The Scrum Field Guide: Agile Advice for Your First Year and Beyond

Thousands of organizations are adopting Scrum to transform the way they execute complex projects, in software and beyond. This guide will give you the skills and confidence needed to deploy Scrum, resulting in high-performing teams and satisfied customers. Drawing on years of hands-on experience helping companies succeed, Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) Mitch Lacey helps you overcome the major challenges of Scrum adoption and the deeper issues that emerge later.

Extensively revised to reflect improved Scrum practices and tools, this edition adds an all-new section of tips from the field.

Lacey covers many new topics, including immersive interviewing, collaborative estimation, and deepening business alignment. In 35 engaging chapters, you'll learn how to build support and maximize value across your company.

Now part of the renowned Mike Cohn Signature Series on agile development, this pragmatic guide addresses everything from establishing roles and priorities to determining team velocity, setting sprint length, and conducting customer reviews.

Coverage includes

• Bringing teams and new team members on board
• Creating a workable definition of "done"
• Planning for short-term wins, and removing impediments to success
• Balancing predictability and adaptability in release planning
• Running productive daily scrums
• Fixing failing sprints
• Accurately costing projects, and measuring the value they deliver
• Managing risks in dynamic Scrum projects
• Prioritizing and estimating backlogs
• Working with distributed and offshore teams
• Institutionalizing improvements, and extending agility throughout the organization

Packed with real-world examples straight from Lacey's experience, this book will be invaluable to anyone transitioning to Scrum, seeking to improve their early results, or trying to get back on track.

Foreword by Jeff Sutherland xix

Foreword by Kenneth S. Rubin xxiii

Preface xxv

Acknowledgments xxix

About the Author xxxi

Chapter 1: Scrum: Simple, Not Easy 1

The Story 1

Scrum 6

Keys to Success 17

References 18

Part I: Getting Prepared 21

Chapter 2: Getting People on Board 23

The Story 23

The Model 29

Change Takes Time 30

Keys to Success 33

References 34

Work Consulted 34

Chapter 3: Using Team Consultants to Optimize Team Performance 35

The Story 35

The Model 39

Keys to Success 47

Reference 50

Works Consulted 50

Chapter 4: Predicting Team Velocity 51

The Story 51

The Model 56

Keys to Success 65

References 67

Chapter 5: Implementing the Scrum Roles 69

The Story 69

The Model 73

Keys to Success 78

Chapter 6: Determining Sprint Length 81

The Story 81

The Model 84

Keys to Success 91

Reference 92

Chapter 7: How Do You Know You're Done? 93

The Story 93

The Model 95

Keys to Success 101

References 102

Chapter 8: The Case for a Full-Time ScrumMaster 103

The Story 103

The Model 106

Keys to Success 112

References 116

Work Consulted 116

Part II: Field Basics 117

Chapter 9: Why Engineering Practices Are Important in Scrum 119

The Story 119

The Practices 123

Keys to Success 131

References 133

Works Consulted 134

Chapter 10: Core Hours 135

The Story 135

The Model 138

Keys to Success 142

Chapter 11: Release Planning 143

The Story 143

The Model 147

Keys to Success 154

Reference 156

Chapter 12: Decomposing Stories and Tasks 157

The Story 157

The Model 159

Keys to Success 167

References 168

Works Consulted 168

Chapter 13: Keeping Defects in Check 169

The Story 169

The Model 170

Keys to Success 172

References 173

Work Consulted 174

Chapter 14: Sustained Engineering and Scrum 175

The Story 175

The Model 178

Keys to Success 181

References 182

Chapter 15: The Sprint Review 183

The Story 183

The Model 186

Keys to Success 188

Works Consulted 191

Chapter 16: Retrospectives 193

The Story 193

The Practice 196

Keys to Success 200

References 202

Part III: First Aid 203

Chapter 17: Facilitating a Productive Daily Scrum 205

The Story 205

The Model 208

Keys to Success 213

Chapter 18: The Fourth Question in Scrum 217

The Story 217

The Model 220

Keys to Success 221

Reference 221

Chapter 19: Keeping People Engaged with Pair Programming 223

The Story 223

The Model 225

Keys to Success 230

References 231

Chapter 20: Adding New Team Members 233

The Story 233

The Model 235

Keys to Success 238

References 239

Chapter 21: When Cultures Collide 241

The Story 241

The Model 246

Keys to Success 251

References 254

Works Consulted 254

Chapter 22: Sprint Emergency Procedures 255

The Story 255

The Model 257

Keys to Success 260

References 261

Part IV: Advanced Survival Techniques 263

Chapter 23: Sustainable Pace 265

The Story 265

The Model 269

Keys to Success 274

References 276

Chapter 24: Delivering Working Software 277

The Story 277

The Model 281

Keys to Success 284

Work Consulted 287

Chapter 25: Optimizing and Measuring Value 289

The Story 289

The Model 292

Keys to Success 297

Reference 299

Works Consulted 299

Chapter 26: Up-Front Project Costing 301

The Story 301

The Model 306

Keys to Success 310

References 311

Chapter 27: Documentation in Scrum Projects 313

The Story 313

The Model 316

Keys to Success 323

References 324

Chapter 28: Outsourcing and Offshoring 325

The Story 325

The Model 328

Keys to Success 332

References 337

Work Consulted 337

Chapter 29: Prioritizing and Estimating Large Backlogs-The Big Wall 339

The Story 339

The Model 342

Keys to Success 346

References 348

Chapter 30: Writing Contracts 349

The Story 349

The Model 353

Keys to Success 361

References 363

Part V: Wilderness Essentials 365

Chapter 31: Driving to Done through Collaboration 367

The Story 367

The Model 371

Keys to Success 380

References 382

Chapter 32: How Story Points Relate to Hours 383

The Story 383

The Model 386

Keys to Success 391

References 394

Chapter 33: Immersive Interviewing and Hiring 395

The Story 395

The Model 398

Keys to Success 404

References 406

Work Consulted 407

Chapter 34: Aligning Incentives with Outcomes 409

The Story 409

The Model 412

Keys to Success 415

Reference 417

Chapter 35: Risk Management in Scrum 419

The Story 419

The Model 420

Keys to Success 424

Works Consulted 425

Appendix: Scrum Framework 427

The Roles 428

The Artifacts 429

The Meetings 431

Putting It All Together 434

Index 435

Mitch Lacey, founder of Mitch Lacey & Associates, Inc., helps companies reach their maximum potential by building high-performing organizations through the adoption of agile practices, including Scrum and XP. Mitch's rich, practical experience and his pragmatic approach are trusted by many companies including Adobe Systems, Aera Energy, Bio-Rad, EchoStar, Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm, Salem Hospital, SAP, Sony, and more. He is a CST, a PMI Project Management Professional (PMP), and an Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP). Mitch has served on the board of directors for the Agile Alliance and the Scrum Alliance. Learn more at www.MitchLacey.com.