Lessons learned scrum
mastering distributed teams
Antonio Cobo
@Mind_of_AC
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Who doesn’t work on a distributed team?
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Does any of your team members use
instant message app with the mobile?
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Does any of your team members answer
emails from outside the office?
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Does any of your team members work
from home one day (or more) a week?
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You work on a distributed team!
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My current team
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1 Business Analyst
1 Product Owner
1 Engineering Lead
1 Delivery Lead
1 Scrum Master
1 QA
1 QA
1 Dev
1 Dev
1 Dev
My previous team
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1 Product Owner
1 Engineering Lead
1 QA
1 Dev
1 Dev
1 Dev
1 Dev
1 Scrum Master
1 Dev
1 Dev
1 Dev
1 Dev
1 Architect 1 Dev
Why do we prefer co-located teams?
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https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Communication-Tips/170778-2.html
Communication with my teams
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Visual communication is better
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Voice communication
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● Breath
● Mute yourself
● Allow people to talk
● SM ensures everyone participates equally
● Webcam on!
Distributed teams ceremonies
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• Daily standup
• Backlog refinement
• Sprint demo
• Sprint planning
• Retrospective
Daily standup
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● Screen share with the digital board
● Allow people to talk
● If you don’t talk mute yourself!
● SM ensures everyone participates equally
● Webcam on!
Daily stand-ups tips
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● Quick filter on the board (if you walk the people)
● Rotate the person who share the board
● Try to walk the stories on the board
Backlog refinement
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● PO or BA sharing the screen
● If you don’t talk mute yourself!
● SM to collect the estimations on direct message
● SM to ensure every opinion is considered
● Webcam on!
Sprint Demo
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● Every member sharing their screen to demo
● If you don’t talk mute yourself!
● SM to invite external people to the demo
● Webcam on!
● If nothing to demo… walk the board
Planning
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● PO or SM sharing the screen
● If you don’t talk mute yourself!
● SM to ensure every opinion is considered
● Webcam on!
Retrospective
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● SM sharing the screen
● If you don’t talk mute yourself!
● SM to ensure every opinion is considered
● Webcam on!
Interactive Retrospective Boards
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● https://www.scatterspoke.com/
● http://www.ideaboardz.com/
● Webex Dashboards
● Confluence page
● Hipchat dedicated room
Retrospective tips
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● Try to change format as much as you can
● Need ideas? https://retromat.org/en/
● No phones
● No laptops
● Icebreakers are powerful, use them!
Apply to remote retrospective
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● Prepare for the retro
● Need ideas? Ask the team - www.typeform.com
● Ensure the actions are properly captured
● Webcams on!
Wrapping up
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• Webcam ON!
• Possibility of video call at any moment
• Allow people time to talk equally
• Mute if you don’t talk
• Involve the whole team
• Make every retrospective UNIQUE!
• If you can, organise regular trips
Antonio Cobo
antoniocoboc@gmail.com
Дякую!
@Mind_of_AC

Lessons learned scrum mastering distributed teams