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

[Geeta Kavathekar]

Thank you, Kevin, for taking the time to read and share your valuable
thoughts.

On Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 9:20 AM, Kevin Smith <ksmith at wikimedia.org> wrote:

> 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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