Exploring Scrum of Scrums As a Scaling Vehicle Bob Galen President & Principal Consultant RGCG, LLC [email protected] Introduction Bob Galen n Independent Agile Coach (CSC) at RGCG, LLC n Principle Agile Evangelist at Velocity Partners n Somewhere ‘north’ of 30 years overall experience J n Wide variety of technical stacks and business domains n Developer first, then Project Management / Leadership, then Testing n Senior/Executive software development leadership for 20 years n Practicing formal agility since 2000 n XP, Lean, Scrum, and Kanban experience n From Cary, North Carolina n Connect w/ me via LinkedIn and Twitter @bobgalen Bias Disclaimer: Agile is THE BEST Methodology for Software Development… However, NOT a Silver Bullet! Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 2 Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 3 The SCRUM Framework Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 4 Let’s Explore n When I think of Scrum of Scrums in the beginning I think in terms of: n Scrum teams leveraging Scrum tactics at the “next level” or for @ Scale n The Mike Cohn supplied picture n X-team coordination: q Communication, Impediments, Dependencies, Interaction Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 5 Source: Mike Cohn’s Aspects of Agile Scaling www.mountaingoatsoftware.com website. Scrum of Scrums (of Scrums) Meta Scrum Level Scrum of Scrums Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 6 What have you seen implemented wrt/Scrum of Scrums? n Spend 15 minutes in small groups n Levels of scale that benefit from Scrum of Scrums q What’s included? q What works? q What’s more challenging? q What is missed in the Scrum of Scrums? q If you’ve evolved it, what has that journey looked like? q If you’ve replaced it, what have you replaced it with? n Let’s debrief Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 7 Agile Planning Onion relationship to SoScrums Scrum of Scrums focuses more at the: ü Iteration ü Release ü Product Levels of the Planning Onion Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 8 Key Dependencies for Scrum of Scrums n Agile Release Train q Release tempo, goals, hardening/stabilization, release readiness q Concept-to-Cash workflow view n Release Planning q SAFe – PSI Planning n Definition of Done – Release Criteria q Feature Complete n Collaboration with the Product Organization q Roadmapping, Portfolio Management, Prioritization n Integration of UX and Architecture q Including DevOPS Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 9 Release Train Management n Iterative model with a release target q Product centric q Focused on a production push/ release n Synchronized Sprints across n Notion of a “Hardening Sprint” teams q Focused more on Integration & q Some teams are un- Regression testing synchronized, but leads to less q Assumption that it’s mostly efficient cross-team (product) automated interactions q Environment promotion n Continuous Integration is the glue n Define a final Hardening Sprint q Including automated unit and where the product is readied feature tests; partial regression for release q Documentation, Support, Compliance, UAT, Training Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 10 Release Train Management “Internal” Driving Forces n Customer’s ability to “accept” the release n Value being delivered in the release – purely scope n Hardening Sprint “reality” q Time, Complexity, Automation, Size, Compliance, and Industry n Internal team readiness q Customer support q Sales & Marketing readiness q Overall documentation & training Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 11 Scrum of Scrums 2006 – 2007, large scale instance n Came across a relatively large-scale instance of Scrum of Scrum S1 – S2 – Scrum Project Teams Execution S4 – S3 – Agile/ Program Scrum Balancing Steering Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 12 S2 – Project / Program Execution S2 – Project, Execution n Tied to Release Plan n Cross-team coordination – integration, dependencies n Visuals q Release burndown chart q Feature burnup charts q Bugs, open/close & overall q X-team impediments; Organizational impediments n Cyclical meeting, PO+SM from each team n Invited observers for overall status & readiness n Sprint reviews, as outcomes n Release Review, as final closure Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 13 S2 – Project / Program Execution S2 – Dynamics Project, Execution n Owned by the teams; Chief Product Owner, Chief Scrum Master n Product Owners & Scrum Masters cross connections n Looks very much like Scrum; ceremonies q Release level planning q Scrum stand-up q Impediments n Tracking Release Progress (Goals) Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 14 S3 – Project & Portfolio Planning S3 – Program Balancing n Team structure, staffing, and skill allocations n Portfolio Valuation, ROI n Road-mapping n Architectural & UX Look-ahead n Epic valuation n Quality Levels and Regulatory Concerns n Metrics n Budget n Equipment, labs, tooling, maintenance Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 15 S3 – Project & Portfolio Planning S3 – Dynamics Program Balancing n Typically “Leadership centric” n Where a PMO fits quite nicely n Portfolio impediment management n Iterative progress monitoring n Priority adjustments across Backlog streams n Staffing and planning; team building Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 16 S4 – Agile / Scrum Steering S4 – Agile/ Scrum Steering n Agile method definition (Scrum + XP, Scrumban) n Standards – code, design, testing n XP practices and guidance n Definition of Done; Meta-Requirements n Agile requirements – Stories?; Personas n Training & Tooling n SM or PO focus groups; Coaching the Coaches n Center of Excellence or Community of Practice n Architecture, UX, and DevOps Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 17 S4 – Agile / Scrum Steering S4 – Agile/ Dynamics Scrum Steering n Agile team coaches; PULL based model n Fewer voices; Steering Group – q Chief Product Owner q Chief Scrum Master q Head Coach q Agile Stakeholders n Kick-off training, ongoing training n Providing guidance – Leadership coaching n HR related activity – example: 5 Dysfunctions Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 18 Positive Organizational Side effects n Cross Organizational Transparency n Adjustments to progress on the ground q Priority tradeoffs q Work movement q Downstream activation – DevOps and Customer Support n Product becomes – q Observer, adjuster q Communicator of plan updates; within and without Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 19 Release Planning Don’t do math to “fit” Stories into sprints! Instead, visually move them around in sprints “packing them effectively as a team. Carefully considering: ü Workflow, dependencies, hand-offs, and Sprint Goals ü Technical risk, architecture, design ü Efficiency, customer interaction, completeness of feature sets, usability ü Testing, deployment, customer readiness Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 20 Release Planning Steps from Vision to a “Game Plan” n Vision – Minimal Marketable Release n Story Brainstorming n Story Mapping n Release Swim lane Layout (release train) n Estimation n Multiple passes: q Architecture, design, infrastructure, workflow, dependencies, testing, release activity, automation,…, all work n Team supports “the Plan” n Negotiation, Realignment, and Commitment n Baseline for Scrum of Scrums Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 21 Release Planning Establishing a “Baseline” q Of Vision & Mission q Of problem understanding q Of delivered scope q Of technical complexity q Of risks & constraints q Of confidence & commitment n This drives the Scrum of Scrums discussions n Something has changed…relative to…what do we do? Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 22 SAFe implications n PSI – Potentially Shippable Increment n Result of PSI Planning (aka – Release Planning) or Release Train q X-team, 1-2 day event q Program objectives, Team objectives, Plan, and Commitment q Can be quite large ~75 n Hardening / Stabilization Sprints n HIP Sprint closure q Hardening, Innovation, Planning Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 23 Product Backlog Wall Source: http://mhjongerius.tumblr.com/post/16222404998/our-new-product-backlog-wall Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 24 Scrum of Scrums board Story + Status (across teams) Source: http://www.xqa.com.ar/visualmanagement/2009/08/scrum-of-scrums-making-it-visual/ Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 25 Board Oriented Release Plan Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 26 Charles Bradley Narrower view of Scrum of Scrums n Blog post - Resurrecting the Much-Maligned Scrum of Scrums q Only for the Scrum Team q Not for Scrum Master status n Stand “outside the circle” q Truly self-directed teams “coordinate” amongst themselves q References: Cohn, Vodde, and Larman n While I support the spirit of this, there is more to cross- team coordination, than simply stories/deliverables n And the “fear” of it turning into a Project Manager meeting shouldn’t morph the need Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 27 Beyond Scrum of Scrums Esther Derby q Slide share published in 2011 q http://www.slideshare.net/estherderby/agile-teams-at-scale-beyond- scrum-of-scrums n Three main challenges in scaling teams q Coordinating work across teams q Integrating work across teams q Maintaining technical integrity of the system (Architecture, DevOps, UX) n Notion of “Context” q Feature group, Component team, Product area q Form teams within contexts Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 28 Beyond Scrum of Scrums Esther Derby n Technical Councils q Component Stewards q Integrating Linkers q Test Experts Guide the integrity of the WHOLE system n Establish communication & decision boundaries n Team/Organizational structure alignment is important Copyright © 2014 RGCG, LLC 29 Beyond Scrum of Scrums Esther Derby n Esther lightly mentions technical practices. q Continuous Integration – Deployment q Robust, multi-tiered Automation q X-team pairing q Inspections: code & design reviews q Visible Architecture n Sort of relegates Scrum