Home > Store

Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum, A

Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.

Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum, A

Book

  • Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Not for Sale

eBook (Watermarked)

  • Your Price: $30.39
  • List Price: $37.99
  • Includes EPUB and PDF
  • About eBook Formats
  • This eBook includes the following formats, accessible from your Account page after purchase:

    ePub EPUB The open industry format known for its reflowable content and usability on supported mobile devices.

    Adobe Reader PDF The popular standard, used most often with the free Acrobat® Reader® software.

    This eBook requires no passwords or activation to read. We customize your eBook by discreetly watermarking it with your name, making it uniquely yours.

Audio & Video

Audio

Watch an interview with IBM's Elizabeth Woodward on Distributed Team Collaboration.

Description

  • Copyright 2010
  • Dimensions: 7" x 9-1/8"
  • Pages: 240
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-704113-6
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-704113-8

Succeed with Scrum in Even the Largest, Most Complex Distributed Development Projects

Forewords by Ken Schwaber, Scott Ambler, Roman Pichler, and Matthew Wang

This is the first comprehensive, practical guide for Scrum practitioners working in large-scale distributed environments. Written by three of IBM’s leading Scrum practitioners--in close collaboration with the IBM QSE Scrum Community of more than 1000 members worldwide--this book offers specific, actionable guidance for everyone who wants to succeed with Scrum in the enterprise.

Readers will follow a journey through the lifecycle of a distributed Scrum project, from envisioning products and setting up teams to preparing for Sprint planning and running retrospectives. Each chapter presents a baseline drawn from “conventional” Scrum, then discusses additional issues faced by distributed teams, and presents specific best-practice solutions, alternatives, and tips the authors have identified through hard, empirical experience.

Using real-world examples, the book demonstrates how to apply key Scrum practices, such as look-ahead planning in geographically distributed environments. Readers will also gain valuable new insights into the agile management of complex problem and technical domains.

Coverage includes

•  Developing user stories and working with Product Owners as a distributed team

•  Recognizing and fixing the flaws Scrum may reveal in existing processes

•  Engaging in more efficient Release and Sprint planning

•  Conducting intense, brief daily Scrum meetings in distributed environments

•  Managing cultural and language differences

•  Resolving dependencies, performing frequent integration, and maintaining transparency in geographically distributed environments

•  Successfully running remote software reviews and demos

•  Brainstorming what worked and what didn’t, to improve future Sprints

This book will be an indispensable resource for every team leader, member, product owner, or manager working with Scrum or other agile methods in any distributed software development organization.

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

A Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum: Distributed Daily Scrum Meetings

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 6 and Index)

Table of Contents

Foreword by Ken Schwaber     xvii

Foreword by Scott Ambler     xix

Foreword by Roman Pichler     xxiii

Foreword by Matthew Wang     xxv

Preface     xxvii

Chapter 1  The Evolution of Scrum     1

Core Principles of Scrum     2

    An Agile Project Management Framework     2

    Scrum Roles     2

    Scrum Artifacts     3

    The Sprint     4

The Shift to Distributed Development Teams    5

    Globally Distributed Teams to Reduce Costs     6

    Reaching Market More Quickly with the “Follow the Sun” Model     6

    Distributed Teams Expand Access to New Markets     6

    Acquisitions     7

    Expanding for Innovation and Thought Leadership    7

    Telecommuting     7

    Improvements in Distributed Collaboration Tools     7

Types of Distributed Teams That Have Emerged     8

    Collocated     8

    Collocated Part-Time     9

    Distributed with Overlapping Work Hours     10

    Distributed with No Overlapping Work Hours     11

Ways of Handling Distributed Teams     12

    Isolated Scrums     12

    Distributed Scrum of Scrums     12

    Totally Integrated Scrums     13

IBM’s Experience in Distributed Scrum     14

History of Agile in IBM     15

Summary     17

Chapter 2  Challenges Faced by Distributed Teams     19

Communicating with Distributed Team Members     20

Time Zones and Working Hours     20

Cultural Differences     21

Language Differences     23

    Keeping Language Simple     23

    Giving Everyone a Chance to Speak     24

    Using Group Chat During Meetings     24

    Providing a Translator     25

    Confirming What Team Members Understand     25

Tools     26

File Sharing     26

Software Engineering Practices     27

Schedule Differences     27

Team Dynamics     28

Telephone Dynamics     29

    Providing Access to the Call     29

    Working with Telephones in a Meeting Room     30

    Identifying the Speaker     31

    Handling Visual Cues     31

    Encouraging Participation     32

    Limiting Side Conversations     33

    Muting the Lines     33

    Checking for Agreement and Disagreement     34

    Identifying an Advocate to Represent Remote Team Members     34

    When Nothing Else Works, Everyone Dials In     34

Reminders     34

Impact of Communication Problems     35

How Does Scrum Help?     36

Summary     37

Chapter 3  Starting a Scrum Project     39

How to Identify the Problems Your Product Will Solve     40

    Who Are Your Stakeholders?     40

    What Problems Will the Project Address?     42

    What Are Your Solutions to the Problems?     46

    What Is the Return on Investment?     47

Define the Vision     49

Create the Product Roadmap     50

Organize the Scrum Teams     50

Create and Prioritize the Backlog      51

    Estimating the Stories as a Team     52

    Prioritizing the Backlog     52

    Single Backlog for Multiple Scrum Teams     53

    Single Backlog with Sections for Multiple Teams     53

    Separate Backlogs for Multiple Scrum Teams     54

    Single Backlog Populated by Multiple Other Teams     56

Create the Release Plan     56

    What Is the Sprint Length?     58

    What Is the Estimated Team Velocity?     59

    What Are the Dependencies?     61

    What Are the Risks?     63

Coordinate Multiple Product Owners     63

Use Agile Project Management Tools     64

Invest in Smarter Development     65

Coordinating Agile and Non-Agile Teams     66

Reporting on Release Status     66

Ongoing Updates to Release Plan and Vision     66

Important Note about Meeting Face-to-Face     66

Summary     67

Chapter 4  Preparing for Sprint Planning     69

Sprint Preplanning Activities     70

    Clarification of the User Stories     71

    Breaking Down User Stories     72

    Estimating User Stories     72

    Dealing with Dependencies     75

    Cleanup of the Product Backlog     78

Approaches for the Sprint Preplanning Meeting     78

    The Full-Team Approach     80

    The Preplanning Team Approach     81

    The Balanced Team Approach     82

    Considerations for Distributed Teams     82

Summary     83

Chapter 5  Sprint Planning     85

Adequately Preparing for the Sprint Planning Meeting     87

Sprint Planning Meeting Logistics     87

    Sprint Planning Meeting Logistics for Scaled Teams     87

    Sprint Planning Meeting Logistics for Distributed Teams     88

The First Half of Sprint Planning: Deciding What to Do     88

    Reviewing Product Vision and Sprint Goal     89

    Reviewing the Product Backlog     89

    Engaging Stakeholders     91

The Second Half of Sprint Planning: Deciding How to Get the Work Done     91

    Creating the Sprint Backlog     92

    Gaining Commitment     94

    Updating the Release Plan     94

Summary     94

Chapter 6  Distributed Daily Scrum Meetings     97

Using the Three Questions Effectively     98

    Answering the Three Questions     99

    Coordinating the Team on a Daily Basis     99

    Committing to the Team     100

    Verifying Progress     100

    Resolving Blockers     101

Daily Scrum Logistics     102

Ways of Communicating During the Daily Scrum     102

    Face-to-Face Meeting     102

    Teleconference Meeting     103

    Videoconference Meeting     104

    Group Instant Messaging Approach     105

Approaches to Handling Time Zone Issues     106

    Daily Scrums Through Documentation     107

    The Liaison Approach     108

    Alternating Meeting Times     110

    Sharing the Pain     112

Tips for Distributed Daily Scrums     114

    Removing Side Conversations     114

    Keeping the Team Engaged     114

    Facilitating the Meeting     115

    Taking Daily Scrum Notes     116

    Dealing with Language Barriers     117

Tools to Help with Distributed Daily Scrum     117

Scrum of Scrums     118

Summary     118

Chapter 7  Effective Collaboration During a Sprint     121

Communicating During the Sprint     122

    Documentation to Overcome Distance     123

    Using the Right Tools     123

    Valuing the Whole Team     124

    Transparency     124

Handling New Requests in the Middle of a Sprint     125

    Single Point of Entry     125

    Value of the Well-Groomed Backlog     126

    Shortening the Sprint     127

    Dealing with Defects     127

    Disruptions at the Team Member Level     128

Handling Stories the Team Cannot Complete During the Sprint     128

Handling Blockers During the Sprint     129

Responding to Questions During the Sprint     130

Sustainable Pace     131

    Sharing Time Zone Challenges     132

    Avoiding Double Workdays     132

Continuous Integration     133

    Reports Any Build Failures to the Team     133

    Reduces the Risk of Integrating Code     133

    Establishes Greater Confidence in the Product     135

    Reduces the Time to Find Integration Issues     135

    Improves the Efficiency of the Team     136

    Builds Can Run at Different Frequencies     136

Test Automation     137

    Dedicated Automation Teams     137

    Identify High-Value Automated Tests     138

    Automate What Is Stable     138

    Automated Tests Can Run at Any Time     139

    Automation Helps Improve Software Quality     139

Test-Driven Development     139

    Provides Documentation and Working Examples of Code     140

    Helps Reduce the Time to Fix Defects     140

    Helps Improve Code Quality and Provides a Safety Net for Changes     141

    Helps Team Members Work Together and Collaborate     141

    Helps Teams Move Away from Big Upfront Designs     142

    Unit Tests and Continuous Integration     142

Handling Infrastructure Projects     143

Summary     144

Chapter 8  End of Sprint Reviews     147

Who Participates in the Reviews     148

    Enterprise Stakeholders     148

    Who Should Present     149

Preparing Stakeholders     150

Reviewing the Strategic Vision of the Product     151

Approaches to Help Focus the Review     151

    Using Themes and a Script     152

    Having the Product Owner Introduce Each Presentation     152

Scheduling for Teams with Overlapping Work Hours     153

Scheduling for Teams with No Overlapping Work Hours     154

    Alternating Meeting Times     154

    Multiple Sprint Review Meetings     155

    Sharing the Pain     156

    Feeling the Pain     156

    Recording the Entire Sprint Review Meeting     157

Challenges Teams Face     157

    Not Keeping Track of the Stakeholder Comments     157

    Demos May Provide a False Sense of Completion     158

    The Team Has Nothing to Present     158

Added Challenges of Distributed Teams     159

    Neglecting to Demo the Work of Part of the Team     159

    Coordinate with Teams on Different Sprint Lengths     160

Remote Demonstrations      160

    Network Delays and Poor Performance     160

    Services May Vary by Location     161

    Demos Outside of Office Hours     161

Summary     162

Chapter 9  Retrospectives     163

Sprint Retrospectives     163

What Should Come Out of a Retrospective?     165

Retrospective Timing     166

    Hold Joint Retrospective as Needed     166

    Hold Regular Joint Retrospectives     166

    Joint Retrospectives for Teams on Different Sprint Lengths     167

    Retrospectives for Teams in the Same Product Family     167

    Conducting Retrospectives After Reviews     167

    Larger Retrospectives     168

Building Trust     168

    Effects of Distance     169

Preparing for the Retrospective     169

    Setting Expectations     169

    Understanding the Team Members’ Personalities     170

    Respecting Cultural Differences     171

    Offering Anonymity     171

Asking for Comments Before the Retrospective Meeting     171

    What Went Well and What Can We Improve?     171

    Providing Questions to Focus the Discussion     172

    Consolidating Comments Is Extra Work     172

Conducting the Retrospective     173

    Discussing Reported Issues     173

    Giving Everyone a Chance to Engage     174

    Using Common Terminology     175

    State the Obvious     175

    Keep the Conversation on Track     175

    Managing Time Effectively     175

    Release Retrospectives     176

Summary     177

Chapter 10  Closing Thoughts     179

Index     181

Updates

Submit Errata

More Information

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020