FROM A MONTH TO NONE
How long should your Sprints be?
LAST Conference Melbourne 2014Reginald de Silva11/07/2014
What is a Sprint / Iteration?
Scrum Guide Definition:“The heart of Scrum is a Sprint, a time-box of one
month or less during which a “Done”, useable, and potentially releasable product Increment is created.”
What is cadence and time-boxing?
Why do it?
Running a clean Sprint
Toyota Production System (TPS)Key types of waste: ‘Muda’ (wastefully activity)
Eliminate waste - Waiting, over-processing, overproduction, unnecessary transportation, correction etc.
‘Mura’ (unevenness)
Remove stress through use of a pull system - “just in time“ inventory of car parts
‘Muri’ (overburden)
Eliminate bottlenecks
Running a clean Sprint
Lean Software DevelopmentKey types of waste:
The Eight WastesManufacturing Software
DevelopmentIn-Process Inventory Partially Done Work
Over-Production Extra Features
Extra Processing Relearning
Transportation Handoffs
Motion Task Switching
Waiting Delays
Defects Defects
Unfulfilled Potential Unfulfilled Potential
Running a clean Sprint
Kaizen (change good)5-S Principles Sort (Seiri)
Set In Order (Seiton)
Shine (Seiso)
Standardise (Seiketsu)
Sustain (Shitsuke)
Running a clean Sprint
Kaizen (change good) – 5-S Principles
Running a clean Sprint
Parkinsons Law“work expands so as to fill the time available for its
completion”
Theory of Constraints (TOC)
One Piece Flow (OPF)
Limit Work in Progress (WIP)
4-Week Sprints
Sprints are limited to one calendar month.
When a Sprint’s horizon is too long the definition of what is being built may change, complexity may rise, and risk may increase.
Sprints also limit risk to one calendar month of cost.The Scrum GuideThe Definitive Guide to Scrum: The Rules of the GameDeveloped and sustained by Ken Schwaber and Jeff SutherlandJuly 2013
4
3-Week Sprints
A blessing or a curse?
When suitable?
3
2-Week Sprints
Why is this most common?
Prescriptive - SAFe
2
1-Week Sprints
How to deal with the intensity?!!…
Time management – be ruthless!
1
No Sprints at all Kanban
Limits WIP to capacity rather than through time-boxing
Allows for large work items as well as small
NONE
Special note:Pomodoro Technique
There are five basic steps to implementing the technique: Decide on the task to be done Set the pomodoro timer to n minutes (traditionally 25) Work on the task until the timer rings; record with an ‘x’ Take a short break (3–5 minutes) After four pomodori, take a longer break (15–30 minutes)
Supporting information
Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) Lead time and cycle time
Supporting information
Forecast vs Actual
Supporting information
Burn charts
What to do if your Sprints are totally stuffed?!
Reduce the amount of work that is forecast to be done when planning the next Sprint
Split User Stories into smaller chunks while ensuring that they are still potentially shippable
In extreme cases: Cancel the Sprint Stop, replan the release and start again
Software development considerations
Work on one thing at a time – avoid multi-tasking!
Definition of Done (DoD) – “Dev Done”is not “Done”!
Even flow of work – avoid batching and doing final inspections and reviews too late
When is automation “Done”?
Ensure that Stories are sized appropriately and are “potentially shippable”
Discussion
References The Scrum Guide - The Definitive Guide to Scrum: The Rules of the Game
Developed and sustained by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland July 2013https://www.scrum.org/Portals/0/Documents/Scrum%20Guides/2013/Scrum-Guide.pdf
Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash Mary Poppendieck (Author), Tom Poppendieck (Author)http://www.amazon.com/Implementing-Lean-Software-Development-Concept/dp/0321437381
Kanban and Scrum - making the most of bothHenrik Kniberg and Mattias Skarinhttp://www.infoq.com/minibooks/kanban-scrum-minibook
The Pomodoro TechniqueFranceso Cirillohttp://caps.ucsd.edu/Downloads/tx_forms/koch/pomodoro_handouts/ThePomodoroTechnique_v1-3.pdf
Scaled Agile Frameworkhttp://scaledagileframework.com/