This document discusses implementing a strategy using Scrum methodology at an IT company called E-Bros. It proposes a new project portfolio concept organized around areas, targets, and backlogs to provide clearer strategic direction compared to just tracking individual user stories. Key aspects include defining strategic areas and targets, compiling quarterly backlogs of user stories to achieve targets, allocating team resources, and holding regular strategy and planning meetings to review progress and set new targets. The goal is to take a more holistic strategic view while still implementing incrementally using Scrum sprints.
2. Content Situation Scrumming for one year already Current issues Strategy and direction New portfolio concept and structure Link to planning 2 Conclusions
3. Company and me E-Bros IT innovation company Common business with partners Investing into product development Always looking for new opportunities and ideas Me 20+ years in IT field 10 years in big corporate business 3 years at E-Bros
7. Main benefits Happy customers Predictable short term delivery Great involvement into the process Increasing of SW quality Doing exactly what’s needed Prompt feedback Fast cycle
8. New challenges People On the edge of chaos but not beyond Teams Anarchy, federation, collaboration Products and platforms Chicken or egg How to manage it all Clear view, right direction
9. Strategy From businessdictionary.com: “A method or plan chosen to bring about a desired future, such as achievement of a goal or solution to a problem”. www.thefreedictionary.com Synonym for planning! All about a wayhow to be where we want to be
11. Why it doesn’t work with SCRUM Wrong approach Project isn‘ta list of stories Project requires change tracking Project has different acceptance criterion And so on Well managed portfolio became useless Broken down just in a month Sprint by sprint rally Targets and directions somewhere between the lines
15. New portfolio concept: backlog For each target User story for each step Incremental value per user story
16. New portfolio concept: user story User stories with size, priorities and status Level of details on the backlog depends on time Keep just a short description for future stories More details just before development One story could be attach to a few targets
17. Keep it rolling!!! Areas Quarter plan Resource (team) allocation User Stories Area2 Target1 Target2 Area1 Target1 Target2 Balance Area3 Target1 Target2 All together now!!! Area1/Target 1 Value!!! Definition Acceptance Criteria Deadline Status User story 1 Status Size User story 2 Status Size User story 3 Status Size User story 4 Status Size Target backlog Execute!!!
18. Quarter plan Stories to select A list of user stories for targets to be completed during the quarter is compiled + Future targets (from next 2 quarters) To avoid just one quarter horizon People to mobilize Team involvement is needed Review story points per area Evaluate the workload Go back for the targets if unreachable Allocate teams for the quarter
19. Control of the process Strategy meetings 2-3 times a year To review areas and directions Check the target achievement Set up the new targets/cancel some of them Quarter planning Once per quarter Review performance and share experience Review backlogs per area for the quarter Check if all the items still valid Check if we could do this
20. Along the strategy Areas Strategy planning Targets Quarter planning Backlog
21. Conclusions Scrum implementation direction Doesn't matter It’s most effective when all tears are covered Transparency &Commitment Information flow Common goals (targets) Commitment at all levels End right before the end “All wrong but some useful”
2 countries4 teams LT + 1 KANBAN1 team FITeam sizes differs from team to team – I wish to have them biggerCommon info space –TFS – is used for the communication
Tricky task - doing less could gain moreStructure of waterfall and scrum development it’s rather different.Cannot compare project to a set of US, same could be applied to performance, deadlines and other criteria.I haven’t right metrics and knowledge to do thisOne thing is probably could show the differentUnfinished work = waistAt some point we had about half year of unfinished project work on our waterfall projects.Something could be recovered but something just lost moneyWith scrum we are delivering every 2 weeks so theoretical unfinished work is 0, practically there is still some but on a total different level.
Let’s start a bit from the distanceStrategySome definitions here and you could find much more if you wantIt’s all about a where we want to be and how to get here
Have seen this picture at Gartner portfolio conference @2003Clear levels and iterationsUsed it successfully before the scrumI am project portfolio manUsed to create and manage project portfolio for big international companyApplied it to E-Bros and we lived with it happy for a couple of years
Mainly we where working on small to medium projects (something up to one man year but less on average)After starting scrumming I have got some challengesFirst approach – translate projects into the collections of the storiesInitially it looked almost OKBut after a while – US sorting just broke project boundaries. - New US wasn’t updated to the project - Some features from the project was accepted and development moved somewhere else without closing the rest - So big part of our portfolio started to look rather fragmentedSprint by sprint running OKPortfolio outdated in the monthsNo efforts to keep it alive – people are doing what makes sense – cannot survive long or the artificial process
So we have got some stormy gap between the tearsTop part of the picture remained the same – and should beAs all we (and our companies) should have the higher goalsNext to the nice development process we need to think where to get money to support itWe weren’t totally isolated but all the strategy communication was somehow hanging in the air. It lead for some wrong interpretation.Also the developers wasn’t motivated because they lost a feeling of doing something important.Just adding feature after feature, sprint after sprint without a clear vision where we are moving
I am still the portfolio manBack to roots:IT development as investmentsDefining IT investment areasSplit a pie by areasWhat’s common with scrum??? Prioritization to maximize business value Effective delivery to minimize costsTraining on product owner class showed more similarities between project portfolio management and scrum product owner activities
Define targets for each areaTarget definitionDeadline (quarter)Split a pie by areasAcceptance criteriaDefining clear criteria in advanceAutomated or manual tracking of acceptance
I have read somewhere what target without the deadline is just a dreamThe same could be said about the knowledge how to achieve itSo there we are going back to scum – US are here.We define US as the steps to reach our targetDifferent level of detailsIt’s agile because we could make changes to stories, priorities at this level still targeting the same targetTargets itself could be more stable as a backlog of US related but it also could be change if needed.
Benefits of the systemEasy – small number of the artifacts to manageTransparent from bottom to top and vice versusTeams should actively participating in the building the backlogThis is a hot approach – we just started building this –it’s the way we are going to work in the nearest futureHigh acceptance on all levelSimple and transparent approach…Nearest targets are set up – working on the backlogs currently
If there not enough velocity the targets must be reset Moved away Canceled More developers hired etc.
As mentioned earlier – targets could be changeSome achieved, some removed from the portfolioThe board of the company is responsible for this processTools to useTFS