Chapter 3. The ScrumMaster

Transcription

1 Chapter 3 The ScrumMaster

2 Responsibilities ScrumMaster responsibilities are not the same as a project manager Their authority is indirect! ScrumMaster is a master of the Scrum process The result being their role greatly increases the probability of success by helping the Product Owner select the most valuable Product Backlog and by helping the Team turn that backlog into functionality

3 Daily Scrums Daily Scrum is for socialization and synchronization The SCRUM wannabe (but isn t) and proceeds to: apply Scrum rules and practices without fully understanding the underlying principles of selforganization, emergence, and visibility and the inspection/adaptation cycle Note: "The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams Principle #11, Agile Manifesto

4 What was wrong? Trey Research case study The CIO ran the Daily Scrum At the meeting The CIO pulled out his list and asked each person present whether he or she had completed the tasks he had written next to that person s name on the list. did you finish designing the screen I gave you yesterday? are you ready to start on the dialog boxes in it today? The CIO did this to each team member and then asked if the team needed help. Team members were silent! The CIO was doing the organizing, not the team

5 What goes on during the Daily Scrum What should be the agenda of the Daily Scrum Each team member (or working pair) is asked three questions: 1. What have you done since the last Daily Scrum? 2. What am I going to do between now and the next Daily Scrum? 3. What is preventing m from doing my work? The interpretation of the wannabe Scrum Master was: 1. To check on whether the team members had done what he told them to do since the last Daily Scrum 2. To tell each member what they should do between now and the next Daily Scrum. 3. To check if he could do anything to help the team accomplish its goals

6 What gets missed The CIO did not understand the difference between controlling and facilitating and the difference between bossing and coaching The productivity that emerges when a team figures out the best way to accomplish its goals hadn t been realized. That team members must have a deep personal commitment that emerges when the team puzzles their way through their work on their own. The ability for the team to tackle problems and solve them is the heart of Scrum and the reason it works

7 Lessons Learned Scrum keeps everything highly visible The Daily Scrum keeps all team activities visible, so that the ScrumMaster can assess and ensure the Scrum process is working affectively By keeping everything in full view, the type of backroom politicking and influence swapping normal in most organizations is minimized.

8 ScrumMaster Makes sure that all the pieces of the Scrum process come together and work as a whole so that: There are no barriers between the Scrum team and the Product Owner so that the Product owner directly drives what must be done The Product Owner is able to maximize ROI and meet his or her objectives Creativity of the Scrum team is encouraged and supported The Scrum team is learning and improving their productivity The Scrum team is improving their tools and engineering practices so that each increment of functionality is potentially shippable The team s progress remains up-to-date and visible

9 Schwaber s Advice When I am unclear about how to help a Scrum team, I ve found it useful to keep the homily the art of the possible in mind It's not about what's right or what's best. It's about what you can actually get done that is, focus on what can be done rather than be frustrated by what can't be done. This thought helps guide my actions at work on projects and in everyday life.