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[51CTO contribution] in Agile practice, Scrum can be said to be the framework for running projects, based on Agile principles and values. For well-managed project teams, Scrum meetings are also held at the same time every day. Through daily Scrum meetings, team members can familiarize themselves with each other's work, fully understand the progress of the project, and help each other solve problems. So, how should the Sprint planning meeting in Scrum be conducted? The reporter interviewed the personal founder of Agile, and Mr. Zhou Jingen talked to netizens about the implementation of Scrum and the meeting of Sprint planning.

Personal profile: Zhou Jingen, personal growth coach, software product architect, trainer, agile personal founder and promoter.

The following is a transcript of the interview:

Reporter: how did you get in touch with agile development? What was the idea behind the creation of Agile individuals?

Zhou Jingen: at first we were developed using RUP (see RUP from the IT methodology). I remember that in a product design phase, we used Rose to draw a lot of drawings, but in the end, no one looked at it; more importantly, the requirements changed a lot after the product was delivered. After that, I began to pay attention to the methods, techniques, and tools of the software lifecycle, so I learned about Agile. First XP, then Scrum. In 2008 I went to a new project team that didn't develop process methods and didn't know how to do requirements, so I practiced some new approaches in this group, including Scrum. In the process of implementing Scrum, I found that it was not as simple as I first thought. It is not easy for seemingly simple processes and roles to work. In addition to technical skills, I also need to learn more management methods and have a deep understanding of what is behind Agile management. After thinking deeply about Scrum, I feel more and more that the growth of everyone in the team is the driving force for agile results, which makes me more interested in the topic of personal management, so I write down my thoughts on personal management and personal growth, and learn and practice in the team. Some members of the team spontaneously printed out for family members to learn, and some actively participated in the discussion, as well as later community recognition of Agile individuals, which encouraged and inspired me to slowly and systematically think about personal growth, and put forward Agile individuals. After more than two years of thinking, Agile individual has become a more systematic framework for personal growth, which can help individual growth and promote the formation of agile teams.

Reporter: can agile development really solve some of the problems of traditional development? How to understand the root of Agile?

Zhou Jingen: from waterfall to agile, we have found that products are more suitable for users, the higher the quality, and the shorter the time to market. Agile adapts to the changing times, and whether it can solve the traditional development is no longer a problem. For Agile, I think it is fundamentally about learning and adaptation, which are the two most important abilities to embrace change.

Reporter: the agile practice of the team is inseparable from the management. What do you think of the current domestic management?

Zhou Jingen: we were managing before Agile, but when Agile prevailed, some managers couldn't tell the difference between Agile and management. In fact, I don't care which agile method a certain best practice comes from. I think that as long as the practice that is beneficial to the current team is a management tool, that is to say, as managers, we still need to maintain a larger perspective. Agile is only a management tool, and we also need to learn more management methods, such as goal setting, process optimization, team building, personal growth and so on.

Reporter: some people think that agile development is not suitable for average programmers or teams. what do you think?

Zhou Jingen: no method is a silver bullet, which also shows that no method is perfect. Since there is no perfect way, it does not have to be a perfect person to implement it. It is true that high-level programmers can do better at agile in the field of technical practice, but most of the failures of a product are not due to the adoption of test-driven, pair programming and other best practices, but development management problems. As an agile method, Scrum has many management ideas. As long as managers and teams have further thinking and understanding of Scrum, they can also improve the general technical level of the programmer team to a great extent.

Zhou Jingen: the implementation of agile methods in China will lead to changes in the original model of project management, and many companies have not achieved the goal of agile. As a result, companies are often reluctant to introduce such a development model. What do you think of this problem?

Answer: from the company's point of view, you can do the software as quickly as possible, but it doesn't matter whether you use agile or waterfall. It is not so much that the company is unwilling to introduce this model, but that the person in charge of software development is unwilling or unable to introduce new methods. Agile development is relatively mature, and I think now is not the time to discuss whether or not to introduce this development model, but to think about how to introduce it, not only in technical practice, but also in management. even changes in personal growth.

Interviewer: what is the impact of team size on agile development? How to split?

Zhou Jingen: the size of the number of people will bring the complexity of the team. As the number of people increases, it will become more and more difficult to manage and communicate. Keeping a small team of about 7 ±2 people can be more conducive to the formation of the team. In such a team, people are more familiar with each other and it is easier to collaborate. So who makes up such a small team? This also needs to be determined according to the size of the product. For a small product, the team will be made up of marketing, demand, development, testing and other personnel to form a fully functional team; if the product belongs to medium to large, it may form a single functional team, and then by multiple such teams to form a large agile team, by this large team to achieve delivery to customers.

Reporter: how to plan the whole process of Scrum implementation in Agile practice?

Zhou Jingen: to implement Scrum, we can adopt the same process as learning, first of all, completely follow the Scrum process, then tailor and supplement ourselves according to the effect of the implementation, and finally dilute the concept of Scrum and integrate it with the wider software product cycle process.

Interviewer: there are many different degrees of agile development methods, and almost every agile development team has scrum meetings. How does it work in your team?

Zhou Jingen: communication is essential in any team, and meetings are one of them. I think the Sprint planning meeting in Scrum is the most important event, which sets the goal for each iteration. Looking back on the meeting is the second most important event, because it is the best time for the team to make improvements, and if you don't look back, you will find that the team is repeating the same mistake. How to do this can take a look at some of the blog articles I wrote earlier:

1. Scrum's Sprint planning meeting (the following is excerpted from Zhou Jingen's blog)

The sprint planning meeting is held on the first day of sprint, which is divided into two parts. Planning meeting 1 is attended by PO, SM and Team, mainly to select the established product backlog from the product backlog that needs to be put under the current sprint, and then SM and Team participate in the planning meeting 2 to split the story of the given product backlog into tasks to estimate. PO can also participate in this section to understand the specific development details. Now I will make a list of the main contents of the meeting.

Content of the meeting

Sprint Planning meeting 1

The product owner and the team work together to set the Sprint goal and the established product Backlog based on the results of the previous evaluation.

target

Set Sprint goals and set product Backlog

Meeting preparation

Invite attendees: product owner, Scrum Master, all team members have prioritized the issues in the product Backlog, evaluated the issues in the Backlog, and exposed the product Backlog to everyone in the meeting To ensure that it can be obtained, which of the expected members of the team will be clearly absent (such as a vacation). Ensure that the room environment is suitable for the group discussion. Everyone can get the results of the last Sprint review meeting and Sprint review meeting. Sprint schedule has been scheduled for Sprint scheduled meeting 1. Scheduled Sprint scheduled meeting 2. The first day of the Sprint has been determined. The last day of the Sprint has determined the schedule of the daily regular meeting of Scrum. Schedule of Sprint review meetings (optional) prepare a thumbnail board for a given Backlog: a thumbnail board of at least 2x2 meters, Cards and stickers, fluorescent pens (optional) are used as cards for planning cards

Meeting progress (4 hours)

Open the Sprint schedule to everyone, disclose the results of the Sprint review meeting to everyone, disclose the results of the Sprint review meeting to everyone, the product owner explains the product vision to the team product, the product owner and the team work together to determine the Sprint goal if there is a problem missing in the Backlog: the product owner has the authority to add a problem to the Backlog if the product Backlog is not evaluated at all: select the problem in the Backlog that you think is the smallest use case. And assign its workload to 2 Story Point. According to the workload standard of this minimum use case, assign the Story Point of other issues in the Backlog if some of the problems in the Backlog have not been evaluated: evaluate the amount of Story Point of these issues according to the workload of other problems if the items in the product Backlog have not been reasonably prioritized: the product owner prioritizes the items in the product Backlog and the product owner and team members mutually recognize the Sprint goal and the established product Backlog

Results of the meeting

Prepare the established product Backlog for Sprint Planning meeting 2

Sprint Planning meeting 2

In Sprint Planning meeting 2, the team detailed each item in the given product Backlog into multiple tasks. The time for completion of each task is limited to one day.

target

Identify all tasks, generate Sprint Backlog, confirm Sprint target

Meeting preparation

Invite attendees: Scrum Master, all team members, product owners (who have the right to know all issues) can refer to the established product Backlog (optional) to prepare a thumbnail board for a given Backlog: a thumbnail board, cards and stickers, and fluorescent pens of at least 2x2 meters

Meeting progress (4 hours)

Team members assign tasks from Backlog issues to ensure that all the details of the work are taken into account: coding, testing, code review, meetings, learning new technologies, Document if the task takes more than a day: try to divide the task into small tasks if the team thinks there are too many items in the Sprint Backlog: work with the product owner to delete issues in the Backlog if the team thinks there are too few items in the Sprint Backlog: work with the product owner to select the most important issues from the product Backlog Join the team in Sprint Backlog to confirm Sprint goals

Results of the meeting

Sprint goals and Sprint Backlog are public to everyone in the company. All team members can access tasks in Sprint Backlog.

2. Standing meeting of Scrum (the following is excerpted from Zhou Jingen's blog)

During the sprint, I will communicate through the standing meeting every day. I will list the main contents of the meeting below. (the following meeting is from Scrum Checklists)

Content of the meeting

target

Communication and coordination of work progress among team members

Meeting preparation

Invite attendees: all team members, Scrum Master, product owner (optional), related personnel (optional) can add, delete and modify all tasks on Sprint Backlog, and the status of reorderable tasks can be set to todo, doing, done (you can add another test to indicate verification)

Progress of the meeting (within 15 minutes)

Which tasks have been completed at the last meeting: what tasks do you plan to accomplish before the next meeting from "in progress" to "completed"? If the task status is "pending": change to "processing" status if the task is not on Sprint Backlog: add this task if the task cannot be completed in one day: subdivide the task into multiple tasks if the task can be completed in one day: set the task status to "in progress" if the task status is already "in progress": ask if there are any obstacles to the completion of the task What are the problems hindering your development: if there are problems that hinder your development progress Add this obstacle to the obstacle Backlog if there is a discussion of a question: remind team members to focus on answering key questions if the person concerned wants to make some comments: remind him politely that the meeting is only allowed for panel members to discuss

Results of the meeting

Get the latest obstacles Backlog get the latest Sprint Backlog latest work progress chart

Other

You can specify a host (or take turns). He came to convene and control the time of the meeting, pay attention to guiding the topic during the meeting, and make a brief summary at the end of the meeting, just state the main points, and make daily plans.

3. Scrum review meeting (the following is excerpted from Zhou Jingen's blog)

At the end of the sprint cycle, a review meeting is required for the team to demonstrate completed functionality to product owners and stakeholders. Most of the practices of sprint auditing are used by team members to demonstrate functionality, answer questions from stakeholders about the presentation, and document expected changes. Review meetings can attract the attention of stakeholders, let others know what the team is doing, and get important feedback. Making a presentation also forces the development team to actually get some work done.

The team prepares workstations, equipment, etc., to demonstrate the new features of the product, the team preparing the sprint audit practice should not exceed 1 hour.

Meeting progress (4 hours)

Make sure that all personnel have a clear goal, and if someone doesn't know about the product, take a few minutes to describe it. The team introduces the results of this Sprint one by one according to the questions in Backlog, and demonstrates the new features. If the product owner wants to change the functionality: add a new problem to the product Backlog if you have a new idea for the functionality: add a new problem to the product Backlog if the team reports that the project has encountered obstacles that have not been resolved: add the obstacle to the end of the Backlog meeting, ScrumMaster announces the place and time of the next review to the product owner and all stakeholders.

Results of the meeting

Consensus on the results of this Sprint and the development status of the entire product

Other

Let the presentation focus on the business level, not on the technical details. Focus on "what did we do" rather than "how did we do it?" some sprint may include a lot of bug fixes and other features, so don't demonstrate too many detailed bug fixes at the review meeting unless it's important.

4. Review meeting of Scrum (the following is excerpted from Zhou Jingen's blog)

The Sprint planning meeting is the most important event in Scrum, and the second most important event is the review meeting, because this is the best time for the team to make improvements. If you don't look back, you'll find that the team is repeating the same mistake. After the sprint review meeting, the team needs to have a review meeting. I will list the main contents of the meeting below. (the following meetings are from Scrum Checklists and scrum-and-xp)

Content of the meeting

target

Improve team productivity by summing up previous practical experience.

Meeting preparation

Invite attendees: Scrum Master, all team members, product owner (optional) ancillary tools: prepare a review whiteboard in three columns for fluorescent pens, stickers, whiteboard magnets, whiteboards and hanging boards for all participants. The first and second columns are looking back on the past, and the third column is looking forward to the future. Good: if you redo the same sprint, which practices can keep the Could have done better: if you redo the same sprint, which practices need to change the Improvements: specific ideas on how to improve in the future

Progress of the meeting (1MUR 3 hours)

Introduction to meeting goals and agenda preparation (setting the stage): develop and review team values and agreements (Team values and working agreements): (10-30 minutes) No matter what problems we find now, we must understand and believe that everyone, through what they knew at the time, the skills and resources available to them, did the best they could in a limited environment, and everyone participated in honest communication. Use less You to collect data without delving into specific business details (Gather Data): collect hard data: events (events), metrics (measurement), completed stories, etc.: any event that is important to everyone on the team, including meetings, decision points, milestones, adoption of new technologies, etc. For example, whether the improvements identified in the previous review meeting implemented metrics: including burning chart, speed, bug, completed story points, code reconstruction, etc. (Generate Insights): ask "why", find advantages and problems from the collected data to explain to attendees how to use the sticker to work: when using a sticker, note that a sticker records only one thing. Hand out stickers and brainstorm all the ideas for reviewing the three columns of the whiteboard. Determine the improvement item (Decide What to Do) three votes per person, and vote to decide which improvements to focus on in the next sprint (around 2mi 5). The closing Review (Close the Retrospective) summarizes the meeting and shows what practices need to be followed at the next review meeting.

Results of the meeting

Review the whiteboard and the practices that need to be improved in the next sprint, and in the next review, track the implementation of these improvements to add obstacles to the obstacle Backlog

Reporter: what new directions would you like to see in the development of agile development in the next few years? Do you have any suggestions?

Zhou Jingen: agile is just a pronoun. I hope it not only includes development, but also extends the method framework to the whole life cycle of software product development, such as market, business, marketing and so on.

Transfer to: http://developer.51cto.com/art/201303/387329.htm

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