Steps: Points, Decisions, Organized

Sets

  1. Coaching:
    1. Coach Team Transitions
    2. Identify Coaches
    3. Coach the Coaches
  2. Tracker:
    1. Choose Tracker Option
    2. Create a Paper Tracker
    3. Choose a Digital Tracker to Try
    4. Prepare the Digital Tracker for Trial
  3. Prepare for Action Items
  4. Guidance Roles:
    1. Identify Customer
    2. Identify TG, Facilitator, and Sprint Length
  5. Create Initial User Stories
  6. Ceremonies:
    1. Set Initial Grooming Sessions
    2. Set Sprint Schedule
    3. Schedule Meetings
  7. Create Quality Process

Coaching

Coach Team Transitions

Change leader or Agile Coach, if supporting a transition of:

  • One small team—Skip to “Choose Tracker Option.”
  • Two to four teams (only, or up to four at a time):
    1. Begin the “Choose Tracker Option” step set.
    2. Skip to”Prepare for Action Items.”
    3. Continue through the remaining steps on this page, and the remaining “Sprint Process” step sets, except for identifying the facilitator.
    4. When the team hits the standard of 100% sprint delivery, help them define the Facilitator role per “Identify TG, Facilitator, and Sprint Length.”
    5. Go to the next step set.
  • More than four teams at once, by coaching the coaches:
    1. Have the teams continue with their current processes until changed using the following steps.
    2. Begin the “Choose Tracker Option” step set.
    3. When far enough along with that, hold a kickoff meeting with all teams, at which you lead them through the step sets from “Prepare Action Items” to the end of this page (if possible):
      1. Train them on the explanatory text linked from each set.
      2. Hand them a printout of the step set.
      3. Have them perform the step set, letting them facilitate themselves as you wander the room to listen in and provide support.
      4. Go to the next step set.

Identify Coaches

  1. Work with managers to identify candidates for transition to Agile Release Managers, who will facilitate programs of at least four teams each, or people who will temporarily serve as Agile coaches.
  2. Hold a kickoff meeting in which you describe you plan for rolling out FuSca and answer questions.
  3. Ask for volunteers to be Agile Release Managers.
  4. Ask for a date by which those who volunteer can read the “System” chapter of this website.

Details: “You’re the Head Coach.”

Coach the Coaches

Note: In remaining step sets, the word “coaches” refers to the temporary coaches or Agile Release Managers identified in the previous step set.

  1. Schedule weekly training sessions of the coaches.
  2. For the first session, send an agenda asking them to read the “Groom Stories” page and related step sets.
    Note: If the teams did not get through all of the sets under the previous section during the kickoff period, start wherever you left off instead.
  3. At each session:
    1. Facilitate a discussion of any questions or concerns from the previous effort.
    2. Provide general coaching on any other issues you observed, without identifying the team(s) that had them.
    3. Decide as a group which step set(s) to cover in the following week.
    4. Walk participants through the related sections of the “Sprint Process” section and the step set(s).
    5. Facilitate a question-and-answer session.
  4. Between sessions:
    1. Attend as many team meetings as you can over the first month, and then reduce visits to occasional drop-ins.
      Tip: Be more of an observer than a participant, only volunteering information if the coach says something wrong about FuSca.
    2. Check the results in the tracker and other documentation.
    3. Privately coach the coaches on issues you observe, in person if possible, and by video conference or phone if not.
  5. When all teams are making progress have achieved the 100% sprint delivery standard, continue to the “Release Planning” step set if relevant.

Details: “You’re the Head Coach.”

Tracker

Choose Tracker Option

  1. Seek volunteers to do the following steps as a temporary “action team.”
    Note: If the tracker will support a group of teams, ask for at least one representative from each team.
  2. Schedule a meeting of those volunteers.
  3. At the meeting, decide whether to investigate a digital solution.
    Note: For multiple teams contributing to the same deliverable, you must eventually use a digital tracker.
  4. For the:
    • Digital option—Go to the next step set.
    • Paper option, or to start Scrum before a digital tracker is chosen—Skip to “Create a Paper Tracker.”
  5. If desired, also go to “Guidance Roles” and continue preparations in parallel with the tracker selection.

Details: “Choose a Tracker.”

Create a Paper Tracker

  1. Arrange for a large white board, cork board, or flat wall space with minimal holes or protrusions to be dedicated to the team’s use.
  2. Obtain:
    1. Large lined note cards (at least 5″ x 8″) or sticky notes that size.
    2. Sticky notes in two colors, 2″ x 2″.
    3. Masking tape.
  3. Use the tape to mark these sections vertically from left to right, down the entire board, and label them:
    1. “Product Backlog”
    2. “Sprint Backlog,” with these subcolumns:
    3. “Stories”
    4. “Planned”
    5. “In-Progress”
    6. “Completed”
    7. “Accepted”
  4. Use tape to create a horizontal line below the column labels.
  5. Create at least five rows high enough for your note cards using more horizontal lines of tape.
    Note: Leave room at the bottom of the board for more rows, as you won’t know how many you need until you establish your velocity.

Example:

Details: “The Paper Option.”

Choose a Digital Tracker to Try

  1. If you have an IT department, contact it to learn the security requirements for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools.
  2. Conduct a Web search using the phrase, “Agile tool,” going deep into the results.
  3. Choose and gain access to two or three options, making sure each:
    • Specifically says it is a Scrum tool (not just “Agile”).
    • Offers a free trial, preferably for 60 or more days.
    • Allows importing and exporting of user stories through spreadsheets.
    • If a SaaS—Meets your IT security requirements.
  4. Recruit several volunteers to test each system, bearing in mind the list of critical features under “The Digital Option” (linked below).
    Note: You may begin the “Guidance Roles” sets in parallel.
  5. When finished with Step 4, continue to the next set.

Details: “The Digital Option.”

Prepare the Digital Tracker for Trial

  1. Present your findings to the team and the manager who will fund the tool, if that is not you, and as a group choose the first to try.
  2. Designate at least two tool administrators.
  3. Have them:
    1. Perform any configuration set-up required.
    2. Arrange for everyone on the team(s) and the Customer to gain access to the tool with editing rights.
    3. Provide instructions to those users for getting started.
    4. Ask users to complete any basic tutorials prior to the start of the first sprint, or provide a short training session by the admin(s).
  4. Create this action item (for each team): “Facilitate team decision on whether to use current tracker or try another one—Facilitator—Next Retrospective.”

Notes:

  • If the majority want to try another, come back to this set and repeat the steps above until a tracker is chosen.
  • If disagreements arise among teams, reconvene the decision team to choose next steps.

Details: “The Digital Option.”

Prepare for Action Items

  1. Decide as a team what means you will use to track action items not recorded in the tracker.
  2. Set an action item for someone to set up the method and make sure all members have access to the list.

Details: “Create Action Items.”

Note: In all remaining sets, a step saying to create an action item includes recording it in the tracker or other method from Step 2.

Guidance Roles

Identify Customer

  1. Identify a potential Customer, outside or inside of your enterprise.
  2. Send that person a copy of the “Customer” section.
  3. Meet with the person and their direct supervisor to answer questions and address concerns.
  4. If:
    • The person and manager agree—Send an e-mail confirming their agreement, with a short deadline by which they must identify a backup.
    • Either does not agree—Repeat steps 1–3 until you get an agreement from someone to fill the role properly.
  5. Inform the team of the name.
  6. Ensure the Facilitator invites the Customer and backup to all Ceremonies except the Retrospective.
    Note: The Customer or backup is expected only at the Demo, but is welcome at the others.

Details: “Customer.”

Identify TG, Facilitator, and Sprint Length

Team without the Team Manager present:

  1. Decide as a group whom will serve as Team Guide.
    Details: “Team Guide.”
  2. Decide if everyone is willing to try the Facilitator position, and if not, identify who is willing to serve.
    Note: If the change leader is directly coaching a set of teams, skip this and the next step until ready to turn the role over to the team.
  3. Identify:
    1. The frequency of rotation.
    2. Where in the sprint/release cycle the change will occur.
      Details: “Facilitator.”
  4. Decide how long to make the sprints initially: one, two, three, or four weeks.
    Details: “Choose a Sprint Cycle.”
  5. Continue to the next set.

Create Initial User Stories

Customer and Product Owner:

  1. If you do not have enough customer and market requirements to fill at least two months of the team’s time under your current processes, try to gather that many.
  2. Write or convert all requirements into sprint-sized user stories in your Product Backlog, each with at least a first draft of:
    1. The story statement in this format: “As a [type of user], I want [to do this] so that I can [achieve this purpose].”
    2. Acceptance criteria—The tangible, measurable proof the story was completed.
  3. Add an initial set of business and technical requirements, including other needed story types such as support and cross-training stories.
  4. Read the “Pre-Groom for Speed” section and perform its steps.

Details: “Create User Stories.”

Ceremonies

Set Initial Grooming Sessions

Coach:

  1. Find out the date by which the Team Guide expects to draft the minimum number of stories (see the “Create Initial User Stories” set above).
  2. Guess how many stories the team can do in two sprints.
  3. Schedule grooming sessions starting after the Step 1 date that:
    1. Together allow a half-hour per story from Step 2.
    2. Last a maximum of two hours per session.

Notes:

  • For nine stories (4.5 hours), you might set two, two-hour meetings, plus a one-hour meeting, for a total of five hours.
  • Allow at least one calendar day between each session to prevent people from burning out.
  • Reassure the team that the per-story figure will go down significantly as the team gets better at writing and grooming stories.

Details: “Set Initial Grooming Sessions.”

Set Sprint Schedule

Coach:

  1. In a team meeting, facilitate decisions on:
    1. Whether to skip a day between sprints (two-week or longer sprints only).
    2. Starting and ending days of the week for sprints.
    3. What times to schedule:
      1. A Planning Ceremony (one hour per sprint week) on the first day of each sprint.
      2. A Daily Standup (15 minutes) every sprint day except the first and last.
      3. A Demo (30−60 mins.) the last day of each sprint.
      4. A Retro (30 mins.) between the Demo and next Planning Ceremony, with only team members invited.
      5. Grooming sessions (see table in the section linked below), unless part of a longer Planning Ceremony.
  2. Use your calendar tool to set the meetings, negotiating moves of existing appointments with specific members if needed to accommodate the team’s preferences.

Tips:

  • You may find it easier in the tool to schedule scrums every workday, and cancel specific instances that conflict with ceremonies or days off when you get close to them in real time.
  • Even if you hold your Retro right after the Demo, schedule them as separate meetings and warn stakeholders they will be released after the Demo portion.

Details: “Choose Ceremony Days and Times.”

Schedule Meetings

Coach:

  1. Schedule using your organization’s calendar tool, or an online tool:
    1. The ceremonies as recurring meetings.
    2. Grooming sessions if recurring.
      Tip: If you have virtual attendees, create a Web conference and embed the link into your meeting invitation.
  2. If using a digital tracker, set up the first few sprints.

Create Quality Process

Team, guided by the Coach:

  1. If your organization has a bug-tracking method, decide whether to adapt it to Scrum or to use your tracker.
  2. Create a table that defines criticality levels if your organization does not have one, and responses to each, like the table in “Set Criticality Levels and Responses” (or simply adopt that table).
  3. Decide whether to use a triage team, and if so:
    1. Identify members, including a facilitator and backup.
    2. Set an initial meeting schedule.
  4. Record the decisions in your Team Charter or procedure location.
  5. Create an action item to prepare the bug-tracker or your Scrum tracker with a field reflecting the levels.

Details: “Triage and Resolve Defects.”

Do not proceed with the “Groom Stories” steps until you have completed all of the steps above. Generally, you need to:

  • Create your Team Charter.
  • Have your tracker ready to go, including initial training of the team on its use.
  • Set up your ceremonies.
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