Managing SCRUM Projects

By Merlyn Jyothi (merlynjyo@gmail.com)

Practicing SCRUM

Guidelines Taken From:

• Mike Cohn – Agile Estimating and Planning

FAQs

1. How is the length of the iteration determined?

2. Does a team sprint indefinitely?3. Is there any disadvantage in timing the

release at the end of the quarter?

1. HOW IS THE LENGTH OF THE ITERATION DETERMINED?

Guideline – 4 or 5 opportunities to gather end-of-iteration feedback

Factors Influencing Iteration Length

• Shorter the release; shorter the iteration• More the uncertainty; shorter the iteration• More feedback during the iteration; shorter

the iteration• Higher the frequency of change in priorities;

shorter the iteration

Factors and Their Influence - contd

• Higher the need to validate software; shorter the iteration

• Higher the cost of iterating; longer the iteration

• Greater the need for urgency; shorter the iteration

2. DOES A TEAM SPRINT INDEFINITELY?

Break from the Sustainable Pace - 6*2+1

• 6 2-week iterations followed by a 1-week iteration

• 1 week to be used by the team to work off technical debt incurred in early or pre-agile days

• Team chooses their own work for this 1 week• Not a slack-off period

3. IS THERE ANY DISADVANTAGE IN TIMING THE RELEASE AT THE END OF THE QUARTER?

Avoid End of the Quarter Release

• Pressure to meet quarterly revenue goals (especially in publicly traded companies)

• If a software project does not deliver on the end-of-quarter date then revenue from pre-sales and upgrades cannot be recognized in that quarter

• Software development has too many unknowns and uncertainties to plan in the absolute

To be contd …