Thousands of IT professionals are being asked to make Scrum succeed in their organizations-including many who weren't involved in the decision to adopt it. If you're one of them, The Scrum Field Guide will give you skills and confidence to adopt Scrum more rapidly, more successfully, and with far less pain and fear. Long-time Scrum practitioner Mitch Lacey identifies major challenges associated with early-stage Scrum adoption, as well as deeper issues that emerge after companies have adopted Scrum, and describes how other organizations have overcome them. You'll learn how to gain "quick wins" that build support, and then use the flexibility of Scrum to maximize value creation across the entire process. In 30 brief, engaging chapters, Lacey guides you through everything from defining roles to setting priorities to determining team velocity, choosing a sprint length, and conducting customer reviews. Along the way, he explains why Scrum can seem counterintuitive, offers a solid grounding in the core agile concepts that make it work, and shows where it can (and shouldn't) be modified. Coverage includes Getting teams on board, and bringing new team members aboard after you've started Creating a "definition of done" for the team and organization Implementing the strong technical practices that are indispensable for agile success Balancing predictability and adaptability in release planning Keeping defects in check Running productive daily standup meetings Keeping people engaged with pair programming Managing culture clashes on Scrum teams Performing "emergency procedures" to get sprints back on track Establishing a pace your team can truly sustain Accurately costing projects, and measuring the value they deliver Documenting Scrum projects effectively Prioritizing and estimating large backlogs Integrating outsourced and offshored components Packed with real-world examples from Lacey's own experience, this book is invaluable to everyone transitioning to agile: developers, architects, testers, managers, and project owners alike.

Thousands of organizations are adopting Scrum to transform the way they execute complex projects, in software and beyond. This guide will give you the skills and confidence needed to deploy Scrum, resulting in high-performing teams and satisfied customers. Drawing on years of hands-on experience helping companies succeed, Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) Mitch Lacey helps you overcome the major challenges of Scrum adoption and the deeper issues that emerge later. Extensively revised to reflect improved Scrum practices and tools, this edition adds an all-new section of tips from the field. Lacey covers many new topics, including immersive interviewing, collaborative estimation, and deepening business alignment. In 35 engaging chapters, you’ll learn how to build support and maximize value across your company. Now part of the renowned Mike Cohn Signature Series on agile development, this pragmatic guide addresses everything from establishing roles and priorities to determining team velocity, setting sprint length, and conducting customer reviews. Coverage includes Bringing teams and new team members on board Creating a workable definition of “done” Planning for short-term wins, and removing impediments to success Balancing predictability and adaptability in release planning Running productive daily scrums Fixing failing sprints Accurately costing projects, and measuring the value they deliver Managing risks in dynamic Scrum projects Prioritizing and estimating backlogs Working with distributed and offshore teams Institutionalizing improvements, and extending agility throughout the organization Packed with real-world examples straight from Lacey’s experience, this book will be invaluable to anyone transitioning to Scrum, seeking to improve their early results, or trying to get back on track.

Based on years of work in the field with scores of companies, including Bosch, 3M, Schlumberger, and Rio Tinto, The Scrum Fieldbook delivers a hands-on, practical approach to rapidly delivering value for companies and organizations. Scrum is the secret weapon behind some of today’s most successful companies. Businesses like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple use Scrum to drive incredibly fast innovation, laser focus on customers, and continuous improvement, and to decrease decision times in order to reshape the world. Scrum is the most utilized Agile framework. In recent years, its use has exploded across the corporate world, far beyond its software and technology roots. J. J. Sutherland and the team at Scrum Inc. have dramatically improved performance at global banks, utility providers, medical device manufacturers, mining giants, and firms on the cutting edge of genetic science. Scrum has helped companies large and small thrive in the age of disruption. In Sutherland’s first book, the national bestseller Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, coauthored with his father, Jeff, the co-creator of Scrum, he laid out the Scrum framework used by almost all of today’s leading technology companies. In The Scrum Fieldbook, he draws on his firm’s extensive experience in the field to take leaders, managers, and employees deeper into the specific challenges and new opportunities organizations face in an Agile transformation. He shows how the Scrum framework can be successfully applied to any project in any industry, from automobile manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe to nonprofits in Africa, from home renovation contractors in Minnesota to gas exploration companies in South America, from fighter plane builders in Sweden to U.S. Navy Special Forces teams in regions of the world we can’t mention.

This is a comprehensive guide to Scrum for all (team members, managers, and executives). If you want to use Scrum to develop innovative products and services that delight your customers, this is the complete, single-source reference you've been searching for. This book provides a common understanding of Scrum, a shared vocabulary that can be used in applying it, and practical knowledge for deriving maximum value from it.

The Provocative and Practical Guide to Coaching Agile Teams As an agile coach, you can help project teams become outstanding at agile, creating products that make them proud and helping organizations reap the powerful benefits of teams that deliver both innovation and excellence. More and more frequently, ScrumMasters and project managers are being asked to coach agile teams. But it’s a challenging role. It requires new skills—as well as a subtle understanding of when to step in and when to step back. Migrating from “command and control” to agile coaching requires a whole new mind-set. In Coaching Agile Teams, Lyssa Adkins gives agile coaches the insights they need to adopt this new mind-set and to guide teams to extraordinary performance in a re-energized work environment. You’ll gain a deep view into the role of the agile coach, discover what works and what doesn’t, and learn how to adapt powerful skills from many allied disciplines, including the fields of professional coaching and mentoring. Coverage includes Understanding what it takes to be a great agile coach Mastering all of the agile coach’s roles: teacher, mentor, problem solver, conflict navigator, and performance coach Creating an environment where self-organized, high-performance teams can emerge Coaching teams past cooperation and into full collaboration Evolving your leadership style as your team grows and changes Staying actively engaged without dominating your team and stunting its growth Recognizing failure, recovery, and success modes in your coaching Getting the most out of your own personal agile coaching journey Whether you’re an agile coach, leader, trainer, mentor, facilitator, ScrumMaster, project manager, product owner, or team member, this book will help you become skilled at helping others become truly great. What could possibly be more rewarding?

This is the eBook of the printed book and may not include any media, website access codes, or print supplements that may come packaged with the bound book. The Fast, Focused, Practical Guide to Excellence with Scrum The Great ScrumMaster: #ScrumMasterWay is your complete guide to becoming an exceptionally effective ScrumMaster and using Scrum to dramatically improve team and organizational performance. Easy to digest and highly visual, you can read it in a weekend...and use it for an entire career. Drawing on 15 years of pioneering experience implementing Agile and Scrum and helping others do so, Zuzana Šochová guides you step by step through all key facets of success as a ScrumMaster in any context. Šochová reviews the ScrumMaster’s responsibilities, introduces her powerful State of Mind model and #ScrumMasterWay approach, and teaches crucial metaskills that every ScrumMaster needs. Learn how to build more effective teams, manage change in Agile environments, and take fulladvantage of the immensely powerful ScrumMaster toolbox. Throughout, Šochová illuminates each concept with practical, proven examples that show how to move from idea to successful execution. Understand the ScrumMaster’s key role in creating high-performance self-organizing teams Master all components of the ScrumMaster State of Mind: teaching/mentoring, removing impediments, facilitation, and coaching Operate effectively as a ScrumMaster at all levels: team, relationships, and the entire system Sharpen key ScrumMaster cognitive strategies and core competencies Build great teams, and improve teams that are currently dysfunctional Drive deeper change in a safer environment with better support for those affected Make the most of Shu Ha Ri, System Rule, Root Cause Analysis, Impact Mapping, and other ScrumMaster tools Whether you’re a long-time Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) or participating in your first Scrum project, this guide will help you leverage world-class insight in all you do and get the outstanding results you’re looking for. Register your product at informit.com/register for convenient access to downloads, updates, and corrections as they become available

Scrum For The Rest Of US offers practical advice, questions and answers, and tips for avoiding common mistakes with Scrum. Author Brian Rabon provides the latest Scrum knowledge from his interactions with hundreds of companies using Scrum today. The more tricks you know, the more knowledge about common pitfalls you have, the better your Scrum knowledge, the more likely you are to succeed with Scrum. In this book, Rabon gives you everything you needincluding: *When and why to use Scrum *In-depth coverage of the roles, meetings, and artifacts in Scrum *Frequent questions and answers *Common pitfalls and how to avoid them *All without any references to software development ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brian M. Rabon, CST, PMP is passionate about helping both companies and individuals grow, today he does this through teaching Agile methods as a Certified Scrum Trainer. Brian has an extensive background as a practitioner of Agile methods he has gained valuable insights that he uses to explain key concepts. As a professional member of the National Speakers Association and a regular presenter at every major Agile conference, Brian has helped thousands understand the fundamentals of Agile. Through this practical field guide, Brian will guide you through the fundamentals of Scrum and how they can be applied to improve your work.

Thoroughly reviewed and eagerly anticipated by the agile community, User Stories Applied offers a requirements process that saves time, eliminates rework, and leads directly to better software. The best way to build software that meets users' needs is to begin with "user stories": simple, clear, brief descriptions of functionality that will be valuable to real users. In User Stories Applied, Mike Cohn provides you with a front-to-back blueprint for writing these user stories and weaving them into your development lifecycle. You'll learn what makes a great user story, and what makes a bad one. You'll discover practical ways to gather user stories, even when you can't speak with your users. Then, once you've compiled your user stories, Cohn shows how to organize them, prioritize them, and use them for planning, management, and testing. User role modeling: understanding what users have in common, and where they differ Gathering stories: user interviewing, questionnaires, observation, and workshops Working with managers, trainers, salespeople and other "proxies" Writing user stories for acceptance testing Using stories to prioritize, set schedules, and estimate release costs Includes end-of-chapter practice questions and exercises User Stories Applied will be invaluable to every software developer, tester, analyst, and manager working with any agile method: XP, Scrum... or even your own home-grown approach.

The rules and practices for Scrum—a simple process for managing complex projects—are few, straightforward, and easy to learn. But Scrum’s simplicity itself—its lack of prescription—can be disarming, and new practitioners often find themselves reverting to old project management habits and tools and yielding lesser results. In this illuminating series of case studies, Scrum co-creator and evangelist Ken Schwaber identifies the real-world lessons—the successes and failures—culled from his years of experience coaching companies in agile project management. Through them, you’ll understand how to use Scrum to solve complex problems and drive better results—delivering more valuable software faster. Gain the foundation in Scrum theory—and practice—you need to: Rein in even the most complex, unwieldy projects Effectively manage unknown or changing product requirements Simplify the chain of command with self-managing development teams Receive clearer specifications—and feedback—from customers Greatly reduce project planning time and required tools Build—and release—products in 30-day cycles so clients get deliverables earlier Avoid missteps by regularly inspecting, reporting on, and fine-tuning projects Support multiple teams working on a large-scale project from many geographic locations Maximize return on investment!

Proven, 100% Practical Guidance for Making Scrum and Agile Work in Any Organization This is the definitive, realistic, actionable guide to starting fast with Scrum and agile-and then succeeding over the long haul. Leading agile consultant and practitioner Mike Cohn presents detailed recommendations, powerful tips, and real-world case studies drawn from his unparalleled experience helping hundreds of software organizations make Scrum and agile work. Succeeding with Agile is for pragmatic software professionals who want real answers to the most difficult challenges they face in implementing Scrum. Cohn covers every facet of the transition: getting started, helping individuals transition to new roles, structuring teams, scaling up, working with a distributed team, and finally, implementing effective metrics and continuous improvement. Throughout, Cohn presents "Things to Try Now" sections based on his most successful advice. Complementary "Objection" sections reproduce typical conversations with those resisting change and offer practical guidance for addressing their concerns. Coverage includes Practical ways to get started immediately-and "get good" fast Overcoming individual resistance to the changes Scrum requires Staffing Scrum projects and building effective teams Establishing "improvement communities" of people who are passionate about driving change Choosing which agile technical practices to use or experiment with Leading self-organizing teams Making the most of Scrum sprints, planning, and quality techniques Scaling Scrum to distributed, multiteam projects Using Scrum on projects with complex sequential processes or challenging compliance and governance requirements Understanding Scrum's impact on HR, facilities, and project management Whether you've completed a few sprints or multiple agile projects and whatever your role-manager, developer, coach, ScrumMaster, product owner, analyst, team lead, or project lead-this book will help you succeed with your very next project. Then, it will help you go much further: It will help you transform your entire development organization.