Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum / Edition 1

by Mike Cohn

Overview

This is the definitive, realistic, actionable guide to starting fast with Scrum and agile—and then succeeding over the long haul. Leading agile consultant and practitioner Mike Cohn presents detailed recommendations, powerful tips, and real-world case studies drawn from his unparalleled experience helping hundreds of software organizations make Scrum and agile work.

Succeeding with Agile is for pragmatic software professionals who want real answers to the most difficult challenges they face in implementing Scrum. Cohn covers every facet of the transition: getting started, helping individuals transition to the new roles, structuring teams, scaling up, working with a distributed team, and finally, implementing effective metrics and continuous improvement.

Throughout, Cohn presents "Things to Try Now" sections based on his most successful advice. Complementary "Objection" sections reproduce typical conversations with those resisting change and offer practical guidance for addressing their concerns. Coverage includes

• Practical ways to get started immediately—and "get good" fast

• Overcoming individual resistence to the changes Scrum requires

• Staffing Scrum projects and building effective teams

• Establishing "improvement communities" of people who are passionate about driving change

• Choosing which agile technical practice to use or experiment with

• Leading self-organizing teams

• Making the most of Scrum sprints, planning, and quality techniques

• Scaling Scrum to distributed, multiteam projects

• Using Scrum on projects with complex sequential processes or challengin compliance and governance requirements

• Understanding Scrum's impact on HR, facilities, and project management

Whether you've completed a few sprints or multiple agile projects and whatever your role—manager, developer, coach, ScrumMaster, product owner, analyst, team lead, or project lead—this book will help you succeed with your very next project. Then, it will help you go much further: It will help you transform your entire development organization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900321579361
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	10/26/2009
Series:	Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn)
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Mike Cohn is the founder of Mountain Goat Software, through which he provides training and consulting on Scrum and agile software development. Mike specializes in helping companies adopt Scrum and become more agile as a way of building extremely high performance development organizations. In addition to this book, he is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and books on Java and C++ programming.

With more than 25 years of experience, Mike has previously been a technology executive in companies of various sizes, from start-up to Fortune 40. He has also written articles for Better Software, IEEE Computer, Cutter IT Journal, Software Test and Quality Engineering, Agile Times, and the C/C++ Users Journal. Mike is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is a founding member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance. He is also a Certified Scrum Trainer, having cotaught the first Certified ScrumMaster class with Ken Schwaber in May 2003.

For more information, visit www.mountaingoatsoftware.com.

Table of Contents

Forword XVII

Acknowledgements XIX

About the Author XXIII

Introduction XXV

Part I Getting Started 1

1 Why Becoming Agile Is Hard (But Worth It) 3

Why Transitioning Is Hard 5

Why It's Worth the Effort 10

Looking Forward 17

Additional Reading 18

2 ADAPTing to Scrum 21

Awareness 23

Desire 26

Ability 31

Promotion 34

Transfer 37

Putting It All Together 40

Additional Reading 41

3 Patterns for Adopting Scrum 43

Start Small or Go All In 43

Public Display of Agility or Stealth 47

Patterns for Spreading Scrum 50

Introducing New Technical Practices 55

One Final Consideration 57

Additional Reading 58

4 Iterating Toward Agility 61

The Improvement Backlog 62

The Enterprise Transition Community 63

Improvement Communities 70

One Size Does Not Fit All 79

Looking Forward 79

Additional Reading 80

5 Your First Projects 81

Selecting a Pilot Project 81

Choosing the Right Time to Start 84

Selecting a Pilot Team 86

Setting and Managing Expectations 88

It's Just a Pilot 92

Additional Reading 92

Part II Individuals 95

6 Overcoming Resistance 97

Anticipating Resistance 97

Communicating About the Change 101

The Hows and Whys of Individual Resistance 104

Resistance as a Useful Red Flag 114

Additional Reading 115

7 New Roles 117

The Role of the ScrumMaster 117

The Product Owner 125

New Roles, Old Responsibilities 134

Additional Reading 135

8 Changed Roles 137

Analysts 137

Project Managers 139

Architects 142

Functional Managers 144

Programmers 146

Database Administrators 148

Testers 148

User Experience Designers 151

Three Common Themes 153

Additional Reading 153

9 Technical Practices 155

Strivefor Technical Excellence 155

Design: Intentional yet Emergent 166

Improving Technical Practices Is Not Optional 171

Additional Reading 172

Part III Teams 175

10 Team Structure 177

Feed Them Two Pizzas 177

Favor Feature Teams 182

Self-Organizing Doesn't Mean Randomly Assembled 189

Put People on One Project 191

Guidelines for Good Team Structure 197

Onward 199

Additional Reading 199

11 Teamwork 201

Embrace Whole-Team Resposibility 201

Rely On Specialists but Sparingly 204

Do a Little Bit of Everything All the Time 206

Foster Team Learning 209

Encourage Collaboration Through Commitment 215

All Together Now 217

Additional Reading 218

12 Leading a Self-Organizing Team 219

Influencing Self-Organization 220

Influencing Evolution 227

There's More to Leadership Than Buying Pizza 232

Additional Reading 233

13 The Product Backlog 235

Shift from Documents to Discussions 236

Progressively Refine Requirements 242

Learn to Start Without a Specification 249

Make the Product Backlog DEEP 253

Don't Forget to Talk 254

Additional Reading 254

14 Sprints 257

Deliver Working Software Each Sprint 258

Deliver Something Valuable Each Sprint 262

Prepare in This Sprint for the Next 266

Work Together Throughout the Sprint 268

Keep Timeboxes Regular and Strict 276

Don't Change the Goal 279

Get Feedback, Learn, and Adapt 283

Additional Reading 284

15 Planning 285

Progressively Refine Plans 286

Don't Plan on Overtime to Salvage a Plan 287

Favor Scope Changes When Possible 292

Separate Estimating from Committing 296

Summary 305

Additional Reading 305

16 Quality 307

Integrate Testing into the Process 308

Automate at Different Levels 311

Do Acceptance Test-Driven Development 317

Pay Off Technical Debt 320

Quality Is a Team Effort 323

Additional Reading 323

Part IV The Organization 325

17 Scaling Scrum 327

Scaling the Product Owner 327

Working with a Large Product Backlog 330

Proactively Manage Dependencies 333

Coordinate Work Among Teams 340

Scaling the Sprint Planning Meeting 345

Cultivate Communities of Practice 347

Scrum Does Scale 352

Additional Reading 353

18 Distributed Teams 355

Decide How to Distribute Multiple Teams 356

Create Coherence 359

Get Together in Person 367

Change How You Communicate 372

Meetings 375

Proceed with Caution 386

Additional Reading 387

19 Coexisting with Other Approaches 389

Mixing Scrum and Sequential Development 383

Governance 394

Compliance 396

Onward 402

Additional Reading 402

20 Human Resources, Facilities, and the PMO 405

Human Resources 406

Facilities 412

The Project Management Office 420

The Bottom Line 424

Additional Reading 424

Part V Next Steps 427

21 Seeing How Far You've Come 429

The Purpose of Measuring 429

General-Purpose Agility Assessments 430

Creating Your Own Assessment 437

A Balanced Scorecard for Scrum Teams 438

Should We Really Bother with This? 443

Additional Reading 444

22 You're Not Done Yet 447

Reference List 449

Index 465

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Succeeding with Agile

“Understanding the mechanics of an agile process is just not enough. Mike Cohn has compiled a superb and comprehensive collection of advice that will help individuals and teams with the intricate task of adopting and adapting agile processes to fit their specific challenges. This book will become the definitive handbook for agile teams.”

–Colin Bird, Global Head of Agile, EMC Consulting

“Mike Cohn’s experience working with so many different organizations in the adoption of agile methods shines through with practical approaches and valuable insights. If you really want agile methods to stick, this is the book to read.”

–Jeff Honious, Vice President, Innovation, Reed Elsevier

“Mike Cohn has done it again. Succeeding with Agile is based on his experience, and all of our experience, with agile to date. He covers from the earliest days of the project up to maturity and offers advice for the individual, the team, and the enterprise. No matter where you are in the agile cycle, this book has something for you!”

–Ron Jeffries, www.XProgramming.com

“If you want to start or take the next step in agile software development, this book is for you. It discusses issues, great solutions, and helpful guidelines when scaling up in agile projects. We used the guidelines from this book extensively when we introduced agile in a large, FDA-regulated department.”

–Christ Vriens, Department Head of MiPlaza, part of Philips Research

“If making the move to agile has always baffled you, then this book will unlock its mysteries. Mike Cohn gives us all the definitive, no-nonsense guide to transforming your organization into a high-powered, innovative, and competitive success.”

–Steve Greene, Senior Director, Program Management and Agile Development, www.salesforce.com

“Mike Cohn is a great advisor for transforming your software organization. This book is a distillation of everything Mike has learned over the years working with companies that are trying to become more agile. If you are thinking of going agile, pick up this book.”

–Christopher Fry, Ph.D., Vice President Development, Platform, www.salesforce.com

“Whether you’re just starting out or have some Scrum experience under your belt, in Succeeding with Agile, Mike Cohn provides a wealth of information to guide you in your quest toward continuous improvement. Throughout the book, concepts are reinforced with practical everyday advice, including how to handle objections and thought-provoking ‘things to try now.’ An extensive list of recommended readings round this out to be a must have book.”

–Nikki Rohm, Studio Director Project and Resource Management, Electronic Arts

“The first steps along the path of improving your software process with Scrum are hard, and every step reveals new challenges. In Succeeding with Agile, Mike Cohn shows how other organizations have followed this path, how you can learn from them to have a successful implementation of Scrum, and put your organization on the path of constant improvement and

From the Publisher