Agile camp dailyscrum

Editor's Notes

1. Tools are just a bi-product Value – Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools Highly Interactive session
2. Introduce the topic – why this topic is important Daily “scrum” versus “stand-up” – for this session we use one term to cover them all (even Kanban) Sets the tone for the team – adds discipline – drives engagement Set session objectives Learn new ways of running OR participating in a daily scrum Gain a new understanding of how important the daily scrum is for the team success Provide a quick overview of how the session will go Highly interactive – speak up – questions as we go – I will look for volunteers first, but I will just pick folks.
3. Set up the exercise – ask for volunteers – likely 8 or so? I will play the SM/Kanban leader Set the stage for the effort – it’s a team that has been together for a while – they know each other well – high vis and pressure work with some hard deadlines Daily scrum meeting issues to address with specific scenarios / personas – all focused on individuals – round table, person to person Dry – no enthusiasm – status update – lots of % complete stats – no blockers Repeat update – the exact same thing has been said the past 4 days Debbie downer – excuses for not getting work done – no active requests for help Nothing – I don’t really have anything to report – still working on my stuff The multitasker – not paying attention – disengaged – only participates when ‘called’ on Interrupter – keeps jumping in to give updates for other people Everything is on track – don’t worry your pretty little head – even though it is clearly NOT on track Rambler – tells you every detail about what they are doing – opens up design conversations
4. There are clearly all kinds of problems with the scenario It is easy to think we just need to try and get people to act the way we want them to – fix behaviors This may be true to some extent – let’s focus on changing the environment with an expectation that behaviors will change more naturally Address is the style of the daily scrum – what we do today We have been taught the three questions model: do yesterday? Do today? blockers? Turns the meeting into a status update – limits interaction – assumes folks are already working on the most important items which may or may not be true
5. Style – what should we consider as an alternative? Change the focus from the individuals to the work, the highest priority work: What did WE achieve yesterday on our priority 1 item? Re-evaluate the original estimate - Any surprises? What is the plan for completing this item TODAY? What, if anything is blocking us from completing it today AND what is our plan to overcome this blocker? Repeat for each item down the list of active backlog items OR until the 15 min maximum time is reached
6. • Demonstrate that with an environment change, each persona is more naturally changed to make the session more productive and useful. • Change the scenario to focus on 3 work items 1. User needs the ability to select a payment plan from three main options 2. Fix is required on payment allocation for scenario where….. 3. The user can review the payment plan payment schedule, select options and change the plan based on the information • Personas – limit to 6 for this exercise 1. Working on coding item #1 – 3 of 5 story points have been completed through UI development – database calls and updates to be added today – need some help with SQL from a DBA 2. Working on QA for item #1 – question the 3 of 5 estimate – no testing has yet started – set a plan to work with the engineer that day to make progress testing the UI component while SQL work gets started 3. Working on coding item #2 – completed development, calling this one 5 points complete out of the 7 – offer to help with the SQL work on item #1 4. QA for item #2 – confirm that testing has progressed to 3 out of 5 and that testing is expected to complete today with nothing currently in their way 5. Coding #3 – 1 of 5 points complete on item #3 - question the update from item #1 – the UI may need to be tweaked to handle the review and selection process, feels more like 2 of 5 points – need to meet after to align 6. QA on # 3 – confirm 1 of 5 points on #3 – mention that they have some regression scenarios for payment allocation that could help on item #2 – reach out to help
7. Wrap Up Thoughts on why the second scenario could help keep people from acting the way they did in the first scenario? Introduce possible options: the “repeat update”, “Debbie downer”, “multitasker”, “rambler” If you are at all convinced there may be better way here for you personally – a challenge: Think of at least one way you can personally use some of these examples to facilitate or participate in the daily scrum more effectively. If you want – send me an email with your commitment and I will follow up with you to see how it is progressing – one on one….