Agile Software Development

Scrum Master is specialized in ensuring the scrum process is implemented as intended. He is the one who takes care of the different agile practices to reach the team. Project Manager is the one who takes care of the planning, project deliverables, billing, process, QA, etc...
And now the question for many is can a project survive without the Scrum Master. Its often the case that a traditional project manager takes training as scrum master and he takes the role of a scrum master.

I often wonder what kind of software product/project is a best-fit for Agile development model. While the answer lies somewhere in the product architecture, customer feedback loop, team structure, geographical distribution of teams and various other aspects, I am starting to realize that the "Delivery Channel and Mechanism" will actually provide a good decision box to start the algorithm. "Ends justify the Means" seems very appropriate here.

Agile teams are often faced with a dilemma: how much process is the right amount of process for us? There's no right answer, of course, and the closest thing to a right answer can change as often as you change your socks, which, for the sake of your teammates, I hope is pretty often.

The amount of process your team needs to succeed is influenced by a variety of factors, such as team size, team skill, honesty and trust, management style, your product domain, your team's understanding of the product domain, access to your customers, and much more. There are too many factors and variables to even consider coming up with a formula, so experiment -- try doing some new things, try not doing some old things, and see what happens.

Bridgekeeper: “What is the velocity of an unladen swallow?”
King Arthur: “An African or European swallow?”
Bridgekeeper: “Huh? I don’t know that…”

- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

One of the most important metrics of an Agile team is its velocity. (No, you don't have to give the receptionist a stopwatch and do laps around your office.) In project management terms, velocity is the amount of work that a team can complete in a specified period of time.

When I started to develop software for my new company (Infodoro), I started to work with a distributed team in eastern Europe and India and the daily scrum was not as practical. During that time, I realized that Agile is a lot more than the daily scrum. And it is quite practical and effective to do Agile development in the true sense.

Read the rest at my blog .

The XP2007 conference was full of interesting information and friendly people :o) I really enjoyed lots of agile discussions and perspectives together with the beauty of the Como resort.

See some photos here.