Index
Have a Separate Technical Backlog
The Technical Backlog
• Very often the technical work are the behind the scene unsung heroes needed to deliver customer values. i.e. they are tasks, perhaps very big tasks.
• If you have genuine technical stories, put them in the same backlog. After all, it is the same team who will work on them.
• But more importantly – it may be a symptom of politics and power struggle, which erode trust and collaboration in a big way.
A few words for the Team
Learning Scrum is like learning any other new
skill
If you find that you do not need to change the way you work, think, or
behave, you probably are not adopting it properly
Agile is not……do whatever we want!
Agility requires Discipline
A few words for the Coaches
The First 3 to 6 months are Crucial
Forming habits is hard
Changing habits is even harder
Don’t let the Team pick up bad habits
Train everyone on the Team, including the Product
Owner, the ScrumMaster, and Management
Celebrate success and point out areas of improvement
See to it that they apply their learning on a daily basis
Wishing you a Firm Foothold
Photo Credit: Slippery Slope by S.Rae / Cropped