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Scaling Agile

Scaling Agile. Tribes, Squads, Chapters and Guilds at Spotify Presented by Jonathan Rayback, Agile Executives 1/17/13. Source. Reporting on white paper by Henrik Kniberg and Anders Ivarsson , Scaling Agile @ Spotify (October 2012). General Framework. Squad.

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Scaling Agile

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  1. Scaling Agile Tribes, Squads, Chapters and Guilds at Spotify Presented by Jonathan Rayback, Agile Executives 1/17/13

  2. Source • Reporting on white paper by HenrikKniberg and Anders Ivarsson, Scaling Agile @ Spotify(October 2012).

  3. General Framework

  4. Squad • Similar to Scrum Team and like mini-startup • Has all skills/tools to design, develop and release to production • Self-organizing, decides own way of working (Scrum/Kanban/hybrid…) • Each squad has a long-term mission (e.g. scaling backend performance, payment solutions, etc.) • Squads apply Lean Startup principles to their mission like Miminum Viable Product, A/B testing (“think it/build it/ship it/tweak it”) • No formal squad leader but each squad has a Product Owner who feeds them work but doesn’t tell them how to work • Squads have access to Agile coaches to help them tune their work methods as needed • 10% time devoted to squad “hack days”

  5. Tribe • A group of Squads that work in a related area (e.g. backend infrastructure, music player, etc.) • “Incubator” for the squad mini-startups • Each tribe has a tribe lead responsible for providing the best possible habitat for the squads • Squads are located in the same physical building, normally right next to each other with adjoining lounge areas for collaboration • Tribe size based on Dunbar number of smaller than 100 per tribe to allow for stable interpersonal relationships • Regular tribe gatherings where each squad shows what they’ve delivered, demos of working software, new tools and techniques or hack session results

  6. Cross Squad/Tribe Dependencies • The goal is to avoid this as much as possible. • Paper describes process of regular surveys given to squads to identify cross-squad dependencies and label them as “No Problem”, “Slowing”, “Blocking” or “Future”. • The results of the survey often lead to reprioritization, reorganization, architectural changes or technical solutions. • “Scrum of scrums” is not a regular practice but is used as needed when projects require more extensive cross-squad/tribe work.

  7. Chapter • A chapter is a cross-squad organization within a tribe • People in a chapter have similar roles/skills (e.g. testing, web development, database, etc.) • Provides opportunities for economies of scale and learning across squads • Chapters meet together regularly to discuss their area of expertise and challenges specific to their discipline • Chapter lead is the line manager for members of his/her chapter

  8. Guild

  9. Guild (con.) • More organic, wide-reaching “community of interest” (e.g. web technology guild, testing guild, Agile techniques guild) • While chapters are tribe-specific, guilds cut across the company • Members of related chapters are also members of the guild but anyone can join any guild • Each guild has a guild coordinator • Guilds host conferences and other events to facilitate discussions related the guild focus

  10. Just a Matrixed Org? • Yes but... • Vertical focus on delivery, the “what”… • Horizontal focus on technique, the “how”… • Poppendieks’ “professor and entrepreneur” model

  11. Books by HenrikKniberg • Scrum and XP from the Trenches • Lean from the Trenches: Managing Large-Scale Projects with Kanban

  12. Thoughts?

  13. Backup

  14. Quarterly Squad Survey

  15. Jeff Patton Notes • Jeff goes back and forth to Stockholm several times a year • Still immature in terms of product management • Partially due to Squads being autonomous and lots of design really happens at the squad level without great coordination • Is a FUBU product (“For us, by us”) • “Think it, build it, ship it, tweak it” might really be “Think it, build it, ship it, fix the crap that doesn’t work!” • Possible architecture problems…Conway’s Law? • TDD, etc. not there so much • Company has grown very fast, like many fast growing tech companies, technology was caught off-guard.

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