Scrum
Definition: Scrum is an iterative and incremental methodology for software projects and product- or application-development. It is also one of the variants of agile software development methodologies.
Why would a development team use Scrum?
As demonstrated by high-powered software teams around the world, the Scrum process can increase a development team's efficiency dramatically. In recent years, some Scrum coaches (Scrum Masters) can consistently get development teams to be six times more efficient, and it is becoming almost unremarkable for a Scrum Master to kick a team into a productive state 15 times more productive than in their pre-Scrum days.
The adoption of Scrum by Western development teams is part of a grand mimicking of Japanese manufacturing techniques, which has been going on, with patterns of waxing and waning, for many decades. Software development has become a big enough industry that its leading edge is penetrating many other industries. Its leading edge is the family of development management processes called Agile, one of which, the most popular, is Scrum.
Scrum is essentially a double handful of rules for how a team should work together, and how they should be managed. Underneath those rules is a profound understanding of human nature. What motivates us? That is the essential question which Scrum answers. Scrum rules are designed to instill ownership, motivation, and creative problem-solving in team members. The dramatic results of a well-functioning Scrum team come from the synchronistic multiplying effect of a group of developers working “in the flow.” Jeff Sutherland, one of the creators of Scrum, refers to these as “activated” teams.
Following Lean development principles, the rules of Scrum are stripped down to the essentials. One of the implications of this is that teams must adopt all the Scrum rules in order to get Scrum results. Jeff Sutherland's favorite lecture topic seems to be “Scrumbutt.” This occurs when teams say, “Yes, we're doing Scrum, but...” and explain an aspect of Scrum they decided not to implement. According to Sutherland, you cannot get dramatic results unless you are pretty much a Scrum purist. That said, Scrum can “wrap around” other software development process technologies like, for example, XP or Lean. It's not essential to understand those technologies fully, for our purposes, but they are mentioned in the discussion on this page.
The most relevant question for a project like OSE is – is Scrum applicable outside the software development world? This is the answer that Joe Justice and the WikiSpeed team answer with a resounding “Yes!” In the 10-minute TEDX talk below, he explains briefly how the WikiSpeed Team, a collection of 44 volunteers in 4 countries, in three months used Scrum and associated processes to design and build a road-certifiable 4-person commuter car that can get over 100 miles per gallon in standard EPA road tests. The relevance of this to OSE is obvious – a distributed team of volunteers co-developing revolutionary hardware, sound familiar? It's well worth your while to spend a few hours absorbing the information on Scrum that this page points to, and to help explore its relevance for OSE in general, and the GVCS in particular.
In this video, Joe Justice, of WikiSpeed, explains the process his all-volunteer design team used to exceed expectations in their fuel-efficient car design.
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What is Scrum?
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. . The video above is a great first introduction to Scrum! It's fast paced, and the graphics easily convey the important information.
Of course, like any single Scrum coach, this one has his own take on Scrum, and in some instances it's likely that OSE Scrum will be different.
To review his core concepts:
Roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Team Members (developers, testers, customers)
Release Planning: Product Backlog– Estimate for each feature wanted in product. Release Backlog plan 4-12 Sprints – a substantive back log to a ship-ready state Sprint Backlog
Burndown Chart – day by day measure of the amount of work left in a Release, or Sprint
Bugs – have a separate Defect Backlog. Resolve bugs within the Sprint.
Daily Scrum – short, standing, identify bugs.
So that video is a great introduction to Scrum, but how would we actually get started?
The Scrum process starts with the Product Owner. They are responsible for creating the Product Backlog, creating the Development Team, and for providing the Team with the tools necessary for them to work. The Scrum Master helps the Product Owner with these tasks.
Sprint ZERO
To get ready for the first development Sprint, the Product Owner and the Scrum Master need to meet together, and with the Team, and do some initial preparation. The amount of time spent on Sprint Zero should be limited, and agreed upon in advance. Unfinished preparation can be added to the Product Backlog when Sprint Zero is finished. Additionally, the task of adding to the Product Backlog, and refining features that are down the road a bit, will be ongoing tasks for the Product Owner.
The most important outcome of Sprint Zero is to create understanding about the value of the work. Given that OSE might choose to have a team (Scrum) of Product Owners, it could make implementation more clear if the business values we are creating are explicitly ranked. Usually the process of identifying and clarifying the business value is held more distantly from the Team. In the case of OSE, it seems likely that a group of people will be determining the relative priorities of our business values, and the relative rankings of the features that we're planning on creating.
We've been talking about ranking the features that make up the Product Backlog. In Scrum, these features are called Stories. There is an art to defining a Scrum Story, as you might imagine. Stories often take this form:
As _[User]_____, I want _[feature]_______, so that __[value]______.
An example:
- As a fabricator making a CNC Torch Table, I want complete and accurate CAD drawings, so that my efforts will result in a well-functioning machine.
Because the User is included in defining the feature, these are known as User Stories. The following video explains a good way to evaluate and improve User Stories, which are the list of features that make up the Product Backlog.
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To review the key ideas of the video:
Independent – dependencies among or between Stories need to be identified, eliminated, or tracked. An example of dependency: the training video for making a machine cannot be made until the machine is designed. Negotiable – the Product Owner and the Team co-create the value and attributes of features (Stories) Valuable – all Stories are connected directly to business value. Estimable – the Team estimates the size of the Stories relative to each other. Small – an important concept is raised here. Stories that are coming up in priority in the first or second Release should be small enough to be finished in one Sprint. Stories that are being implemented later can be large (Epics – more on this below). Testable – knowing how we will know the Story is done, also called knowing the Definition of Done.
This review of the qualities of a good User Story gives some idea of the work to be done during Sprint Zero, while the User Stories are created, combined in one list, and then prioritized to make up the Product Backlog.
During Sprint Zero, the Product Owner will create a list of Epics. Epics are very large Stories. An example:
- As OSE, I want complete training materials in English for the 50 tools in GVCS on DVD, so that anyone with moderate experience in fabrication, and with access to the necessary tools and materials, can fabricate any of the 50 tools.
The list of Epics doesn't have to be exhaustive, but it should be thoroughly discussed and described, using the criteria for Stories developed in the video above.
Here are some further questions to be taken up during Sprint Zero:
- Do we have the right people with the right skills? Is there a need for consultants, etc.?
- Given the Epics, the values, and the definitions of done, what sort of work place, tools and technology set up are indicated?
- What is the general approach we are taking? What will be the length of our Sprints? What is the Road Map -- the key release points? How many teams will there be? If there are multiple teams, how will the Scrum Masters and the Product Owners from the multiple teams work together?
At the end of Sprint Zero, the Product Backlog must contain enough prioritized Stories to fill at least the first Release. Ideally, there would be enough Stories for two or three releases, so that the broad outlines of the technology and personnel needed can be understood.
Here's a possible outline for Sprint Zero:
Describe final product
Create a team(s) workspace(s)
Determine the length of sprints
Identify business value (the criteria to measure the value of work as it's done)
Create epics. Prioritize epics (consider relative business value)
For the highest priority epic, turn the epic into stories
Prioritize the stories (consider relative business value)
For each story, create a definition of done
Definition of Done
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. . NOTE -- this video is LOUD!
Definition of Done: In the video, he refers to "blockers" which are impediments. There is quite a bit of excess jargon in this video, but have patience, and relate it to GVCS. For example, we not only need to have the machine design "done," but also CAD drawings, an instructional video, and many other instructional components. Unifying the release and "done-ness" of all of these is what seems like the best, and most radical!, contribution Scrum can make to GVCS. These underlying points are crucial for us to understand what is needed in Iteration Zero. See discussion of a trial run-through by Simon and Mia below for more on this.
As the first Release progresses, the Product Owner and the Scrum Master will continue to develop the Product Backlog in preparation for the next Release. By the start of the second Release, there will need to be enough prioritized Stories (including Impediment Resolutions and Technology Spikes) for that Release.
Describing final product
The vision of the final outcome will continually change, and this adaptability is what Scrum is designed for. To minimize too much front-loading of visioning work, focus your vision on the next product version, and envision a product with minimum functionality that addresses a narrow set of customer needs. Quickly release a first product increment, or demo it to customers and users to validate the vision. Listen to the responses to see if you are shooting for the right goal. Then adapt.
Selectively describes the product at a coarse-grained level, capturing the product’s essence. Answer the following questions: • Who are the product's target users? • Which needs will the product address? What value does the product add? • Which product attributes are critical for meeting the needs selected and therefore for the success of the product? What will the product roughly look like and do? In which areas is the product going to excel? • What are the sources of revenue and what is the business model?
To what extent should a few of these processes be pulled into the normal Sprints?
OSE GVCS Scrum
First, we list the projects, in order of priority. See GVCS graphic on the right. Changes are: remove pyrolysis oil and Babington burner with biomass Pelletizer for fueling modern Steam Engines. The burner is already present in the form of the Gasifier Icon
- CEB press - Full Product Release achieved.
- LifeTrac - on Prototype II
- Soil Pulverizer -
See Also
- Scrum for Hardware Product Development Bringing Scrum to the Hardware Product Development Community
- Top 10 questions when using Agile on hardware projects