How to fail at SCRUM
...and hopefully learn from it

Nothing - Benefits
1. No overhead
2. Everybody is talking to each other

Nothing - Drawbacks
1. Constant discussion is overhead
2. Nobody knows what is going on

We need a backlog!

Issue

Backlog - Benefits
1. Don’t need to ask PO to know what to do
2. We can see who is working on what

How to recognize a bad backlog?
1. A list of EVERYTHING we THINK we need
2. It’s HUGE
3. Everything has the same priority => “ASAP”

Backlog - Consequences
1. “The Scrum Backlog is where Features go to
die”
2. We don’t know the progress
3. It never ends
4. Product piles on random features

We need milestones!

Issue
Milestone

Milestones - Benefits
1. Set of multiple features decided at once
2. Motivation to finish
3. Achievement feeling

1. Bad backlog with an arbitrary deadline:
“Finish BETA”
2. Always changes
How to recognize a bad milestone?

Consequences
1. Stressful
2. Deadline never respected

We need sprints!

Issue
Milestone
Sprint

Sprint - Benefits
1. Gives a goal for a shorter period of time
2. Have people plan and debrief on a regular
basis

How to recognize a bad sprint?
1. Arbitrary commitment
2. No clear objectif
3. No debrief

Sprint - Consequences
1. Committed tasks not achieved
or poorly in a rush
2. No lessons learnt

We need epics!

Issue
Milestone
Sprint
Epic

Epics - Benefits
1. Focused: 1 epic = 1 feature
2. Faster to deliver
3. PO dictates less technical implementation

1. 1 epic ≠ 1 feature: e.g. “Make website”
2. No specification:
“Implement billing” => How?
How to recognize a bad epic?

Consequences
1. Features are improvised
2. Back and forth during the implementation:
dev ⇔ PO ⇔ customer
3. Lots of refactoring

We need triage!

Triage - Benefits
1. Break down into smaller epics
2. Time to research before implementation

1. Sorting of epics for the “day after”
2. Focus on implementation detail instead of
planning for future sprints
How to recognize a bad triage?

Triage - Consequences
1. Redundant with sprint planning
2. Features keep being designed during
implementation

We need design sprint!

Design sprint - Benefits
1. Take a step back and catch up on planning
2. Team building:
dev, design and PO work together
3. Brainstorming is fun!

Not sure yet, we just started this week!
How to recognize a bad sprint design?

Thank you!

Questions?

We are recruiting!