The **Scrum** tag is used for questions about using or implementing the Scrum project management methodology.
0
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1answer
23 views
SCRUM or V-Cycle?
Explicitly, I have problems in describing the Development Process of my project.
I'm doing my internship in an enterprise as an Information Systems designer and Java EE developer, for graduation. I ...
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1answer
64 views
How are Teams guided during a Sprint? [closed]
By their collective knowledge and experience or project documentation and the Scrum process
2
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2answers
76 views
How to involve the whole team in choosing the next project?
I work in a startup where there is a huge list of projects/epics to do. Of course, we have to choose which are the best ones (the most valuable) in order to launch a release for this project.
Even if ...
8
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4answers
234 views
Dynamic length of sprints in Scrum
I have been working several projects with Scrum method and, in some, we have taken the decision of execute Scrum sprints of dynamic length (every sprint).
For me it have some advantages:
Adapt the ...
-4
votes
1answer
91 views
iPad for Scrum to Skype or Google Hangout [closed]
I am thinking of using iPad as a Scrum tool to Skype/Google Hangout to coordinate better with our offshore team in a different country.
I am planning to hang the iPad onto the scrum board ...
12
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11answers
388 views
How to allow developers to get enough quality development time while keeping to support & maintenance obligations
I work for a small company of 6 multi skilled developers where we have developed our own product which requires constant improvement but also maintenance and support to the current release from end ...
4
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4answers
238 views
A One Man Project Methodology?
I'm currently doing a my final year project and have used the methods employed by the Scrum project methodology to break down my requirements into manageable parts.
I have a question as to whether ...
5
votes
4answers
254 views
Is Kanban a part of Scrum, and is it simply the task board?
I am new to Scrum and Kanban. So far, I understand that the Task Board is something that is originally from Kanban, but I am using an online Scrum tool that also also offers that board.
Is the Task ...
2
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6answers
146 views
How to reduce planning meeting time involving several teams?
I'm working on a project having planning meetings at the start of every sprint. Three teams are involved on every planning meeting, reviewing pending/todo issues team by team (every issue is ...
3
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2answers
85 views
Managing multiple development projects in Scrum
My organization is currently using Scrum to manage a large development project. Once this is complete we will start to work on several smaller projects (ranging from approx 2 weeks to 2 months work) ...
6
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6answers
215 views
Can a Product Owner be a developer in SCRUM?
Can a Product Owner be a developer in SCRUM? In theory yes but is it recommended by SCRUM?
3
votes
5answers
163 views
How do I end crashed sprints and remain responsive to the customer?
We have been using Scrum methodology and have been mostly successful, but there are few weeks where the sprints are totally crashed by customer demands or defects.
Is there a better way of handling ...
4
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3answers
183 views
Product Owner depending too much on the team
I am a Scrum Master for two different teams. The product owner of one of the teams left recently, so we have a new product owner. The team is fairly experienced with the product. Since the product ...
3
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2answers
201 views
What is a good way to handle unplanned work with Scrum and tfs Scrum 2.1 template?
I have come to a team that is just starting to implement scrum. One reality that we are going to face is what to do when an emergency occurs.
In this case, we have a system that started failing ...
8
votes
3answers
216 views
In Scrum, who is responsible for the project's budget?
I have read many books about Scrum, blogs and academic articles. Though, all of them dodge from explicitly acknowledging this question:
Who is responsible for the project's money? Why is this person ...
0
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3answers
150 views
Story Points to Ideal Days
History
I work within a IT Team for my business that delivers (Develops & Unit Tests, QA, UAT and Releases) either system improvements or new systems to different areas of our business.
The team ...
1
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2answers
94 views
How does the team deliver consistent velocity when user stories are de-scoped mid-way through a sprint?
We are using the Rally tool for managing our sprints. Mid-way through one of the sprints, the Product Owner de-scoped two user stories. These two stories are complex user stories carrying 8 story ...
1
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5answers
187 views
First sprint: Epics chosen instead of stories - should I re-estimate and when?
I am trying out Scrum on a small, one-person project. During my first sprint, I realized that all of the stories I've chosen are really epics and should be broken down into much smaller pieces. The ...
1
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3answers
144 views
How to estimate accurate velocity when team members are on leave
I am a Scrum Master of a team with 12 members. I know that the size of the team is large at this point, but as we grow further we will divide the team into multiple Scrum Teams. Our estimations for ...
7
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8answers
721 views
What is better: a physical Scrum board or an online board?
I used to practice Scrum with a physical board. We often faced problems when working with distributed teams or just when going into a meeting room. So I decided to implement a SaaS service to provide ...
3
votes
2answers
212 views
Need a good example for what a self-organizing team looks like
In Agile/Scrum teams, the concept of a self-organizing team and the notion that "the team owns all the stories, individuals don’t" is turning out to be difficult to communicate. I have seen lots of ...
4
votes
2answers
123 views
How does a team (new to product and domain) estimates user stories of a ten year old product
I am a scrum master for one of the products in a product development company. Our team, including me, operates from India. However my product owner is in USA. We are working on a feature development ...
4
votes
3answers
213 views
How can developers and testers agree on story point estimates?
Previously we used duration for each story, but in our current sprint we are using story points (effort) keeping test team effort separate from the development team effort. Story points are based on ...
2
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1answer
69 views
In Scrum, what is a good work area layout to foster swarming and other collaborative practices?
We changed our work area layout from a cube farm to what is variously known as a bullpen or a fishbowl style open layout. We are finding this is more helpful for team collaboration and provides an ...
1
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4answers
103 views
Are SCRUM iterations meaningful?
Sitrep: I have finished a story that I could not complete within iteration while it was planned to be completed. It's necessary to get this done and ASAP since it's a prerequisite for other stories ...
2
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6answers
209 views
What is smaller than a user story but bigger than a task?
We have a "heavy" story that cannot be decomposed into smaller stories. It will span several sprints.
We can decompose the story into tasks all right, but tasks seem to be abstractions that are only ...
5
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2answers
137 views
Can somebody be his/her own Scrum Master in a programming company?
If a programmer in a small company wants to be his own Scrum Master, and Scrum teams are supposed to be self-organizing, does that mean no one can manage him? If that's true, then:
How can he manage ...
5
votes
3answers
163 views
In an agile consultancy, is the Client the Product Owner?
I'm interested in understanding how agile project management differs between a single product-focused team and a digital agency or software development consulting firm.
For starters, in a situation ...
3
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3answers
127 views
In Scrum, how to estimate research stories?
In our Scrum team, when there is uncertainty about a story or the team is not sure about how to implement it, we take up a research story first. Based on the findings of this research story, we are ...
1
vote
3answers
116 views
Change from software developer to scrum master?
I have been a .NET software developer for the last 5 years, at the moment dealing with azure cloud technologies.
I am certified scrum master and soon to be certified scrum professional.
I have the ...
1
vote
2answers
100 views
What is a good format for Sprint retrospectives?
We are doing Sprint retrospectives with the entire team including the ScrumMaster and the Product Owner present. We have constructive discussion and good ideas are being generated. However, to improve ...
3
votes
2answers
79 views
In Scrum, should we have a Customer Acceptance Testing (CAT) stage by the Product Owner?
In our Agile/Scrum process, should we have a Customer Acceptance Testing (CAT) stage when the Product Owner looks at what has been developed and acknowledges that it meets all acceptance criteria?
5
votes
3answers
181 views
Can we have zero point stories?
Our Agile/Scrum team follows the Fibonacci sequence for story point estimation. However, it is not clear whether we should have any zero point stories at all. Even though a story may have minimal ...
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2answers
123 views
In our Agile/Scrum team, should we move or split incomplete stories?
Our Agile/Scrum teams are getting better at taking on manageable workload and completing them fully. However, sometimes for a variety of good reasons, some of the stories are not fully done at the end ...
1
vote
1answer
81 views
Should we track Impediments in our Agile PM tool just like User Stories and Defects/Bugs?
Currently our team members report any impediments in the Daily Scrum Standup and the ScrumMaster takes ownership of them and gets them resolved. I would like to know whether we should track ...
7
votes
5answers
293 views
Team velocity fluctuates a lot, how to find the root cause?
I have plotted my team burn up chart and its velocity per iteration. To me it looks really bad (velocity fluctuates a lot). What should I be looking for to diagnose the root cause of this behaviour?
...
8
votes
6answers
271 views
Why use iterations in Scrum?
I am a Scrum Master in a 7 person team. We currently use one-week iterations for our sprints.
I find that sprint planning overhead is huge (2 hours each week for entire team), and not nearly as ...
7
votes
4answers
217 views
How to keep WIP down with swarming in Agile/Scrum teams?
We are practicing swarming in our Agile/Scrum teams. However, keeping WIP (Work in Progress) down continues to be a challenge. I am familiar with the theory, but I have some questions about the ...
5
votes
2answers
124 views
Should meeting minutes be captured during Scrums of Scrums?
We hold daily Scrum of Scrums meetings on our project. The participants (i.e. non-technical managers) each manage several smaller projects and provide updates on their projects (from their daily ...
8
votes
6answers
407 views
In Scrum, what role is responsible for changing team composition?
I am a team member in a Scrum team. This morning I had a discussion with my Scrum Master where I said that I needed a two people from another team to be a part of my team. I said I would like to ...
4
votes
3answers
312 views
How to keep a Scrum of Scrums meeting short and efficient given that reporting on non-technical issues can take a long time?
We are running a project with a team of around 60 people using Scrum. Half of the team reports to one project manager; half to another project manager. Those 2 project managers meet with the test lead ...
4
votes
3answers
107 views
What are the right conclusions to draw from the success or failure of a Sprint?
I recently encountered the opinion that, if a Sprint is successful due to statistical reasons (e.g. the team made big mistakes during planning but the team delivered its stories anyway), then that's ...
12
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9answers
1k views
How to deal with a team member who constantly overestimates
In an ideal world using Scrum we are all supposed to take part in the iteration planning, select tasks and stories, from the groomed backlog. You then have a planning meeting where everyone comes ...
7
votes
5answers
271 views
How should a team handle disagreements about story-point estimates in Scrum?
During estimation, the Product Owner presents a user story that seems clear to a team that usually knows their strengths and weaknesses, and that is not hostile. What should the Scrum Master do if the ...
7
votes
6answers
276 views
How can I improve measurement of Sprint Goals that are based on soft skills or communication processes?
Background
I am currently coaching a non-development team on Scrum practices. The team is focused on back-office, administrative processes. This makes the work somewhat of a pull-queue where Kanban ...
2
votes
2answers
154 views
How can we combine time sheet in project server with scrum?
Our developers work with VSTS using a scrum methodology and also with project server. Developers are required to enter their work hours in Project Server by time-sheets. However, they are not happy to ...
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votes
1answer
134 views
Using Scrum and PMBOK and CRM together? [closed]
How we can design and customize our organization methodology with a combination of Scrum and also use the PMBOK guide to design an Evolution methodology?
We use Project Server 2007 and Visual Studio ...
5
votes
1answer
149 views
How to collect Burn Down data during Sprints?
We just started with Scrum and are in our first sprint for a new software product. So far everything went well. As Scrum Master (former Project Manager) I build up all the knowledge I could find and ...
6
votes
2answers
898 views
Sprint Backlog vs Product Backlog
I was always under impression that Sprint Backlog is part of Product Backlog -> it's impossible to add anything into Sprint Backlog without affecting Product Backlog
However, according to one of the ...
8
votes
4answers
321 views
Managing a Product Owner in a not-yet-agile organization
When my company was acquired, my 20-person development team gained a Product Owner who is energetic, engaged, and extremely idealistic. While many of the programmers on our team are familiar with ...
