Applying SCRUM to remote teams

Best practices on applying SCRUM to distributed teams

1. SCRUM leonidas tsementzis @goldstein sort of REMOTE TEAMS APPLYING TO
2. leonidas tsementzis @goldstein # who’s talking * full stack developer
 [most major web/mobile platforms]
 * no academic management background
 * technical advisor
 * entrepreneur
 [n00b] CTO Director of Mobile CTO
3. # format * why remote? * process * challenges * tools * lessons learned * questions
4. WHY REMOTE ? ?
5. http://500px.com/photo/53246396 Talent Do the math
6. Cost Think big but start small http://500px.com/photo/649335
7. Lifestyle Life doesn't stop for anybody http://500px.com/photo/33336455
8. Team retention Respect your team’s choices http://www.flickr.com/photos/kasselburg/7895596106
9. PROCESS ~ ~
10. Sprint Planning By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail http://www.flickr.com/photos/andregovia/8652999516/
11. Daily Standup A lot of people my age think stand up sucks http://500px.com/photo/5391656
12. Burndown Chart Don't mistake activity with achievement http://500px.com/photo/57015828
13. Sprint Review & Demo Prime time of your work life http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheishichiyo/9332545542/
14. Retrospective Iterate. Optimize. Repeat http://500px.com/photo/39702908
15. CHALLENGES ~ ~ ~ ~
16. Impediments Let's make progress, not excuses http://500px.com/photo/18569181
17. Agile mindset If it works, replicate it http://500px.com/photo/54623454
18. Transparency A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity http://www.flickr.com/photos/agnolia/9762432676
19. TOOLS ~ ~
20. # team management tools
21. * Company-wide chat * Predefined rooms [great for different teams] * Custom rooms [anyone can create a room and invite others] * It works! [away/offline email notifications, attachments] * Hooks with everything [github, JIRA, newrelic, zendesk, younameit] * Runs everywhere * Everyone is signed in while we’ re working
22. * Source code repository tool * Pull Requests for code review * Github issues are great for small task/issue management * Every action commit/comment/pull request is posted to the global “Engineering” HipChat room. * Also used for deployments
23. * Issue tracking, SCRUM board * A great agile software implementation [Using the “Agile” plugin] * Everything you need to manage user stories, epics, tasks, bugs, sprints. * Sprint reports, burndown chart, velocity graphs etc * Custom user dashboads * Every action (new issue, status, comment etc) is posted to the relevant HipChat global room. * Heavily customizable
24. LESSONS LEARNED ~ ~
25. # lessons learned * it’s not easy * nothing beats face to face * small teams [two pizza rule] works best * not everyone can work remotely * easy to lose the whole picture * difficult to maintain culture * respect your tools * transparency matters * put the management in-house as the team grows
26. # more lessons learned * remote team members are over-delivering * make video calls a must * perfect for parallel track development * estimates are just estimates * migrating UI/UX members to SCRUM is a pain * keep it consistent
27. # sum() * remote is sometimes inevitable * commit to a simple process * always use the best tools * make everything transparent * learn to evolve
28. # questions? ? @goldstein leonidas tsementzis leotsem@gmail.com
29. (:* Lead UI/UX designer * Software Engineer (Python) We’re hiring! # thank you! http://netrobe.com/careers @goldstein leonidas tsementzis leotsem@gmail.com