FAQs for Agile & Scrum
Starting your Agile Journey with Frequently Asked Questions on Agile & Scrum
For Beginners
What is Agile?
Agile is a new way of working with a different mindset.
Before Agile, we ran projects with the Waterfall method. The Waterfall project’s success rate (defined by on-time and on-budget delivery) hovers around 22% – 27% when the Standish Group surveys project managers worldwide.
With the Agile way of working, the success rate doubles. On top of that, Agile teams are usually very innovative and frequently deliver products that customers love. They are also speedy to respond to business requests, advocate breaking down departmental silos, and have lower overall management overhead.
The Agile way of working has become the de facto product development method in modern organizations. From its humble beginning in IT, it is now widely used in almost every industry. With the help of Agile, companies can use the “Software development mindset” to develop cars, airplanes, agriculture machinery, capital projects, financial products, and marketing collaterals.
If your company hasn’t started implementing Agile yet, this can be an excellent time to start.
Why should we use Agile?
There are many benefits to working in the Agile way. We can look at this from several perspectives:
People:
Better collaboration and an empowered work environment lead to happier teams.
Project:
More likely to be on time, on budget, with better transparency and predictability. Able to adapt to change.
Working environment:
Less silo, less bureaucracy, and ability to make faster and better decisions on a changing business landscape.
Better product:
Customer-driven development and the ability to gather feedback to optimize the product quickly leads to more potent delivery and stronger business results.
How do we get started with Agile
We always start small and then gradually scale up after initial success. This will allow us to control the pace and manage the change risk easier.
Step 1
Understand what Agile stands for and how it differs from traditional projects and product development.
Step 2
Identify a project with 2-3 teams, ideally 20-30 people. Set this up as a pilot project.
Step 3
Train everyone involved in this project, including the senior management and leadership team.
Step 4
Create Scrum Teams.
Step 5
Convert your existing project requirements to Agile requirements
Step 6
Start working.
Step 7
Run the project for 2-3 months
Step 8
Look at the project status when we reach a milestone, optimize our work process, and repeat step 6.
Developing products the Agile way means we need to collaborate with our business users and customers more. We gather their feedback periodically and immediately change our product based on their feedback.
This may be new to an organization that just started its Agile journey. You will notice the business outcome improves substantially and love the result you are getting.
Is Agile suitable for my projects?
Agile has been around since 2001. From its humble beginning in the IT industry, it is everywhere and has become the de facto way to develop competitive products.
The most successful companies in the world use Agile – Apple, Tesla, SpaceX, Microsoft, Google, and John Deere, to name a few. Dr. Sutherland said, and I quote: “It’s not a question of whether. It’s a question of how much.” Dr. Sutherland believes a better question would be: “How Agile are you and your business?”
For the past 20 years, projects have been gradually moving to the Agile Space. From the most sophisticated projects that build rockets to the biggest, most demanding capital projects, people are finding a way to leverage Agile now.
If your projects do not sound as complicated as these, you will likely find case studies and templates suitable to help you get started.
Can you tell me more about Agile certifications and credentials?
The first question to ask is, “Do you need it?”
For true Agile practitioners, using the knowledge to develop great products that win in the market is the critical result to fight for. Agile certifications only help you to land a job. It gives you basic knowledge so you can get started. You will only complete the circle if you can practice it at work and keep improving your skills to help your organization improve.
If you decide to obtain a Scrum certification, 3 top-tier accreditation associations exist worldwide. They are Scrum Alliance, Scrum.org, and Scrum Inc.
Next, you need to decide which trainer should be your teacher. Please read “Are there different levels of Scrum Trainers in the Agile industry?” to learn more about the accreditation associations and steps to identify good trainers.
How long does an Agile Transformation takes?
This depends on many factors, including how big your organization is, how closely aligned you are with Agile currently, how many resources you are willing to commit to this, and whether you have an experienced team to guide you through the transformation process.
From my experience leading about 30 Agile Transformation cases, here is the rough estimate you can refer to based on your company’s size:
- 30 people or less: visible result in three months. End-to-end transformation in about 6 months
- 200 people or less: This will be a 2-stage transformation. First, you should pilot a project of 30 people, which needs the same time as mentioned above. Then, you continue to transform more teams. The End-to-end transformation in about 2 years.
- >Over 1000 people: This will be a 3-stage transformation. We should be able to do the 30 people and 200 people cases first and enjoy some success. After that, we will extend our coverage gradually. For an organization this big, it is hard to do end-to-end transformation. You will usually hit satisfactory coverage in 2-5 years.
Is Agile for IT only?
There are many successful cases beyond IT. SpaceX built rockets that fly back to the base after launch, John Deere converted their African sales team to Agile. They enjoyed record-breaking sales in Africa, and Malaysian Airport is using Agile to improve the customer experience.
Agile is now in every industry and many products. If your goal is to succeed and thrive in this new economy or perhaps to survive in a competitive market. Agile will be essential to you.
If you’re not leveraging Agile, your competitor will. In that case, you will find that you will be facing an uphill battle all the time.
It will be challenging to triumph against a well-executed Agile competitor unless you are more Agile than them.
What are the differences between Agile and Waterfall?
The key differences are how you will work and the mindset and practices you will align to when working.
We need to align with the Agile mindset to work in the Agile way. The traditional waterfall mindset emphasizes processes and tools, comprehensive documentation, contract negotiations, and detailed planning. The Agile mindset emphasizes individual interaction over process and tools, working product over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiations, and responding to change over having a detailed plan.
When we work with a different mindset, we will change our practices to align with it. We will use frameworks such as Scrum and Kanban to help break down corporate silos to enable collaboration. We will establish a working cadence and use a frequent show-and-tell technique to receive customer feedback.
The result is a modern and advanced way of running projects and developing products, with a greater chance of success.
Can we combine Agile and Waterfall together?
The short answer is yes if you’re in a certain transition period. That period could be lengthy.
The goal of an Agile Transformation is to move out of the traditional waterfall process and embrace the Agile approach as quickly and successfully as possible. You will find the traditional system less desirable once you’ve transitioned to the Agile mindset and the Agile approach.
This is like buying a new Tesla car when you already have a 2005 Toyota car. It takes time to transition to and get used to the new car because the mechanics and drive are quite different. You can use both cars if you want to. However, once you’re fully into your new vehicle, you will find that it provides significant advantages and little reason to switch back. Once you love your Tesla, it is uncommon to drive the 2005 Toyota again other than to relive some memorable moments. 🙂
How can I participate in Agile community
There are some non-commercial Agile communities in Malaysia. Agile Malaysia has been around for a while. You can join the Agile Malaysia community on Facebook and attend the local meet-ups.
Scrum 60 hosts this event and is the latest community you can join and contribute to.
The key difference between the two Agile communities is that Agile Malaysia supports Agnostic Agile. Scrum 60 focuses on spreading Dr. Sutherland’s True Scrum knowledge so that we can succeed in helping our companies implement True Scrum.
Both are free to join and non-commercialized.
Both are supported by true Agile enthusiasts.
You can also take a look at Agile Singapore and Agile 66 Thailand. Agile 66 Thailand is doing a great job spreading Agile knowledge in Thailand.
For Experienced Agile Practitioners
As an Agile practitioners, how can I get a higher salary?
Why are you asking about this? Should you be an Agile purist? 🙂
Alright, just kidding.
Like in every industry, you will be rewarded for doing a good job. A good job usually means you can help your company increase revenue, reduce costs, and deliver products people love. You will be contributing from very different perspectives depending on your current role. If you’re a Scrum Master, you want to be able to build a super team and lead the team to work in a manner to increase revenue, reduce cost, and deliver products that people love. If you’re a Transformation Lead, you should be able to create a super multi-team work system that increases revenue, reduces cost, and delivers products that people love for your company.
So, please note the keywords: increase revenue, reduce cost, and deliver products that people love. Justify your company ROI by having you in these three perspectives. If you’re doing a good job, and your ROI is visible and measurable, asking for a raise should be a readily justifiable event.
Please note that the following does not sound like an ROI to your company:
- “I’ve been a Scrum Master for X years”
- “I have got a ridiculous number of Agile certificates.”
- “I can do a lot of technical Agile practices, like TDD, BDD, FDD, DDD, etc.”
Well.
What can you actually do? What have you done that’s significant?
What have you achieved that impacts your company revenue, operation cost, and product success?
Please think from the perspective of your company and your boss. Stop self-justifying because you are so-called “Agile.”
What is the career path of a Scrum Master?
That depends on whether you’re practicing True Scrum – Scrum as invented by Dr. Jeff Sutherland, or you’re just doing anything that you like and call it Scrum.
For the past three years in the US and Europe, Dr. Sutherland told us he witnessed tens of thousands of Scrum Masters getting fired. For example, Capitol One Bank, a significant bank in the US, has just done so.
True Scrum is to deliver tangible business outcomes for your company. Hence, a Scrum Master practicing True Scrum is a “leader who serves” that drives team results, delivering impactful business outcomes. Once you’re good at that, you can think about being a Scrum Master at a scaled level, a Scrum-of-Scrum Master.
Instead of driving a team, Scrum-of-Scrum Master drives a system of collaborating teams, or teams of teams, to deliver impactful business outcomes.
The next step will be a Transformation Lead or the head of the Agile Practice.
There are endless ways to contribute to your company’s revenue, cost, and product success. It would be best to find what’s appropriate and meaningful for you so you won’t regret spending that time of your life.
Please stop collecting endless Agile certificates, and stop using Agile to gain fame.
Please work hard to help your company succeed: Revenue goes up, costs come down, and customers love your product.
You will have sweat and tears when doing so. And you will be frustrated when things are not moving in your desired direction. Sometimes, you even want to give up.
But what a rewarding career you will have.
That’s the way of a Scrum Master.
How can an Agile practitioner better contribute to the organization?
A company hires you to help them to be successful. Agile or not is not the key. Being able to contribute to the company’s success is the key.
You should first ask what you can do for the company, then only ask what the company can do for you. You must prove you’re doing a good job and measurable results, especially helping the company keep revenue up, cost down and deliver successful products.
You should give your unreserved support to your boss, helping your boss and your department achieve their goals and create greater success, whether you agree with him entirely or in part.
You should be dedicated and loyal to your company because that’s the fundamentals of being a working professional.
Then, level up your Agile knowledge. Everything is there for a reason. They are techniques and ways to resolve a situation or a problem. By observing the case you are encountering at work, you can find templates and methods of how the people who came before have solved it before.
Being an Agile Practitioner is a lifelong learning. You’ll get better at it every time you crash and burn.
In the end, you will succeed, as others have succeeded before.
You will be knowledgeable, wise, and valuable to every company that’s lucky to have you.
Are there different levels of trainers in the Agile industry?
Yes. We hire Scrum Trainers, too, and sometimes, when we receive a quotation, we will use an easy 3-step process. The basic idea is that the top people in the industry have already chosen for us. You just need to be able to decipher the message.
The first thing you should check is the accreditation association this trainer is associated with. You have to know that becoming a Scrum Alliance, a Scrum.org, or a Scrum Inc. trainer is very hard because these 3 are top-tier accreditation associations. They care about their professional positioning. Therefore, becoming a trainer could be a challenging selective process that takes a long time.
Hence, only the competitive ones will be in, while the rest that cannot meet the stringent standard will try to get “certified” by other means so that they can claim their legitimacy.
In the US, there is a university called Harvard and another called MIT. If you’re the top student, you’d like to apply to schools like these. It is very hard to get in, so I got my bachelor’s degree elsewhere. It’s still good. But I’m not Harvard or MIT. If you know what I mean.
Remember, only this 3: Scrum Alliance CST, Scrum.org PST, and Scrum Inc. RST. In the Scrum training industry, the rest are the rest.
The 2nd step is checking the trainer’s standing in an accredited association. There are usually three levels:
Level 1 Trainer – The basic, accredited trainer.
Level 2 Trainer – The Scrum Fellows. They are selected because they are usually the best trainers in their association. They are usually terrific in their skillset and achievement. They are the premium product of that Organization.
Level 3 Trainer – The partner or the regional partner. Just like the accounting big 4 accounting firms, the partners and regional partners are usually the best they have. They usually represent the best of the best.
So, coming back to MIT again. Some students graduate with a GPA of 3.75 and above. They are the best of the very best. They are also students graduating with a GPA of 3.5 and above. They are incredibly versatile. And they are just MIT regular graduates.
So, clever buyers will not make a subjective decision to choose themselves but let the very best of the industry professional choose for you. You just need to look at the report card – their standing in their professional organizations and make a decision.
Once a potential trainer passes through our first two rounds of the elimination process, whoever we go with should perform well. Then, we can proceed to check his delivery technique and personality. We can then know how much we “click” with this person.
After all, we don’t want to work with someone we don’t like, right? And many things can make us dislike a person, including how he speaks, walks, eats, and sleeps.
These can be very personal and subjective. 😉
How can I be a trainer or an Agile coach?
That depends on whether you’re practicing True Scrum – Scrum as invented by Dr. Jeff Sutherland, or you’re just doing anything that you like and call it Scrum.
For the past three years in the US and Europe, Dr. Sutherland told us he witnessed tens of thousands of Scrum Masters getting fired. For example, Capitol One Bank, a significant bank in the US, has just done so.
True Scrum is to deliver tangible business outcomes for your company. Hence, a Scrum Master practicing True Scrum is a “leader who serves” that drives team results, delivering impactful business outcomes. Once you’re good at that, you can think about being a Scrum Master at a scaled level, a Scrum-of-Scrum Master.
Instead of driving a team, Scrum-of-Scrum Master drives a system of collaborating teams, or teams of teams, to deliver impactful business outcomes.
The next step will be a Transformation Lead or the head of the Agile Practice.
There are endless ways to contribute to your company’s revenue, cost, and product success. It would be best to find what’s appropriate and meaningful for you so you won’t regret spending that time of your life.
Please stop collecting endless Agile certificates, and stop using Agile to gain fame.
Please work hard to help your company succeed: Revenue goes up, costs come down, and customers love your product.
You will have sweat and tears when doing so. And you will be frustrated when things are not moving in your desired direction. Sometimes, you even want to give up.
But what a rewarding career you will have.
That’s the way of a Scrum Master.
What is the relationship between Lean and Agile?
Dr. Sutherland gave us a perfect answer on one of his slides. He said, and I quote:
“To be Lean, Leadership needs to change focus to:
- Eliminate Waste
- Understand Value Stream Analysis
- Implement Single Piece Continuous Flow
Agile competition goes beyond lean manufacturing by permitting the customer, jointly with the vendor or provider, to determine what the product will be.
For agile competitors, the ability to individualize products comes at little or no increase in manufacturing cost. It does, however, exact a cost:Â It requires major changes in Organization, management philosophy, and operations.”
“Lean inspired Scrum, and Scrum inspired Agile,” so to master Scrum, we should be familiar with the Lean concepts for Lean is the parent to all.
Agile brings the capability of incorporating customers’ feedback into the product at a pace never seen in the market. Agile practitioners deliver great products to increase revenue, and Lean practitioners bring process efficiency to contain costs. Combine both, and we will get revenue up, cost down, and products that customers will love.
That’s how True Scrum, the Scrum Dr. Sutherland invented, is based on.
That’s also what distinguishes the high-performance True Scrum and the low-performance Scrum that we’ve seen in many implementations across Southeast Asia:
Lean is missing. The outcome-driven work focus is missing. The Scrum Masters are physically present but functionally missing, too. 🙂
Can I train my own teams using Dr. Jeff Sutherland's knowledge?
Of course, you can. At the Scrum 60 community, we are dedicated to helping to spread Sutherland’s True Scrum knowledge. All of us are doing it because of our passion and enthusiasm. If you share the same mindset, please reach out to us at Scrum 60. We will provide you with content, help, and coaching so that you can get started.
The only pre-requisite is to know Dr. Sutherland’s knowledge well before you can teach it. From 1983 – 1993, Dr. Sutherland invented a 2-part solution:
True Scrum: To change the team to be a super team
Scrum@Scale: To connect the super teams into a low-latency, decision-making, and feedback system.
Hence, his knowledge is recorded in 2 parts. It would be best if you planned to learn both before teaching either one because that will give a holistic view to generate system thinking. You must learn to optimize the whole instead of just optimizing the part. You must also learn True Scrum, the Scrum as invented and taught by Dr. Jeff Sutherland, instead of your knowledge of Scrum that you’ve learned from other sources.
This is also an excellent starting point if you want to be an accredited trainer in the future. You will learn to answer questions from the perspective of Dr. Sutherland instead of just yourself.
And I promise your team will perform at a much higher level with True Scrum than just any Scrum.
It will be a rewarding journey for you.
Who should determine whether an item gets pulled into the interrupt buffer?
Quick answer: Product Owner
In the context provided, the decision on whether an item gets pulled into the interrupt buffer falls to the product owner. The product owner is responsible for deciding if a defect or interruption is important enough to be addressed immediately, using part of the allocated buffer for emergencies or interruptions.
This decision-making process involves evaluating the severity of the defect, estimating the time required to fix it, and considering how much of the buffer has already been consumed versus how much should have been consumed by that point in the sprint. The product owner’s role is crucial in balancing the need to address urgent issues with the goal of achieving the sprint’s objectives.
In Details
The role of the product owner in managing the interrupt buffer is multifaceted and critical for maintaining the balance between addressing urgent issues and achieving the sprint goals. Let’s delve deeper into the responsibilities and decision-making process of the product owner in this context.
Firstly, the product owner is tasked with the prioritization of work items, including both planned sprint work and interruptions that arise. When a defect or urgent request comes in, the product owner must quickly assess its importance and impact on the product and its users. This involves understanding the nature of the defect or request, its severity, and how it aligns with the product’s overall goals and priorities.
The product owner then needs to estimate, often with a quick consultation with the team, how long it would take to address the interruption. This estimation doesn’t need to be precise but should give a rough idea of the effort involved. It’s a balancing act; the product owner must weigh the importance of the urgent work against the planned sprint work and decide if it justifies using part of the interrupt buffer.
Monitoring the buffer usage is another critical responsibility. The product owner should keep track of how much of the buffer has been consumed and how much is left. This is where a variation of a burndown chart comes into play, as mentioned in the context. By visualizing the buffer usage over time, the product owner can make informed decisions about whether to pull in new interruptions or focus on the planned sprint work.
The product owner also needs to consider the pacing of buffer consumption. If the buffer is being used up too quickly, it might indicate that too many interruptions are being allowed into the sprint, potentially jeopardizing the sprint goals. Conversely, if the buffer is barely touched, it might suggest that the team could handle more work or that the buffer allocation is too conservative.
Finally, the product owner plays a crucial role in communication and negotiation with stakeholders, including the development team, customers, and users. When deciding to address an interruption, the product owner must communicate the rationale behind the decision and manage stakeholders’ expectations regarding the delivery of planned sprint work and the handling of urgent issues.
In Summary
The product owner’s role in managing the interrupt buffer is a complex one, requiring a delicate balance of prioritization, estimation, monitoring, and communication. By effectively managing this balance, the product owner helps ensure that the team can address urgent issues without derailing the sprint’s objectives. This approach allows for flexibility in dealing with the unpredictable nature of software development while still striving to deliver value consistently.