- Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – The Variable Sprint Duration
Statement: Dev Manager “We have a lot of work for this Sprint, so we are going with a 4-week Sprint instead of a 2-week Sprint.” Anti-pattern: The Variable Sprint Duration. Problem: Variable Sprint durations disrupt the rhythm of the team. Recommendation: Determine the amount of work to take on based on the Sprint duration instead of determining the size of… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – The Variable Sprint Duration - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – I’m the Product Owner and Scrum Master
Director: “We don’t have a budget for a Scrum Master so Cathy is going to be both the Scrum Master and Product Owner.” On a Scrum Team, there are 3 accountabilities; The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value resulting from the work of the Scrum Team, the Developers are accountable for building and delivering a usable Product Increment… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – I’m the Product Owner and Scrum Master - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Extending the Sprint
Scrum Master: “Team, it looks like these 3 stories that we already started on are almost done. I’m going to add an extra 2 days to this Sprint so that we can finish them.” An important concept in Scrum is timeboxing. All events in Scrum are timeboxed, from the Sprint itself, to Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Extending the Sprint - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Product Owner Missing Sprint Planning?
Product Owner: “Team, I’m going to miss Sprint Planning again. I’m swamped with my real job and can’t make it on Wednesday.” A statement like this indicates a misunderstanding of the Product Owner role. In Scrum, the Product Owner is driving the team to successfully deliver on Sprint Goals to achieve the overall Product Goal and vision. Accountability for success… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Product Owner Missing Sprint Planning? - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Canceling the Sprint Retrospective
ScrumMaster: “I’ve cancelled this week’s retrospective since we have all these production issues to tackle.” This one is a slippery slope. If the site is down, then the focus should be on getting it back up as quickly as possible. However, I hear the same arguments around automated testing, good design practices, and minimizing technical debt. “Team, we need to… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Canceling the Sprint Retrospective - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – When is Sprint Planning?
Developer: “I’m not sure when the next Sprint planning is. The ScrumMaster hasn’t scheduled it yet” Two things concern me here. First, the seemingly variability of events. Second, the reliance on the ScrumMaster. In Scrum, we work on a cadence. Once we determine the Sprint length, we mostly stick to it with a few exceptions around holidays and unforeseen events.… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – When is Sprint Planning? - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – The Sprint was a Colossal Failure
Scrum Master: “Team, the last Sprint was a colossal failure.” So when can a Sprint be considered a failure? Let us start by defining what does failure mean in this situation? Is it about the team’s velocity being low? Is it the team not completing all the Product Backlog Items they took on in Sprint Planning? Is it the team… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – The Sprint was a Colossal Failure - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Meeting King
Statement: Scrum Master: “Team, I’m canceling tomorrow’s Daily Scrum because I have a doctor’s appointment and I can’t be here to run the meeting.” Anti-pattern: The Meeting King. Problem: The Daily Scrum is not about or for the Scrum Master. It is a daily planning meeting for the Developers by the Developers. Recommendation: Ensure that the Developers understand the purpose… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Meeting King - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – I’m Responsible for Writing User Stories
Business Analyst: “I am a BA on the Scrum team and I’m responsible for writing the user stories.” This is another common statement I usually hear from business analysts. Check out the previous post on the who of product backlog refinement that clarifies the responsibility of the business analysts and the rest of the Scrum team. - Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Of Course We Are Agile!
Executive: “Of course we are agile, everyone is using Jira now!” A tool does not make you, your team, or organization Agile. I see many organization invest in tooling without investing in proper training and coaching. Our first Agile value is about focusing on individual and interactions over processes and tools. So, any tool we do invest in should be… Read more: Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – Of Course We Are Agile!
For more Bizarro Scrum posts, click here.