Adopting SCRUM in Global Delivery

Recently (Oct 2008), I gave a presentation at a delivery management summit held by Microsoft at Cancun about Adopting SCRUM in a global delivery model.

The adoption though not a run-away hit , has its own unique flavor and challenges more so when the customer is not even used a global delivery/onsite-offshore model the biggest one is that of the product owner not being in close proximity to the team , though with the usage of technologies some of these issues can be solved , there is also the other challenge of where the SCRUM Master needs to be and what’s the role of an offshore project manager and how he can contribute to the development life cycle.

Not silver bullets – but from my experience of executing some of these projects, here’s a set of “Best Practices”

• SCRUM Workshops for all the stake-holders during project initiation
• Break between sprints to review Specifications ( In case on unclear requirements)
• Treat the first few sprints as learning sprints , and let the team find their pace
• Decide on sprint duration during Sprint planning meeting
• Conduct feasibility analysis during deal structuring stage
• Conduct health check meetings after 3-4 sprints in long duration projects including all stakeholders even if you're doing regular retrospectives
• Documenting every decision made on the SharePoint Wiki Site, post the stand up meet
• Project sponsors and management buy-in and intervention , when needed
• Usage of BA to be proxy product owner
• Continuous coaching by experienced SCRUM Masters