The Art of Scrum (eBook)

Dave McKenna is a certified ScrumMaster and Agile Coach who has worked in the information technology field for more than 20 years. A United States Air Force veteran who started his career in IT unboxing IBM and Apple computers in a Computerland store, McKenna eventually became a Novell Certified Network Engineer and worked his way into a Sustaining Engineer position at CA Technologies. In 2009 he began his ScrumMaster journey which continues today.

Contents 5
About the Author 6
About the Technical Reviewer 7
Acknowledgments 8
Introduction 9
Part I: Scrum: Overview 13
Chapter 1: The Agile Principles 14
What Animal do You Think of When I Say the Word “Agile”? 15
Agility is About Moving and Adjusting Quickly 16
Who Doesn’t Like Waterfalls? 17
The Requirements Phase 19
The Implementation Phase 21
The Verification Phase 21
The Maintenance Phase 22
Enter the Agile Manifesto 25
Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools 26
Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation 27
Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation 28
Responding to Change Over Following a Plan 28
Wait, There’s More 29
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer early and continuously deliver valuable software 29
2. Welcome changing requirements even late in development 30
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale 31
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project 31
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done 32
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a Development Team is face-to-face conversation 32
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress 33
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely 33
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility 34
10. Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential 34
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams 35
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts 35
Chapter 2: The Scrum Framework 37
Roles, Vision, and Backlog 37
Stories and Epics 38
The Product Owner Owns the Backlog 38
The Sprint 40
Working to the Definition of Done 42
A Quick Recap 44
Chapter 3: Scrum Roles 45
The Three Pillars of Scrum 45
You Need to Lose to Win 47
Scrum Roles 48
The Product Owner 49
Customer Advocate 49
Maximize ROI 50
The Lord of the Backlog 51
The Scrum Team 52
Do What It Takes to Achieve the Goal 52
The Quality Assurance Engineer 53
The Developers 55
The Scrum Master 55
The Legs Feed the Wolf 59
A Scrum Master Should Be the Source of Energy and Motivation 61
A Scrum Master Is a Facilitator 62
The Scrum Master Is “Team Mom” 64
Chapter 4: Scrum Team Structures 65
Collocated Teams 65
Distributed Teams 67
Part-Time Teams 68
Scaling Scrum 68
Feature Teams 68
Component Teams 69
The Scrum-of-Scrums 69
Chapter 5: Scrum Ceremonies and Artifacts 72
The Definition of “Done” 74
Consensus 75
Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools 82
The Definition of Ready 84
The Backlog 87
Burn-Down and Burn-Up charts 94
Daily Stand-up or Daily Scrum Meeting 96
Backlog Refinement 98
Sprint Planning 98
The Sprint Retrospective 101
Part II: Scrum: The Scrum Master’s Perspective 104
Chapter 6: The Scrum Master’s Responsibilities and Core Functions 105
Chapter 7: The Scrum Master’s Interaction with Other Roles 140
The Product Owner 140
Be Available to the Team 141
Build the Backlog 142
Help Out 142
The Dev Team 143
Scrum as a Garage Band 143
Scrum Harmony 144
Leader, Fan, and Cheerleader 145
Work-Life Balance 147
Other Scrum Masters 147
Community 148
The Agile Coach 148
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone 149
Managers 151
The Scrum Master’s Interactions with Stakeholder Roles 151
Project Managers 151
The Sponsor 152
Support 152
Users 153
Part III: The Scrum Master’s Skill Sets 154
Chapter 8: Sof t Skills of the Scrum Master 155
The Professional Coach 155
Getting the Team to Buy In 156
Communicating Up Front and Of ten 157
Listening Responsively as Servant Leader 158
Use the Proper Tool 159
Breaking Up Fights 160
Handling Emotional, Overbearing, or Negative Behavior 161
Getting Through to Quiet People 162
Lightening the Mood 163
Facilitating Self-Organization and Cross-Functionality 163
Coaching Team Members and Developing Their Competence 164
Promoting Team Members’ Career Advancement 164
Stepping In and Stepping Back 165
Pitching in 165
Keeping the Team Motivated, Energized, Empowered, and Cohesive 165
Shielding the Team from Interference 166
Educating the Organization 166
Chapter 9: Technical Skills of the Scrum Master 168
Creating a Definition of Done 168
Selecting Team Tools 169
Building Design and Architecture into the Product Backlog 169
Refactoring 170
Continuous Integration 170
Automate the Build Process 171
Test-Driven Development 171
Updating the Release Plan after Every Sprint 172
Prioritizing Items 178
Running a Sprint Planning Meeting 178
Decomposing Stories and Tasks 181
Refining Estimates 183
Handling a Defect Found in a Sprint 184
Chapter 10: Contingency Skills of the Scrum Master 186
Identifying and Removing Impediments 187
Changing Team Composition and Personnel 187
Preparing and Running a Sprint Review 187
Facilitating Virtual Meetings 189
Coordinating the Work of One Product Backlog with Multiple Teams 189
Getting Help 189
Countering Scope Creep 190
Reducing Scope 190
Canceling a Sprint 190
Documenting Decisions 191
Reporting Team Performance 191
Sprint Burn-down 191
Release Burn-up 191
Defect Trends 192
Chapter 11: Putting It All Together 193
Every Scrum Master Coaches 198
So What Does an Agile Coach Do? 200
Random Thoughts 200
Why Scrum? 200
Don’t Do Stupid Stuff 201
Fail Fast, Learn Fast 201
Finish All of the Stories in the Sprint Backlog 202
With Power Comes Responsibility 203
Time-box Your Work 204
Progressive Overload 204
Be a Thermostat, Not a Thermometer 205
Be Fluid 206
Look To Yourself First 207
Lead the Team 208
Positive, Positive, Positive 208
Develop an Attitude of Gratitude 208
Focus on the Big Rocks First 209
The Backlog is Everything, So Pay Attention to It 210
Be Absolutely Relentless About Feedback 210
It’s Inspect and Adapt, not Complain and Refrain 210
Embrace DoD and DoR 211
Make Sure You are Talking to the Right People 211
Final Thoughts 212
Never Forget It’s All About the Customer 212
They Are People 214
Index 215