AgileDC 2014 Presentation on Scaling Scrum

1. 1
Patterns and Principles of
Scaling Scrum with Scrum
Dan Rawsthorne, PhD, PMP, CST
Senior Trainer at 3Back
dan.rawsthorne@3Back.com
425-269-8628
Agile DC
October 21, 2014
Washington, DC
3BACK.COM
Agenda
My View of Patterns
Patterns in “original” Scrum
Patterns in “modern” Scrum
Scaling Patterns
Simple Analysis of LeSS
Large Team Patterns
Simple Analysis of SAFe
Other Scaling Examples…
QA
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2. 2
Patterns
A Pattern is a “solution to a problem in a context”
It’s not that simple…
A Pattern is not a recipe, it is a concept; but is often
seen as a recipe – and is often sold as one…
Who do you blame if a cook follows a recipe, but the
meal is inedible?
Recipe?
Cook?
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My Basic Philosophy Here…
I see a Framework as a collection of Patterns. Scrum,
LeSS, and SAFe are Frameworks, so…
Structures, Rules,
and Frameworks
Replace thinking
and accountability
Solutions
They often
Not really…
Can Capture
or Embody
Useful
Patterns
Thinking
Can Produce
Can Produce
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3. 3
Well-Formed Team (WFT)
The Well-Formed Team is the fundamental concept of
Self-Organized: determines what Tasks
are necessary
Self-Contained: has all the knowledge and
skills needed
Value-Driven:
they value working together;
they are constantly working to Improve
they do their due diligence to meet the
appropriate Standard of Care
they do necessary Chores that are not directly
involved in working on Items.
They have Integrity -- they are Professionals
Scrum. It is:
SHs
Item Item
Request Done Item
Tasks
Standard of Care
Improvements
Chores
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Original Scrum, 1995-2005
Well-Formed Team, Plus
Team Coach
Helps Team become and
remain a WFT
Becomes ScrumMaster
Business Owner
Represents Stakeholders
Manages Value Backlog
Delivers Product
Project Leader
Estimates Delivery Dates
Item
Item
Value
Backlog
PO=BO/PL
Item
Item
Item
SHs
Updated
every
Sprint
Prod
Delivered
Item
Delivery
Dates
Prod
(n)
nth Increment
Product
Backlog
SM=TC
Standard of Care
Work
Backlog
Tasks
Improvements
Chores
Sprint
Backlog
Development
Team
PO
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4. 4
Modern Scrum, 2006 - present
Original Scrum, plus
SMEs
Skills and knowledge the
Team needs
Team Leader
Tactical Accountability
Refines Work Backlog
Prioritizes Work Backlog
Includes Chores
Product Owner
Changed Places and Roles
Causes Confusion…
Item
Item
Work
Backlog
PO=TL
SM Tasks
BO/PL
Item
Value
Backlog
Delivery
Dates
Prod
(n)
nth Increment
Definition of Done
Improvements
Chores
SHs
Updated
every
Sprint
Prod
Delivered
SME
SME
Product
Backlog
Refinement
Sprint
Backlog
Improvement
Chores
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Modern Scrum, 2006 - present
Item
Item
Work
Backlog
PO=TL
SM Tasks
BO/PL
Item
Value
Backlog
Delivery
Dates
Prod
(n)
nth Increment
Definition of Done
Improvements
Chores
SHs
Updated
every
Sprint
Prod
Delivered
SME
SME
Product
Backlog
Refinement
Sprint
Backlog
Improvement
Chores
PL
PO
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Prod

5. 5
Basic Lessons from Scrum…
Here are some lessons that Scrum taught me…
Complex Work requiresWFTs
Trivial Decisions can be made by Rules
Easy Decisions can be made by an Accountable Person
Hard Decisions require a Scrum Team
Requires complex work WFT
Requires accountability PO
Don’t dismantle existing WFTs
POs should spend approx half their time outside their Team, figuring out
what to build, and half their time inside their Team, helping them build it
(Jeff Sutherland).
Don’t overload Decision-Makers – can’t assume Heroes
I will use these lessons when moving forward looking at Scaling
issues…
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Distribution Team
Problem: Need to populate multiple Work Backlogs
from single Value Backlog
Plan
BO/PL
Plan
BO/PL
Distribution
Team
Virtual
Member
Team
Backlog
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6. 6
Analysis: LeSS-1
PO
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Analysis: LeSS-2
PO
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7. 7
Consolidation Team
Problem: Need to Combine multiple Value Backlogs
PL
PL
BO
PL PL
Consolidation
Team
BO
Team
Backlog
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Program Team
Problem: Multiple Value Backlogs to multiple Work
Backlogs
Plan
Plan
BO/PL
Plan Plan PL PL
Plan Plan PL
PL
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Virtual
Member
BO
Program
Team
Team
Backlog
BO
Consolidation
Team
Distribution
Team
Virtual
Member
BO
Team
Backlog

8. 8
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SME
Cross-Cutting Workgroup
Problem: Some Issues need to be dealt with by people
from “all over” the Organization. These could be
Scrum Teams, or simple WFTs…
Arch
Integration and Integration (IE) Team
Problem: In a large development, you’d like to test and
review the System as a whole…
Reviews
Testing
- Usability
- Performance
- Exploratory
- Acceptance
- Etc.
PO
IE Team
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9. 9
SAFe
Backlog Development
Agile Release
Train
(ART)
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SAFe as Patterns…
Portfolio
Program
Release
Product
Manager
?
?
PPM
Vision
Roadmap,
Vision,
Release Plan
PPM: Program Portfolio Mgmt is
a Program Team, and is the
highest-level fiduciary and
content authority in the
framework
RMT: The Release MgmtTeam is
a Cross-Cutting Workgroup
responsible for synchronized
releases
PMT: The Program MgmtTeam is
an implied Distribution Team;
members imply additional Cross-
Cutting Workgroups.
ART: The Agile Release Train is a 2-
level hierarchical WFT (like LeSS-1)
System Team: an IE Team,
among other things
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10. 10
Two Common Workgroups
In the structures we see here, there are two
Workgroups that we commonly see…
PO
SM
SM SM SM ScrumMaster Team Scrum of Scrums
SM SM SM
SM
• Informational WFT
• Keeping Teams on
‘same page’
• Extension of Daily
Scrum
• Working Scrum Team
• “Chief” ScrumMaster
• Synchronizing improvements
• Managing “ScrumMaster”
Backlog
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Typical Product Organization
Project
Manager
TL
TC
Product
Manager
OC
TL
TC
Project
Plan
Project
Manager
Project
Plan
Project
Plan
TC
TL
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11. 11
Typical Product Organization
Product
Manager
2 Project
Manager
1
1
4
Project
Plan
Project
Manager
Project
Plan
Legend
Project
Plan
1
1 – Project Backlogs
2 – Initiatives Backlog
3 – Bug/Defect List
4 – Overall Product Backlog
5 – Team Backlogs
6 – Product Mgmt Team Backlog
3
Chores Chores
6
TL
TL
Chores
5 5 5
OC
TC
TC
TC
TL
OC
TC
TC
TC
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Science Fair Review
There are four Sprint Reviews (each Team and the
Integrated product) here:
They share Stakeholders and SMEs
The Teams are each other’s Stakeholders
Have the “Science Fair” Review
Each Team presents a 10-minute overview
Each Team sets up a demo area
The Stakeholders wander around asking questions, trying
things out, and making suggestions (up to 2 hours)
You will have to tune this to your organization…
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12. 12
Layered Planning
(Progressive Elaboration)
Planning can be done in many ways, but there is an intrinsic layering
inherent in the structures I’ve discussed here.
Development Teams (lowest level) need small Stories prioritized for them to
work on.
What work should we do next?
Functional Stories should be a ‘single acceptance test’ at a time.
Prioritize Capabilities versus Chores
The next layer up should prioritize at the Feature Level
Which feature should we focus on / Release Next?
And so on… (feature sets, projects, programs, …)
And we have a Scrum Team at each level
People do do the thinking…
A Product Owner to make the decisions…
This is the power of SSwS…
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Spotify – Henrik Kniberg
Scaling Agile @ Spotify, Kniberg Ivarsson, Oct 2012
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13. 13
Any Questions?
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Thank You Very Much!
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