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Scrum+

An Agile Development Methodology adapted from SCRUM

Ask yourself the following questions

1Do you want to handle changing requirements more efficiently, boost your designer’s motivation and improve communication between customer and project?

2Are you ready to introduce a new leadership culture that means altered roles and a new way of working as well as transferring some of the responsibility from the managers to the

project team?

3Are you willing to follow in the footsteps of companies like IBM, Microsoft and Xerox, and successfully address the failings of your software development process?

If you answer “yes” you should definitely keep reading!

Contents

Agile development methods 4

Introduction to SCRUM+ 5

SCRUM+ Values 7

Scrum+ Team 8

Scrum+ Terminology 10

Scrum+ FAQ 12

Agile development methods

Scrum+ is classed as what is called agile development a set of work methods and tool boxes aimed at improving the ability to respond quickly to needs and requests from the market cutting down waste and waiting periods reducing employee stress while simultaneously increasing productivity.

Those who adhere to the agile methods in their work are highly enthusiastic. It is no exaggeration to say that the entire global IT industry is experiencing an agile wave. The philosophy is summarized in the following table:

|Important |More important |

|processes and tools |individuals and interaction |

|detailed documentation |functioning software |

|contract negotiations |collaboration with the following a plan customer adapting to changes|

(Source: Manifesto for Agile Software Development )

The agile methods are a reaction to the processes that look good in theory but that do not hold up in practice. The agile methods are therefore described as empirical – they are based entirely on practical experiences and work methods that are proven to work.

A central concept for agile methods is adaptation to changing external factors. Where older methods are predictive and attempt to foresee future needs, the agile methods are adaptive and quickly adapt to new demands, adhering to the “Embrace change!” motto. The only measurement of success is functioning products.

Another important principle is simplicity and lean thinking. According to the agile thinking concept, large-scale projects for example are not in themselves desirable. Instead, it is more preferable to maximize the amount of work that does not need to be done. This includes for instance not spending time writing unnecessary documentation – the project form creates good conditions for fast mouth-to-mouth communication.

Scrum+ deals with how the project is organized and planned

Introduction to SCRUM+

SCRUM+ is a set of guidelines that govern the development process of a product, from its design stages to its completion. It aims to cure some common failures of the typical development process, such as:

• Chaos due to changing requirements - the real or perceived requirements of a project usually change drastically from the time the product is designed to when it is released. Under most product development methods, all design is done at the beginning of the project, and then no changes are allowed for or made when the requirements change.

• Unrealistic estimates of time, cost, and quality of the product - the project management and the developers tend to underestimate how much time and resources a project will take, and how much functionality can be produced within those constraints. In actuality, this usually cannot be accurately predicted at the beginning of the development cycle.

• Developers are forced to lie about how the project is progressing - When management underestimates the time and cost needed to reach a certain level of quality, the developers must either lie about how much progress has been made on the product, or face the indignation of the management.

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The sprint cycle is an iterative cycle of about 1-4 weeks, in which the actual development of the product is done.

It starts out with a Sprint Planning Meeting to decide what will be done in the current sprint. Then the development is done. A sprint is closed with a Sprint Review Meeting where the progress made in the last sprint is demonstrated, the sprint is reviewed, and adjustments are made to the project as necessary.

The sprint cycle is repeated until the product's development is complete. The product is complete when the variables of time, quality, competition, and cost are at a balance.

SCRUM+ Values

The SCRUM+ values are derived from the Agile values of software development.

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Processes and tools are helpful, but they will do you no good if the team does not communicate and collaborate in a constructive fashion.

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Documentation is important, but what's most important is to have working software.

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

You are not just looking to get a contract and get money that way - you are solving the customer's problem.

Responding to change over following a plan

If the requirements or perceived requirements changed, so should the plans and design.

Scrum+ Team

Product Owner

Compiles all the changes planned for the product and prioritizes the possible functionalities.

His functions include the following

• Define the features of the product.

• Be responsible for the profitability of the product

• Prioritize features according to value.

• Adjust features and priority every iteration, as needed.

• Accept or reject work results.

• Keeps in constant touch with the Users.

Project Owner

Compiles, all the prioritized tasks for the sprint.

His functions include the following

• Get details of the tasks from the product owner.

• Tracks the sprint.

• Keeps in constant touch with the Product owner and the Team.

SCRUM+ Master

The team's leader is called the SCRUM+ Master. He should be one of the members of the working team - that is, he should be one of the people who is actually doing the work on the project.

His functions include the following

• Represents management to the project.

• Responsible for enacting SCRUM+values and practices.

• Removes impediments.

• Shield the team from external interferences.

SCRUM+ Team

The team normally consists of 5-9 people – a group size that experience and research has shown to be best for this type of work.

T he team members decide how the work is arranged and how assignments are distributed. There are no set project roles– everyone should be able to swap tasks with another member. Naturally, this does not prevent individual members from being experts in a field.

Their functions include the following

• Work with fixed requirements as in Sprint backlog.

• Work within the estimates

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Scrum+ Terminology

Sprint

The product is developed in a series of 1-4 week iterations, or sprints. Before a sprint is begun, a Sprint Planning Meeting is held to determine what features are to be implemented in that sprint.

• Sprint is locked and no changes are encouraged.

• Change request are documented in Product Backlog and taken up in subsequent sprints

Product Backlog

The Product Owner compiles all the requests and specifications that are the basis of the changes of the product, such as functions and bug fixes. After the goals have been defined, entirety is broken down into segments. Each such segment in part create business value and in part be sub-deliverable.

A prioritized list is made at the same time – the Product Owner personally makes the decisions at this point. In what order should the changes be made and delivered? The result to-do list arranged according to how the market’s demands customer’s requests change over time.

When it is time to start Sprint, the Product Owner “freezes” the foremost items to-do list.

Sprint Backlog

A list of items that will be completed in the current sprint, taken from the product backlog.

Daily Scrum+ Meeting

A 5-15 minute standup Scrum+ meeting is held every day. The Scrum+ Master asks three questions, and all members of the team and interested parties take part and give feedback.

The purpose is to eliminate all speed impediments for the group.

Three questions are,

• What did you do yesterday?

• What will you do today?

• What obstacles are in your way?

The meeting should be held at the same place every time, so that people know where to go.

Sprint Planning Meeting

It is a meeting at the beginning of a sprint where the sprint is planned.

Items from the Product Backlog are selected to be completed in the sprint, based on the priorities set by the Product Owner.

Sprint Review Meeting

A sprint is closed with a Sprint Review Meeting where the progress made in the last sprint is demonstrated, the sprint is reviewed, and adjustments are made to the project as necessary.

Scrum+ FAQ

Isn’t there a significant risk that Scrum+ runs wild with everyone doing as they like?

No, the principles are easy to understand and the team has visible deliveries every 1-4 weeks. The shared responsibility for all parts of the code also makes the Scrum+ Team’s members more motivated to adhere to set routines and rules.

What’s happened to the project manager?

Scrum+ has no role with that title. A project manager that leans toward administration is commonly found in the role of Product Owner. Those best suited to coaching will probably be more comfortable as a Scrum+ Master.

Where does the word Scrum come from?

Scrum is a rugby term for the close-knit shoulder-to-shoulder formation a rugby team forms to jointly move the ball forward. The word was first used by Takeuchi and Nonaka in a famous article published in the Harvard Business Review in which they described the most successful product development projects in Japan.

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