history of scrum at bluefly, part 1
DESCRIPTION
Presentation at Agile Day 2010.TRANSCRIPT
History of Scrum @ Bluefly, Part 1
Matt RainesVice President of Technology
@matthewraines
About Bluefly
Pure play online retailer of high-end designer closing and accessories
Launched in Sept 1998
~$100mm in net revenue
Tech team of 18 plus outsourcing team / consultants
Agenda
Dawn of Man (circa pre-2006)
Unpredictable track record for project delivery
Poor communication and integration with business stakeholders
Struggled to meet expectations and deadlines
Delivered product was not always what the business wanted and it was too late to change it
Big platform migration project to implement Business users overwhelmed with
requirements - at least 6 months to define requirements
Lack of business users to define business solutions due to turnover
No thorough understanding of the new platform – hard to design, hard to define business solutions
The Old Testament (circa dec 2006)
Tech mgmt made decision to implement Scrum
Limited number of people (managers) went to training
Engaged a Scrum Process Mentor to facilitate transition
Reorganized teams into Scrum teams
Applied this methodology to a platform migration project
The Roman Empire (2007-2008)
Forced implementation during the largest project in the company’s history New eCommerce platform Multiple teams w/ multiple
disciplines Augmented with consultants
Product owner not trained to be a good product owner Prioritization of backlog Didn’t test the finished features Level of engagement ended at the
Review meeting
IT management was struggling to understand their new roles
The Spanish Inquisition (2007-2008)
Team reorganization Role ambiguity = F.U.D. Reorg was not voluntary, rather it
was “imposed” from top down Loss of identity – my team doesn’t
exist anymore
Co-location Why do I have to move from where I
am. My communication is fine.
Who do I report to? Feels like I report to 7 managers
(team members)
Self organize, Dammit!
Why don’t you love Scrum?
The French Revolution (present day)
Adapted Scrum to Bluefly
Integrated Sys Ops team to Scrum
Added outsourcing partner
Upgraded tools along the way
Design reviews
Project / product roadmap planning
Preview of Coming Attractions(10 lessons learned)
1. Grossly overestimated our team’s tolerance for change2. Thought people would love Scrum – they didn’t3. Insufficient training, mentoring & coaching4. Democratic decision making can lead to mediocre solutions
Fine line between discussion and argument Reluctance of individuals to make a decision Not setting any boundaries for “team makes decisions”
5. Must have leaders – the stronger the better6. Thought that short iterations meant we would be faster7. Challenge of team vs. individual performance
impacts on performance reviews8. Must plan at least 2 quarters ahead9. It’s not about the tools you use10.Scrum is a framework that you must adapt to your
environment to be successful
Roll the Credits (Wins) Teamwork
Finishing stories, carry each other through the sprint Confidence in what we can be achieved Increased ownership across functional boundaries Teams seek improvement in process Consistent story completion percentages
Genuine partnership with product owners Non-stop conversation about roadmap and prioritization Engaged at the idea phase of business planning vs implementation Releases included all expected features Increased communication
Improved Engineering practices Continuous integration, Automated Testing
Better prepared to handle the “audibles” that get called by the business – these happen a lot!