Re: Scrum sucks!

[Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Thanks, I'll be here all week! Try the veal!

But seriously, think about rugby (source of the scrum model)... Do you
really think they allow team members to run from one simultaneous game
to another? Of course not! Scrum is entirely about a unified effort to
get a specific thing done. If they're stringing you across scrums,
then you're not in the scrum. It's that simple. Pull off your pink
snout and curly tail, you silly chicken!

I've seen way more than my fair share of failed attempts at scrum.
Companies seem to think that they can jump right into it and sling the
buzzword around without actually changing anything. Going from a
matrix-organized waterfall project model (which is sounds like your
company used to use, as most did/do) to scrum requires significant
investment in CHANGE. It could be as simple as Dev and QA picking up
the ol' typewriter and banging out docs in support of the scrum, or it
could be a fundamental shift in staffing solutions to fit a multi-team
scrum model to afford each scrum team a full blend of contributing job
roles.

Or, you are made (or given) a Scrum Master entirely dedicated to Docs
Scrums that, iteration by iteration, take the end result of a scrum or
collection or scrums and produce documentation for them. Your team
would have Dev and QA in it to assist with writing, testing, and
fixing documentation-related stuff, whether it be beefing up docs for
a future release, fixing/improving Help, or what have you.

But having you flit from scrum team to scrum team mid-scrum is not
remotely any form of good scrum practice. You're not committed to the
team (a pig), you are merely being involved (chicken). And since your
product is dire to the success of the scrum, this simply cannot be.

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 2:33 PM, Pro TechWriter
<pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> So often you have the BEST answer, Bill! I had to laugh. You are right!
>
> PT
>
> On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 1:24 PM, Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
>>
>> When you start actually using scrum, let me know. That depiction of
>> scrum is like BP's depiction of responsibility. ;-)
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 2:11 PM, Kat Kuvinka <katkuvinka -at- hotmail -dot- com>
>> wrote:
>> > I really like it at first! There was one me, one tester, three teams,
>> > and about a dozen developers. Docs were part of the DoD and I thought it was
>> > a great way to be on top of every new or changed feature.
>> >
>> > Now there are 7 teams, about 30 developers, 6 testers, and still one me.
>> > OK, I exaggerate, we have a contract writer, but she is dedicated to one
>> > team, and I still have to support that team. And she is leaving soon.
>> >
>> > I am going to campaign for more writers, but in the meantime, any
>> > suggestions?
>>
>> --
>> Bill Swallow
>>
>> Twitter: @techcommdood
>> Blog: http://techcommdood.com
>> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/techcommdood
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>
>> Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with
>> Doc-To-Help.
>> Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
>> Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
>> http://www.doctohelp.com
>>
>> LavaCon 2010 in San Diego Sept 29 - Oct 2 is now open for registration.
>>   Use referral code TECHWR-L for $50 off conference tuition!
>>          See program at: http://lavacon.org/
>>
>>
>> ---
>> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com -dot- 
>>
>> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
>> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>> or visit
>> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/pro.techwriter%40gmail.com
>>
>>
>> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>>
>> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
>> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>>
>> Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
>> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat
>>
>
>



-- 
Bill Swallow

Twitter: @techcommdood
Blog: http://techcommdood.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/techcommdood
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help. 
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try 
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

LavaCon 2010 in San Diego Sept 29 - Oct 2 is now open for registration.  
   Use referral code TECHWR-L for $50 off conference tuition! 
          See program at: http://lavacon.org/


---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat