[teampractices] Healthy discussion: A couple of articles against scrum

[Kevin Smith]

On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 10:17 PM, Geeta Kavathekar <
geetakavathekar at gmail.com> wrote:

> In regards to the engineering driven and "calling the shots" comments in
> the article, as I understand the Product Owner is the sole person that owns
> the product backlog and responsible for maximizing the value of the product
> and the work of the Development Team. However "in the Sprint Review the
> entire group collaborates on what to do next, so that it provides valuable
> input input to the subsequent Sprint Planning." The basic "Scrum Value" of
> "respect" of each person's role on the Scrum Team and what they bring needs
> to be there.
>

​Indeed. In agile processes, the product owner would never make decisions
in a vacuum. In addition to evaluating customer needs and wishes, they must
always consider the feasibility, practicality, and long-term sustainability
from a technical side. The developers are going to provide most of that
information. Agile was partly a reaction against "throwing requirements
over the wall", so it emphasizes ongoing conversations between developers
and [customers OR customer proxies such as product owners].
​


> In regards to the "terminal juniority" I am not sure I understand the
> argument as I think the best Development team is made of cross functional
> team members which means all skill sets and levels. And that the senior
> developers could be paired up with the junior ones as needed which could be
> fulfilling for both and the entire team.
>

​Absolutely!
​


> The Development team from what I have heard should be at 80% capacity so
> that there is time for exploration and creativity and 10% of the current
> Sprint should be for "backlog grooming" so there is not a constant looking
> ahead.
>

​Those are not universal numbers, but are reasonable guidelines. Some teams
might run at near full capacity while others could be below 80%. Some teams
allocate a specific amount of time for managing/reducing tech debt. And
some teams adjust those numbers up or down depending on external deadline
pressures that tend to come and go. I'm not sure about Scrum, but in agile
more generally that 10% number would be flexible as well. But your main
point, which is that a "sprint" does not mean an emergency death march, is
absolutely true.
​

​Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Kevin
​
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