Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

Presentation Prepared for South Yorkshire BCS

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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15 May 2008

Who am I? John Stovin, MSc, CSM Senior Software Engineer, ZOOtech Ltd. Email: [email protected]

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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15 May 2008

Who are ZOOtech? • A Sheffield-based software developer with an international market. • Develop high-end software tools for the professional DVD authoring & post-production markets. • 42 staff, 7 in the US. • 12 Software Engineers. • 8 QA/Test Engineers. Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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ZOOtech’s development process

Requirements

Sign off

Specification

Sign off

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

Development

Test

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Deliver

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Problems • • • • • • • • •

Requirements - always late & keep changing Change management is an afterthought Estimates – early, yet binding Sign-off becomes a roadblock Slippage not apparent until near the end of the project Slippage reduces testing, compromising quality Task focus leads to specialisation, low truck number Late integration delays bugs until late in the cycle “Command & Control” management discourages personal initiative

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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The Big Question We had defined & documented a process that we don’t (and probably can’t) follow. Could we find a better one? It was time to become Agile.

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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The Agile Manifesto We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. http://agilemanifesto.org/ Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Agile • Agile frameworks are gaining popularity • Designed to adapt in response to external changes • Most popular: • • • •

Scrum Extreme Programming (XP) Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) Crystal

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Scrum • We chose Scrum: • • • •

Rapidly gaining popularity Availability of resources and training Easy to understand A process management framework, not a programming discipline

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Scrum Basics • Roles • Product Owner – owns the vision • Scrum Master – coordinates the process • Team – deliver the goods

• Artefacts • Product Increment –fully tested & documented unit of functioning code • Backlog –list of User Stories, prioritised by business value

• Practices • Sprint – a short (2-4 week) period of work Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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User Stories • • • • •

As a , I want , so that Simple description of required functionality Written in the language of the business domain Small, easy to implement Example: As a website user, I want to log in, so that my preferences can be saved between sessions. • justifies the business value Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Sprints

• 2-4 weeks • 3 phases • Sprint Planning (½ - 1 day) • Implementation • Sprint Review (½ - 1 day)

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Sprint Planning • 1st part – Story Sizing • Estimate relative size of user stories using Story Points • Planning Poker allows whole team to reach consensus while avoiding Analysis Paralysis

• 2nd part – Commitment • Team & Product Owner agree set of stories to be completed in Sprint • Team estimates tasks for each story Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Implementation • Team tackles backlog in priority order • Try to complete one story before starting the next • QA/Test runs in parallel with development • Continuous Integration ensures that latest changes are always available to test

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Sprint Review • 1st part – Review • Team demonstrates completed User Stories to Product Owner • Acceptance criteria – implemented, tested, integrated (done, done, done)

• 2nd part – Retrospective • Teams looks back over sprint • Identifies good points and weak points • Adds backlog items where necessary to improve weak points Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Scrum Cycles

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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The Iron Triangle

To meet time/cost constraints: • Previously, reduce quality and/or scope (usually in a panic) • Scrum says reduce scope only (in a controlled way) Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Scrum Values • • • • •

Commitment Openness Focus Respect Courage

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Scrum works because… • Shared vision, constant communication • creates unity of purpose

• Baby steps • small, easily reversible decisions • regular review

• Steady flow • reduces time-wasting • eases planning

• Client-driven • user stories are easily comprehensible • increment delivery demonstrates progress, encourages feedback Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Not a Silver Bullet • Scrum won't solve your problems • It will make you aware of problems that you were trying to ignore • It will force you to find holistic solutions in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness • "When you're heading for the ditch, sometimes the right thing to do is put your foot on the gas" Michael James, Danube Technology Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Adopting Scrum at ZOOtech • 1-2 months selling the idea to senior management & staff • External training – 4 staff, 2-day course • Consultancy/internal training – 2 days on-site with trainer • Pilot project – small team, low risk

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Pilot Project • Proposed delivery in 3-4 weeks • One week sprints to allow effective measurement • Scope/time/resources couldn’t be reconciled • Team felt situation was difficult, but resolved to continue

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Sprints • Sprint 1 • Only one user story fully completed • Most others nearly complete • Not enough communication between developers & testers

• Sprint 2 • Better progress, more open communication • Most stories completed (including from previous sprint)

• Sprint 3 • • • •

Product Owner extended delivery deadline 2 week sprint, solid progress Clear functionality emerging Development by feature noticeably reducing regression issues

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Sprints • Sprint 4 • Major change of business focus, threatens project viability • Product Owner & Team assess Backlog • Team's Proposal – 1 more 2-week Sprint will delivery minimum requirements, satisfy contractual obligation • Senior management agree proposal • Result of final sprint delivered to customer, project closed Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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ZOOtech now • 8-person team in Sprint 3 of a major commercial project • Planning a second project with team members on 2 continents - a major challenge

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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What we've learned • Getting to the starting line takes longer than you expect • Creating a "do-nothing" project, configuring installers, build servers, project wiki, email groups, etc, is time consuming

• Writing good user stories needs practice • Badly written stories disrupt the planning process

• We do too much manual testing • Slows down development, adds cost • Solutions - unit testing, custom tools

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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What we’ve learned (2) • Product Owner needs training • Needs to buy into Scrum values • Develop skill in writing user stories

• Project Planning is hard • Sales say “You used to give us dates and then miss them – now you don’t even give us dates!”

Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Agile & Scrum resources • Books • Agile Software Development with SCRUM, Schwaber & Beedle, ISBN 978-0130676344 • Agile Project Management with SCRUM, Schwaber, ISBN 978-0735619937

• Web • The Scrum Alliance: http://www.scrumalliance.org • Implementing Scrum blog: http://www. implementingscrum.com Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Questions?

? Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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Local Agile Interest Group Is anyone interested in a local Agile interest group? Informal meetings, say, once a month in a local pub. Share experiences & thoughts. If you are, contact me: [email protected] or catch me afterwards Going Agile: Implementing Scrum at ZOOtech

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