Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum

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.

Table of Contents

Part I: Getting Started
Chapter 1 Why Becoming Agile Is Hard (But Worth It)
Chapter 2 ADAPTing to Scrum
Chapter 3 Patterns for Adopting Scrum
Chapter 4 Iterating Toward Agility
Chapter 5 Your First Projects

Part II: Individuals
Chapter 6 Overcoming Resistance
Chapter 7 New Roles
Chapter 8 Changed Roles
Chapter 9 Technical Practices

Part III: Teams
Chapter 10 Team Structure
Chapter 11 Teamwork
Chapter 12 Leading a Self-Organizing Team
Chapter 13 The Product Backlog
Chapter 14 Sprints
Chapter 15 Planning
Chapter 16 Quality

Part IV: The Organization
Chapter 17 Scaling Scrum
Chapter 18 Distributed Teams
Chapter 19 Coexisting with Other Approaches
Chapter 20 Human Resources, Facilities, and the PMO

Part V: Next Steps
Chapter 21 Seeing How Far You’ve Come
Chapter 22 You’re Not Done Yet