4. Waterfall
Project Manager is typically responsible for:
Timelines of the project from conception to production release
Project Budget
Managing dependencies
Project Charter
Risk Analysis
Requirements Documentation
5. Agile/Scrum
Agile Coach/Scrum Master is typically responsible for
Facilitating the Scrum Ceremonies
Clearing Impediments
Coaching the team in Agile Practices/Mindset
Team Dynamics
8. Grooming/Backlog Refinement
The Product Owner presents stories to be worked on at some point in the
future
The team asks questions and gives feedback to make sure they understand
what is being asked for
The stories should be small and able to be developed and tested in a
single sprint
9. Story Pointing (Poker Pointing)
The team looks at the stories and votes on a Point Value based on the
relative complexity of the task being requested
The points are typically from a modified version of the Fibonacci sequence
(1,2,3,5,8,13,20)
If the team disagrees on the “size” of the story there is a short discussion
and then revote until consensus is reached
If the story is too big to be brought into a Sprint it is sent back to
Grooming to be broken down further
Alternates (T-shirt sizing, Relative Mass Valuation, Magic Estimation)
10. Sprint Planning
The Product Owner has the backlog of stories in priority order
The team looks at the stories in the backlog and adds tasks with estimated
hours to complete each task
The team agrees to commit to the stories they believe they will be able to
complete during the upcoming Sprint based on the estimated task hours
11. Daily Standup
Typically time-boxed to 15 minutes
Each developer and QA member gives an update
Updates consist of three items of information
What I did yesterday
What I am planning to do today
Any impediments they have
12. Sprint Demonstration
The team demonstrates to the Stakeholders the work that was completed
in the Sprint that has just ended
13. Sprint Retrospective
A summary of the work completed in the previous Sprint
Facilitate discussion primarily around the following three areas:
What went well
What could have gone better
What should the team continue/start/stop doing
Record any action items from the lessons learned in this Sprint
15. Coaching Team Dynamics
Personality conflicts
Facilitating difficult conversations
Noticing individuals who may be struggling
Coordinating with Functional Managers
Coordinating with Product Owners
17. Questions to ask Clients
Are you looking for a pure Scrum Master role or a hybrid role?
Some companies won’t realize there is a difference
Scrum Master/Project Manager
Scrum Master/Developer
Scrum Master/Agile Coach
How much coaching do you expect the Scrum Master to give the team?
How much coaching do you expect the Scrum Master to give the
organization?
Do you expect this role to be external facing?
18. Questions to ask Clients continued…
How many teams will the Scrum Master be working with?
Scrum Master/Project Manager could work with 1-3 teams depending on size
of project
Scrum Master/Developer would typically work with just one team
A good ratio for a pure Scrum Master or Scrum Master/Agile Coach is 3:1
What is the typical size of your Scrum Teams?
Ideally cross-functional teams are 6-8 individuals or smaller
Are the teams co-located or distributed?
There is another level of complexity working with distributed teams
19. Questions to ask Clients continued…
How long has your company been Agile?
Agile has been around since the early 1990’s
If a company is very new they probably need a more experienced Scrum Master
with a Coaching mindset
Follow-up question: Why is your company using Agile?
If they don’t know, then it’s a sign that it may be trouble
If the development team is wanting to implement, but the business side isn’t on
board it can be difficult
If the business realizes the value of delivering quality code and customer value
quicker then it shows they are in it for the right reason
21. Questions to ask Candidates
Are you looking for a pure Scrum Master role or a combination role?
Are they just jumping on the bandwagon?
Are they passionate about Scrum/Agile or riding the wave of popularity?
Ask them to explain the role to you
Do they describe coaching?
Do they mix terminology with typical Project Management terminology?
Do they show a knowledge of the Ceremonies
Ask them their greatest accomplishment
Do they refer to teams or coaching? (Agile Coach/Scrum Master)
Do they refer to delivering a project on time and on budget? (PM)
22. Questions to ask Candidates
continued…
How many teams are they used to working with?
If working with too many teams then they probably don’t have much time to
coach or really notice the personal interactions
If working with only one team they could be either a very new junior level
Scrum Master or might actually be in a hybrid PM role and not realize it
How long have they been working as a Scrum Master?
Why did they get into it?
What is their end goal?
Have they worked with co-located team or distributed teams?