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One of the big problems I see people talking about (and talking and talking — NOT DOING) is the concept of planning in Scrum.
Bottom line. Instead of talking about it (and becoming stuck in analysis paralysis and NOT DELIVERING), do it.
How much time?
Enough to get started.
Really. Get started on Delivering Working Software.
The original posting for this comic strip was about 2.5 years ago and um… wow… it was pretty politically incorrect. Oh well… Blogs are timeless (smile). That original posting talked about the rules for planning poker, about being on Fantasy Island (you may or may not be old enough to remember that show — google it), and quickly devolved into possible sexual innuendo. Oops. Or you are welcome (smile). You can take a look at the original posting here.
So what really is “enough” to get started?
When you look at Scrum, there are so many opportunities to plan. And execute. And Deliver.
Remember the reason for using Scrum — DELIVER something of value to your customer and end users. Reduce Risk. Whatever. Deliver. Inspect and adapt. Really. Hmm… Seems like I may be over using the words DELIVER and REALLY. Wonder Why? It needs repeating. Really (smile).
You can do long range Release planning at the Product Backlog level.
You can do short term Sprint Planning at the Sprint Backlog level.
You can do Daily Planning and adjusting at the Daily Standup level.
You can track all this planning on different Burn Down Charts.
Plan plan plan.
Bla bla bla.
What does your customer really want?
Really?
Really?
ASK.
You can get stuck PLANNING for a long time.
DELIVER. Get to DONE.
Yeah… you still need to PLAN in Scrum.
But what is REALLY important to your end users and customers.
Do they really care about the plan?
Hmmm… not if you keep missing deadlines and deliveries. Plans then become a CYA (cover-your-ass) thing that opens the gulf of distrust even more between the team, the customers, and other stake holders. Traditional Project Managers then use it to beat people over the head about missing dates. You know the cycle.
So.
Stop it.
Plan enough.
This is one of the *tough* conversations you need to have with your stakeholders at all different levels.
I can promise you (from experience) — these conversations SUCK at the beginning. Mostly because a traditional Project Manager has been making excuses for the team about missing dates (and using the Project Manager Whammy Stick to do strange things to the team).
As a ScrumMaster though — remember — who is REALLY responsible for delivering on a Scrum Team?
The Team.
Yeah, as a Scrum Master you are responsible for facilitating the process (or framework or whatever you want to call Scrum) AND making sure the Scrum Team understands their roles. Oh… and also working with the Product Owner. And Oh… the outside Stakeholders. Welcome to reality.
This is real world stuff.
So how can you keep it from sucking?
Deliver. Team — do you hear this? DELIVER.
And guess what… once you are delivering on your commitments the conversations shift to AWESOMEness. Really. This is not just my dream fantasy world. It happens. Daily.
It will suck wind at the beginning.
Plan.
Enough.
Execute.
Deliver.
Inspect and adapt.
That’s enough planning in Scrum. Yes… DO IT.
AND.
Deliver!
Scrum is not a Silver Bullet.
Delivering builds confidence.
Try it.
1 Comment to “Scrum – Planning. It’s Important. And misunderstood. YOU HAVE TO PLAN!”
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January 11th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
[...] January 11,2012 — An updated blog posting about this comic strip is located at: http://www.implementingscrum.com/2012/01/11/scrum-planning-its-important-and-misunderstood-you-have-…] Thanks as usual for coming back this week and helping me spread the word about this [...]