Spikes And Stories

Scrum tips and agile insights from a Silicon Valley agile coach

About To Disrupt Your Sprint? Think Again.

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In my last blog post, I wrote about why it is important to keep the sprint backlog static after leaving sprint planning.  Unfortunately, much of my previous blog involved a great deal of arm waving (or possibly flailing) as I hoped to highlight the problem of disrupting your sprint. What it didn’t offer up was concrete ways each of us can contribute to the solution, and that’s why I’m writing today. I’ve split this blog into sections in an effort to talk to each of an organizations’ roles separately.  I encourage you to read each section, and I hope you take the time to read your part in detail.  Additionally, in the “For Team Members” section, you’ll see a workflow that will take team members through the questions they should ask before pulling new work into the sprint. Although this workflow is specific to my own company, once modified, it could add value to yours.

Decision tree for pulling in sprint work

For Team Members

It should be your last resort to ask for more work to be added to the sprint.  Unfortunately, it’s often your first course of action when you’re idle. Inefficiency has its place on a team, if done smartly, so don’t fear it. Before you ask the Scrum Master or Product Owner to add another story, think through the following:

  1. Teams goals over individual tasks. Albeit inefficient, where can you help another team member complete his/her task? Pair up and work through it together.
  2. Finishing tasks over opening another. “Everything stinks till it’s finished.” -Dr. Seuss. This is especially true in software development. Be inefficient to get that last 10% done in a task before you move on to the next.
  3. Cross-functional teams over silos. Everybody has an area they’re best at, but where can you grow? Be inefficient for the sake of learning a new skill and potentially removing a future bottleneck. Take on a task outside your skill set and ask for the team’s help to learn something new.

Again, I can’t emphasize this enough. Before you ask for something to be added to the sprint, you should spend a good deal of energy into trying to help the team figure out how it can meet its current goals.

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The Importance Of Sprint Commitment

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Scrum is like my mother-in-law; it points out all my faults. Ken Schwaber, one of the master minds behind scrum, is credited with that quote, and there’s a lot of truth to it. Scrum is an exposure model; it’s intended to highlight weaknesses in an organization and its processes. It’s then up to the organization and its people to find solutions to those problems. Unfortunately, many organization solve these problems by removing the parts of the scrum framework that cause the pain.

It seems like a silly way to solve the problem, doesn’t it? When a stranger comes to my house, I have a cat who runs to the bedroom and hides under the comforter. She feels safe because she thinks if I can’t see the stranger, the stranger can’t see me. Sorry, stupid, we can see the lump in the bed.  You’re not fooling anyone.  So what part of the framework do I see organizations tossing out most often?

Commitment.*

When the team leaves sprint planning, they should have in front of them everything they’ll be accomplishing over the course of the sprint. That commitment is immutable. It should not change. Work should not be added, removed, or even exchanged for other work. Most importantly, this commitment should be made by the team without abetment from individuals outside of the team, and it certainly shouldn’t be dictated to a team by the product owner.

Of course, I write this with confidence but also some measure of skepticism. I recognize the realities of the work we do, and I recognize that sometimes things come up that cannot be put off. My argument is that we’re too quick to loosen up that commitment, and my heart burn is this:

When everything is the exception, why have the rule?

That’s a rhetorical question, but I’ll tackle it anyway. Why have the rule? What’s the intent behind requiring that the commitment remain unchanged between sprint planning and the demo? I’ll give you six reasons:

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Tips To Be a Successful Scrum Master

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If I could go back in time and give my younger scrum master self only 10 tips, it would be this:

  1. Questions over statements. Use questions as a tool to enforce process, make a point, or to gain understanding of another point of view.  It also makes for a less confrontational situation:
    1. Frank, instead of starting a new task, have you thought about helping Mary with that code review?
    2. Since our stand ups are only 15 minutes, should we talk about ways to get us all here on time?
  2. Progress should be defined by the amount of work finished, not the amount of work started. Task switching comes at a cost.  This cost is often overlooked, especially in a world where multi-tasking is the norm.   Teams often feel they’re most efficient when they have a large number of tasks open so they can toggle between them.  They’re mistaken.
  3. Knowledge creation over task completion. Even at the cost of efficiency, it’s better to spread knowledge throughout the team than to focus simply on completing all committed work. Encourage specialists to step outside their comfort zone and learn a skill from one of their team members.
  4. Ask stupid questions. If someone says something, and you don’t understand, ask.  I bet at least two other people in the room have the same question, but don’t want to feel like a dummy.
  5. Know your team. Can you name the spouse, hobbies, strengths, and weaknesses of each of your team members?  If so, great.  If not, learn, but only do so if you’re sincere in your effort to know more about your team members.
  6. Know your team’s dynamic. It’s not enough to know each team member.  Learn how their personalities mesh.  Who feels safe sharing their thoughts?  Who’s more contemplative?  What has occurred in the past to draw the entire team into a fruitful and honest discussion?
  7. The last 10% of any story is chock-full of unicorns and dodo birds. Never let a team convince you that something is 90% done.  It’s either all done or not done at all.
  8. Paint all things in terms of black or white. When your team uses terms like “may” or “might,” ask them to commit to something firm (even if it’s less than their previous “might”).  In a similar vein, ensure all action items have a clear and single owner.  Use questions to get them through the shades of gray.
  9. Good enough never is. Never let a team feel that they have nothing more to learn.  Never let a team become complacent.  Always find ways to gently knock them off balance in the spirt of keeping things fresh and interesting.
  10. It never gets easier. The job requires a great deal of patience.  Many days you’ll question if you’re really doing enough for your teams. That’s normal. You’re in a role where the value you provide a team is often intangible, yet always invaluable.

What would you tell your younger self?  I’d love to hear your tips for new scrum masters.

Update:  A number of you enjoyed these tips so much that I put together another ten in my blog post Scrum Master Tips To Help Your Teams Succeed.  I hope you check them out.

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