Doug Hieber, Senior Application Architect
December 24, 2014
Can a family, burdened by all of their last minute shopping, cleaning, and working before the holidays, use the Agile software development methodology to help them prepare their house for the upcoming family get-together? This blog examines whether or not the family pulled off the ultimate Christmas miracle!
As a typical family of four, we get pretty busy at the holidays. We are buying gifts, decorating the house, setting up the outdoor lighting display, and attending parties, plus doing all of our everyday tasks. This year, we are also hosting the extended family get-together, with everyone coming from out of town and staying overnight. This means even more preparation and cleaning. My whole family—especially my wife—was feeling stressed and overloaded. Enter the Agile approach to the holidays!
I have been practicing Agile software development methodology at work for the past year, and have told stories about it at the dinner table. As a result, my wife and kids were interested in the idea of using it to plan the holiday family tasks. We decided to conduct one-day holiday “Sprints.” Very short indeed, but perfect for keeping Brad (my 12-year old son) focused. It was also a nice contrast from the two-week “Project Plan” ghost of Christmas past that failed so spectacularly last year.
I played the role of Product Owner, and together we created a list of goals (User Stories), prioritized them (Backlog Grooming), and planned the holiday tasks for the day (Sprint Planning). Our User Stories were things like: Complete Homework, Practice Trombone, Clean Family Room, and Clean Bedroom. Some User Stories had tasks for multiple people, like Clean Family Room. We all provided estimates and we only committed to enough tasks to fill the day (our Sprint Capacity). Everyone had a manageable task list and felt in control of their day, and I felt the right objectives were being addressed.
We held two Stand-Up Scrum meetings, and at the first one, Brad expressed concern he wouldn’t get everything done. You see, the task to clean the game corner of the family room turned out to be much more than the one-hour estimate. To do it right, and not just stuff things in big piles, he had to remove games no longer needed and sort tons of loose Legos. I explained that Stand-Up meetings are not about giving status, they are about identifying issues and making adjustments, or, being agile! So, we allocated extra resources to help for a while (yours truly to help sort, and my wife to prep removed items for Goodwill).
After the first day, Brad was still super engaged and eager for the second round of Sprint Planning. He liked giving input into the process by providing task estimates and participating in planning, and he especially loved having control over his day. Plus, he was surprised that he wasn’t in trouble for a story that was not completed (I gave him a pass when Clean Bedroom was not completed because Clean Family Room was underestimated). He was also interested to see that my wife’s Clean Kitchen task was not completed for the same reason. He learned a very important agile concept: we are all in it together! And with that team spirit, both tasks were completed in Sprint 2.
The family get-together is still a few days away, but thanks to a few more sprints, we are ready for it. And this time we got there without any kids melting down nor any raised voices, but still had some fun in the process. Plus, Brad still has a positive attitude about the whole Agile concept. In fact, he wants a promotion to Scrum Master!
Doug Hieber, Senior Application Architect
December 24, 2014
Can a family, burdened by all of their last minute shopping, cleaning, and working before the holidays, use the Agile software development methodology to help them prepare their house for the upcoming family get-together? This blog examines whether or not the family pulled off the ultimate Christmas miracle!
As a typical family of four, we get pretty busy at the holidays. We are buying gifts, decorating the house, setting up the outdoor lighting display, and attending parties, plus doing all of our everyday tasks. This year, we are also hosting the extended family get-together, with everyone coming from out of town and staying overnight. This means even more preparation and cleaning. My whole family—especially my wife—was feeling stressed and overloaded. Enter the Agile approach to the holidays!
I have been practicing Agile software development methodology at work for the past year, and have told stories about it at the dinner table. As a result, my wife and kids were interested in the idea of using it to plan the holiday family tasks. We decided to conduct one-day holiday “Sprints.” Very short indeed, but perfect for keeping Brad (my 12-year old son) focused. It was also a nice contrast from the two-week “Project Plan” ghost of Christmas past that failed so spectacularly last year.
I played the role of Product Owner, and together we created a list of goals (User Stories), prioritized them (Backlog Grooming), and planned the holiday tasks for the day (Sprint Planning). Our User Stories were things like: Complete Homework, Practice Trombone, Clean Family Room, and Clean Bedroom. Some User Stories had tasks for multiple people, like Clean Family Room. We all provided estimates and we only committed to enough tasks to fill the day (our Sprint Capacity). Everyone had a manageable task list and felt in control of their day, and I felt the right objectives were being addressed.
We held two Stand-Up Scrum meetings, and at the first one, Brad expressed concern he wouldn’t get everything done. You see, the task to clean the game corner of the family room turned out to be much more than the one-hour estimate. To do it right, and not just stuff things in big piles, he had to remove games no longer needed and sort tons of loose Legos. I explained that Stand-Up meetings are not about giving status, they are about identifying issues and making adjustments, or, being agile! So, we allocated extra resources to help for a while (yours truly to help sort, and my wife to prep removed items for Goodwill).
After the first day, Brad was still super engaged and eager for the second round of Sprint Planning. He liked giving input into the process by providing task estimates and participating in planning, and he especially loved having control over his day. Plus, he was surprised that he wasn’t in trouble for a story that was not completed (I gave him a pass when Clean Bedroom was not completed because Clean Family Room was underestimated). He was also interested to see that my wife’s Clean Kitchen task was not completed for the same reason. He learned a very important agile concept: we are all in it together! And with that team spirit, both tasks were completed in Sprint 2.
The family get-together is still a few days away, but thanks to a few more sprints, we are ready for it. And this time we got there without any kids melting down nor any raised voices, but still had some fun in the process. Plus, Brad still has a positive attitude about the whole Agile concept. In fact, he wants a promotion to Scrum Master!