1. Agile Scrum
AN INTRODUCTION USING SIMPLE TOOLS
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2. OUTLINE
ELEMENTS
◦ Why does agile work?
TOOLS
◦ What simple tools can be used?
ROLES
◦ Who makes up the agile team?
ARTIFACTS
◦ How are the inner workings recorded?
PATTERNS
◦ When is it important to live key behaviors?
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3. ELEMENTS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDCA "Diagram by Karn G. Bulsuk (http://www.bulsuk.com)" Rock Pool Solutions
Agile scrum embodies this well-known management pattern:

4. SYSTEMS View
PRODUCT
BACKLOG
SPRINT
PLANNING
SPRINT
BACKLOG
SPRINT
EXECUTION
SPRINT
TRACKING
SPRINT
CHECK
SPRINT
BURNDOWN
SPRINT
DEMO
SPRINT
RETROSPECTIVE
UPDATE
BACKLOG
ACTIVITY ARTIFACT
In Out
START
Key:

5. Why does agile work?
1. Focus is on measurement of progress and response to a change in the plan
2. No one team member is the hero – we all cross the finish-line together
3. Work is incremental and not overwhelming.. Building on success
4. Problems are addressed immediately – not at the end of the project
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6. The agile manifesto
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Source - http://www.agilemanifesto.org/ Rock Pool Solutions

7. Common difficulties with manifesto
Extreme view of agile manifesto by ignoring the word “OVER”
◦Inattention to process or tools
◦Internal and external documentation missing
◦Inattention to contract
◦Lack of an overarching plan
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8. A SILVER BULLET ?
Does agile scrum save the day?
AGILE /
SCRUM
Capable
Team
Product
Vision
Development
Process
UX
Design
Defined
Architecture
Great
Business
Results
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Not on its own..

9. Common difficulties in general
1. Starting a new project where no code is working or the architecture is not well defined
2. Poor planning and documentation of code
3. Tight time co-ordination of deliverables with other teams
4. Not everyone on the project is aligned with agile
5. Revising a task up without removing time elsewhere
6. Developers may have a hard time reporting on work progress when they are embroiled with
issues
7. Definition of DONE varies across the team
8. Poor recognition of process
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10. STARTING AGILE is difficult
Agile works best when there is:
◦ A defined architecture
◦ A fixed team who have worked well together
◦ A known release process
◦ A well defined roadmap of features
◦ A voice of the customer who can represent requirements
Agile may be difficult when:
◦ A defined architecture is not well defined, making estimation difficult
◦ Team members are not committed, disabling mind-share and focus
◦ The release process is ad hoc, leading to varying definitions of DONE
◦ Roadmap is unclear, leading to rework
◦ No one can speak to requirements, leading to a shotgun approach for the user experience
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11. You know you are agile when..
1. The team has a short regular meeting to discuss and measure work accomplished
2. The team works together, trading roles and sharing the work-load
3. The team estimates the effort required to plan a sprint
4. The team looks for opportunity to improve and simplify
5. The team holds retrospectives to acknowledge successes and correct weaknesses
6. The team becomes aware of how much can be done in a sprint
7. The team feels satisfaction from achieving results
8. No one team-member feels that they carry the burden of completion
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12. SIMPLE TOOLS
Simple tools can be used to share and manage information
Although software
tools can improve
collaboration, simple
tools suffice for most
projects.
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13. ORGANIZATIONAL MEMORY
“Under stress, people remember less and less..”
Important things need to be written and referred to:
1. Agile artifacts – backlog, sprint plan, tracking, progress and retrospectives
2. Platform architecture
3. Project requirements and vision
4. Development Process
5. Tools inventory and license info
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14. Simple Tools
Artifact Purpose Simple tools
Product Backlog A prioritized list of user stories or features yet to implement Spreadsheet or Wiki
Sprint Plan A list of tasks with initial estimates of time for each Spreadsheet
Tasks and tracking A list of tasks with initial estimates, revised estimates, work done
and work remaining
Spreadsheet 1
Progress chart A burndown chart showing the effort remaining with the ideal burn
rate for reference
Spreadsheet
Retrospectives A document updated at the end of a sprint, identifying the good
work and areas for improvement
Spreadsheet, text document or wiki
Contact RockPoolSolutions.com for a spreadsheet template to manage all artifacts.
1. A sticky note method called Kanban also works for visual tracking

15. Sample tracking spreadsheet
0
50
100
150
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Burndown
Remaining Ideal
TOTAL> 28 62 92 114 127
DAILY
VELOCITY > 28 34 30 22 13
TEAM TEAM
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
SUMMARY 127 142 142 0 10/19/2015 10/20/2015 10/21/2015 10/22/2015 10/23/2015
Task Owner Initial Revised Worked Remaining DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5
Update user interface with feature Sue 11 11 11 0 2 6 3 0 0
Design User Interface Sue 5 5 5 0 1 0 0 0 0
Fix bug #12879 - incorrect measurement result at 20Hz Sue 10 10 10 0 1 2 6 1
Perform QA regression tests Simone 7 7 7 0 4 3
Fix bug #12997 - misleading user warning Simone 5 5 5 0 5 0 0
Update old measurement algorithm Sammy 17 19 19 0 4 4 4 4 3
Implement Database Sammy 3 3 3 0 0 3
design measurement algorithm Paul 19 19 19 0 4 6 6 3 0
Implement unit tests Judy 12 22 22 0 4 4 4 4 4
Fix bug #11007 - crash after 5 hours continuous waveform
display Judy 5 8 8 0
Check functionality and accuracy John 5 5 5 0 2 2 1 0 0
Measurement algorithm implementation Elaine 23 23 23 0 2 5 5 5 5
Matlab simulation checks on algorithm David 5 5 5 0 4 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

16. ROLES
Individuals on the agile team have roles.
Be cautious of those
who are present but
do not have a role.
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17. Roles
Developers
◦ Anyone who creates, codes, tests or documents the deliverables
Product owner
◦ Is the person who prioritizes features and accepts the features as complete
◦ Is the voice of the customer on the team
Scrum-master
◦ Directs the team in regular scrum meetings
Technical lead / Architect
◦ The person who understands how to implement the product successfully
Not defined by scrum
but always needed
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18. DEVELOPERS
Those on the team who:
◦ Define the tasks for the user story and estimates their effort
◦ Decide how to perform the work to get the best outcome
◦ Deliver the results
◦ Help other developers
◦ Report progress at the scrum meeting
◦ Ask for help when they need it
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19. PRODUCT OWNER
An individual on the team who:
◦ Maintains a vision for the product
◦ Speaks to the user experience
◦ Plans and owns the backlog
◦ Prioritizes backlog
◦ Defines acceptance criteria
◦ Provides feedback at the end-of-sprint demo
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20. SCRUM MASTER
An individual on the team who:
◦ Facilitates the team through planning, doing, checking and reacting to change
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21. ARTIFACTS
Global information important to the scrum team.
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ARTIFACT

22. ARTIFACTS
Product Backlog
◦ A prioritized list of user stories or features yet to implement
Sprint Plan
◦ A list of tasks with initial estimates of time for each
Tasks and tracking
◦ A list of tasks with initial estimates, revised estimates, work done and work remaining
Progress chart
◦ A burndown chart showing the effort remaining with the ideal burn rate for reference
Retrospectives
◦ A document updated at the end of a sprint, identifying the good work and areas for improvement
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23. BACKLOG of User Stories
User stories have the form:
◦ As a <role>, I want to <do this> so I can <achieve this goal>
Examples:
◦ As a user, I want to be able to change my password so I can control my access.
◦ As an admin, I want to be able to reset passwords so users who have lost their passwords can have self-controlled access again.
◦ As a site manager, I want to see a report of the number of password resets per day to determine the administrative load.
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24. SPRINT PLAN
Summary Hours
Sue 17
Sammy 20
John 5
Judy 12
Team 54
Duration 80
Velocity needed per day 5.4
Task Owner Initial
Update user interface with feature Sue 11
Update measurement algorithm Sammy 17
Check functionality and accuracy John 5
Implement unit tests Judy 12
Design User Interface Sue 5
Implement Database Sammy 3
What is to be done Capacity accountingReconciled with
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25. TRACKING with spreadsheet
Task Owner Initial Revised
(updated)
Worked
(reported)
Remaining
(= Revised-worked)
Update user interface with feature Sue 11 9 8 1
Update measurement algorithm Sammy 17 21 7 14
Check functionality and accuracy John 5 5 0 5
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26. BURNDOWN
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Burndown
Remaining Ideal
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27. RETROSPECTIVE
Went well … Went poorly … Must improve …
Initial estimates were generally close We were too conservative in our estmates,
finishing early
Paul discovered and fixed a significant bug in the live
waveform display
John needed to refactor the USB driver which
was unplanned
Fixed more bugs due to early completion Elaine feels that the refactored code is poorly
tested
refactored code should have at least some
unit tests
Unit tests were written before the code was
completed - and worked!
The internal documentation of the measurement
algorithm is very detailed and complete thanks to
Paul
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28. AGILE PATTERNS
Skills that enable the agile methodology
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ACTIVITY

29. SYSTEMS View
PRODUCT
BACKLOG
SPRINT
PLANNING
SPRINT
BACKLOG
SPRINT
EXECUTION
SPRINT
TRACKING
SPRINT
CHECK
SPRINT
BURNDOWN
SPRINT
DEMO
SPRINT
RETROSPECTIVE
UPDATE
BACKLOG
ACTIVITY ARTIFACT
In Out
START

30. Managing Backlog
A list of features to implement…
User
story
As a .. I want to.. So I can.. Story
Points
Priority
1 User Change my password Control my access 5 1
2 Admin Reset passwords Gain access to accounts 10 3
3 Manager Audit password
changes
See any policy violations 50 2
4
5
6
Managed by
Product Owner
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31. Estimating effort
Estimates should have consistent bounds
◦ Time works better than story points
◦ 2-8 hours per task
◦ If task is greater than 20 hours, it should be broken down
◦ Some are hard to break down.. Like refactoring or initial design
◦ Tracking should be 15 min precision
Team planning using “planning poker” can be very effective … and fun
Owned by
Developers
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32. Sprint planning
User stories are selected for detailed estimation
◦ Strategic importance may include one big feature versus bug fixes or a balance
◦ Story points guide what will fit
Length of SPRINT depends on business needs
◦ Choose a fixed duration based on the organizational need
◦ Should allow a complete cycle of Planning – Doing – Checking – Improving for a completed feature
Owned by Team
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33. Daily scrum
Questions for each team-member:
◦ 1. What has been completed?
◦ 2. What is being worked on?
◦ 3. Where do we need help?
Notes:
- The meeting is for tracking and
identifying blocks – it’s not a design
meeting
Facilitated by Scrum-master
Owned by Team
A common
problem
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The team reviews and discusses the burn-down each day.
It is never too early to consider what to do when the effort looks to exceed the plan.
We will see how
to do this next…

34. Measuring progress - TRACKING
Logging time to produce a burn-down chart
◦ Initial estimate remains for the record
◦ Revised estimate acknowledges discovery or “found a better way”
◦ Worked shows that a task is in process
◦ Remaining shows the time left to complete << This data is used to show the burn-down
Task Owner Initial Revised
(updated)
Worked
(reported)
Remaining
(= Revised-worked)
Update user interface with feature Sue 11 9 8 1
Update measurement algorithm Sammy 17 21 7 14
Check functionality and accuracy John 5 5 0 5
Total Remaining LOG
Owned by team
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Captured in a
simple
spreadsheet

35. Measuring progress - LOGGING
Day Date Remaining Planned
1 11/1/15 21 21
2 11/2/15 19 19
3 11/3/15 17 17
4 11/4/15 12 15
5 11/5/15 8 13
6 11/6/15 8 11
7 11/7/15 8 9
8 11/8/15 3 7
9 11/9/15 0 3
10 11/10/15 0 1
11 11/11/15 0 0
today LOG
Planned is calculated at start.
Ideal = #hours – (day*rate)
Ideal = #hours – (day*rate)
21-(9*2) = 3
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36. Date Remaining Planned
11/1/2015 21 20
11/2/2015 19 18
11/3/2015 17 16
11/4/2015 12 14
11/5/2015 8 12
11/6/2015 8 10
11/7/2015 8 8
11/8/2015 3 6
11/9/2015 0 4
11/10/2015 0 2
11/11/2015 0 0
0
5
10
15
20
25
Burn-down
Remaining Planned
BURNDOWN
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37. WARNING!
This pattern occurs frequently
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38. Measuring progress – REVIEW & ANALYSIS
-500
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70
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39. Demonstration
The scrum-master sets the demo meeting time and location, sends the invitation
◦ The entire team is present
The team demonstrates the new feature to the product owner for feedback
◦ A chosen team-member demonstrates working examples from the user’s perspective
The product owner comments on fitness for use and declares the feature done or incomplete
◦ This may impact the backlog of the next sprint
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40. Retrospectives
Questions to answer at the end of a sprint:
◦ What went well?
◦ What went poorly?
◦ What must we improve?
Owned by the team
List all but choose no more than 3
items to improve
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41. And that’s the end of the sprint cycle
.. All steps are done.

42. Final thoughts
Teams should feel that improving is always in their control
Keeping things simple by design and clear in documentation is an ingredient of success
Working transparently is needed to become a high performing team
Rotating roles and responsibilities builds strong teams
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43. Conclusion
It’s all about teamwork…
◦Behaviors of collaboration
◦The discipline of planning and tracking..
◦With any tools that work for the team
Leave your ego at the door.
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44. CONTACT
Cell: 505.340.6394
Email: Justin.whitling@rockpoolsolutions.com
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45. ABOUT Rock Pool Solutions
Consulting on multi-level agile coaching and project management.
30+ years project management experience
◦ Product development for Test and Measurement instruments and systems, ERP, SaaS and Web applications
◦ Engineering services providing custom systems for Government and commercial customers in Aerospace,
Energy, Air sampling for treaty verification
◦ Introduced agile to 4 companies
Projects include:
◦ AP5xx platform for Audio Precision, Video test products, General purpose test equipment, telecom and
communications test products at Tektronix.
◦ Molten salt test loops at Sandia National Labs, Backup generator control for URENCO, Harvester UAV pod for
USAF, Beta detector for INL, Iron bird for UTAS, Construction software for Viewpoint, Beverage distribution for
Insight, Web-store and online services for Tektronix,
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