Corporate Education Group

A Q U I C K P R I M E R O N AG I L I T Y A N D S C R U M Agile Methods in Use Scrum and Scrum/XP hybrids are the most commonly used agile project management methodolo- gies. (See VisionOne: Agile Devel- opment: A Manager's Roadmap to Success, 2008.) Scrum Scrum, a particular and very com- monly applied agile method, fol- lows a specific framework. Scrum was developed by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber in the mid 1990's for rapid client/server and web application development. (See Figure 3.) There are some key Scrum terms, so here's a Scrum terminology primer: • Iterations, called sprints, gener- ally last 30 days, although small- er sprint lengths are not unusual on shorter projects • Scrum is a rugby term • Scrum master takes the role of team manager; there generally is no project manager in the tradi- tional sense • Product owner is the champion for the project representing the needs of the stakeholders • Other terms, such as retrospec- tives, reviews, and backlog will be explained later Scrum team members are dedicat- ed to the team, but may be part time. The team works together to achieve the sprint goals. There are no distinct roles—everyone helps out to achieve the goals. Volun- teerism and self organization are key principles to instill ownership and commitment. Key Practice: Collaboration Agile teams value collaboration over needless documentation. Dai- ly communication amongst team members is critical (called the daily scrum in Scrum terminology). The product owner and domain ex- perts are consulted when needed during an iteration (sprint in Scrum terminology). Teams often work in an open area to foster collabo- ration and communication. Team members help each other; over- loaded team members transfer work to underutilized members. Key Practice: Daily Scrum The daily scrum is a 15-minute (time-boxed), stand-up meeting scheduled early in the day and attended by all team members. During this meeting, the team shares progress made during the last 24 hours and raises any im- pediments to success. Each team member then explains what they plan to do today and any obstacles that stand in their way. Commit- ments are made to peers not the scrum master. The meeting moves at a brisk pace; issues are not resolved, only raised. Observation by guests is encouraged so that they can see what the team is doing. This estab- lishes trust between the business and the project team. Key Practice: Sprint Review The sprint review is a four-hour meeting at the end of each sprint in which the team demonstrates what it has accomplished. Demon- stration should be live and show working software, not slides. To discourage slide demos, the prepa- ration for the sprint review should be limited to a couple of hours so that the team focuses on the essentials. The review meeting is facilitated by the team, not the scrum mas- ter. This will put pressure on the team during the sprint to perform and be quality focused; after all, they will have to stand in front of the product owner and the other stakeholders and demonstrate what they've done over the past few weeks. Everyone is encouraged to attend and provide feedback including bugs, new features, enhance- ments, etc. Feedback is added to the product backlog as new user stories. Scrum Scrum/XP Hybrid Extreme Programming (XP) In-House Hybrid Agile Unified Process (AUP) Other 49% 22% 8% 5% 2% 14% Agile Method % in use Scrum Scrum/XP Hybrid Extreme Programming (XP) In-House Hybrid VersionOne: Agile Development: A Manager's Roadmap to Success, 2008.

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