- Development team controls destiny.
- Without self-organising team Agile will not be as effective.
- Takes support from organisation and proactive individuals.
- Please join in along the way!
BEWARE and WARNING!
This presentation is different from others.
You and YOU ALL are in charge of what happens in this product development.
There are dangers, choices, adventures and consequences. YOU must use all your numerous talents and enormous intelligence. The wrong decision could end in disaster - even failing to create an MVP! But, don't despair. At anytime, YOU can go back and make another choice, alter the path of your product development, and change its result.
Our hero - Chaz
- Software developer with 5 years experience
- Worked in "sorta" Agile projects before
- Introverted but insanely intelligent
- Likes working with others when they agree with his ideas (ok he's arrogant)
- Outside of work he likes rock climbing, camping and exploring
IT BEGINS...
You wake up in a pool of sweat. You can't contain your excitement. You've got that buzz that only comes with anticipation of something great that is about to start.
Could the crowning moment of your career be just around the corner? Will the Friendface project led by product owner Bill be the next great social trend that keeps billions around the world from connecting with people in the same room?
To start the project by going to the project kick off meeting, click here.
Back at your desk an hour later a meeting request pops up in your inbox from your boss for a "catchup".
The next day you catchup with your boss and he tells you that it has been decided you aren't a good fit for the project and you are being reassigned to the BAU team.
The End.
You and the rest of the team continue to be happy with "good enough".
When Friendface is released it gets universally panned - one major media outlet jokingly refers to it as "The New MySpace".
The End.
You get fed up from all the overtime you've been doing trying to meet the high expectations you set early on. You lose motivation and start looking for an easier job.
The End.
You go for a promotion and everyone thinks you're a shoe in. You don't get it and you can't understand why. You ask for some feedback and one of the dot points is:
- He's just not management material.
You wish you hadn't been such a stickler for the rules with the head of the department...
The End.
BEFORE KICK OFF
Five minutes before the kick off meeting you realise you forgot to turn on your home surveillance system this morning after you were upgrading the firmware.
It's going to be impossible to get home in time to turn it on without being late for the meeting. What do you do?
Rush home to turn it on, click here.
Suppress the stress of a surveillance footage gap and go straight to the meeting, click here.
You arrive 15 minutes late to the kick off meeting and notice everyone has started without you. A few people look annoyed and you feel a bit uncomfortable for being late.
What do you do?
You take the initiative and apologise
to everyone for being late, click here.
You ignore the situation and hope it
will all just blow over, click here.
- First impressions matter
- We focused on Chaz having to take the initiative - what could the team have done as well?
THE KICK OFF
Everything is going great - you meet the team and learn about the Friendface project.
Then the scrum master starts explaining how the team will work together. He says you're a developer so the BAs will tell you what you need to develop after talking to the business.
You think that's wrong but you decide
not to make a big deal out of it, click here.
You explain you want to talk to the business directly so you understand what they want, click here.
Well done, you decided to not spoil the mood of the kick off meeting and the whole team is excited to get started!
Well done, you stuck to your guns and it turns out a few others in the team were thinking the same thing. This is a great start to open communication in your team!
- Both answers were successful.
- What is interesting about that?
- There is more than one right answer to every problem.
- Picking your battles is fine.
SPRINT PLANNING
The team has talked through the backlog and agreed to take on some stories in the sprint. In part B the team starts agreeing on tasks for each story. The BA says he will setup a meeting with himself and the business to get the requirements so he can tell the DEVS what to build after. You say you would like to join in, afterwards you notice you aren't invited to the meeting...
You remind the BA to forward the
meeting invite to you, click here.
The BA seems switched on so you
just start writing code, click here.
In a few days the BA comes to your desk and starts telling you what you're meant to be developing. You are annoyed because you think the approach is all wrong and now it's already been agreed with the business.
What do you do?
Explain he should have involved you in the meeting, the client notices things getting heated, click here.
The customer is always right - you change your code and do what you're asked to, click here.
Well done! The BA apologises and says it was just an oversight. You don't believe him but you've proved your point. The scrum master noticed this happening and at the stand up the next day encourages everyone to talk directly to the business.
Well done! The client is impressed with how passionate the team is about the product. They decide to move desks to be co-located with the team so they can get more involved.
- Sometimes the right choice is not obvious.
- Being genuine is sometimes all the initiative you need.
NEAR END OF SPRINT
The favourite friend carousel feature you've been working on is almost finished. The UX designer says it would be cool to be able to control the carousel by swiping as well as pressing the next/previous buttons.
Everyone agrees and now has the expectation that it will include this.
What do you do?
Start - it won't get finished this sprint but
hopefully will early next sprint, click here.
Tell everyone it's a great idea but you
can't finish it this sprint, click here.
You don't finish the feature and everyone is disappointed. Your boss comes to you later and suggests you do some overtime to get it done.
You decide it's worth it and agree
to do the overtime, click here.
You tell your boss if it's so important then you would like to get paid for the overtime, click here.
Well done! The team sees it from your side and everyone agrees to add the swipe control for the carousel as an enhancement in the backlog.
You do the overtime and it takes way longer than expected to finish the work. However you get the job done and the team is really happy!
Your boss says it's not actually worth paying overtime for and then realises his mistake and apologises. Well done!
- Work smart not hard.
- It's human nature to always want the best version of a feature first.
- Sustainable pace!
RETRO
After the sprint review the retro starts. The head of the department stays and joins in. It is clear he's talked to the product owner and some of the team about some problems they've had and wants to help. Everyone, including you, is excited to have him involved as he's a key stakeholder and they are comfortable and speaking openly with him in the room.
The scrum guide says only the team should be at the retro so you politely ask him to leave, click here.
You suggest he comes to every retro since it's
gone so well having him involved, click here.
The head of the department says sorry he didn't realise it was an issue and leaves the retro. It was a tough call but you feel good about taking the initiative and following the rules of scrum.
The next sprint you notice the other team you depend on is much more responsive to your requests and a lot more people come to the sprint review. Later you find out this is because the head of the department has been telling everyone how impressed he is with the way the new Agile project is running. Well done!
- There's a reason it's called The Scrum Guide and not The Scrum Rules!
- Being right is not always the right choice.
- Embrace the grey areas!
QUESTIONS?
Agile - choose your own adventure
By Tim Berman
