Saturday, October 16, 2010

Lean concepts for the operations management - part 2 – Why not scrum..?


Our first preference was to make a management tasks execution model based on Scrum... But definitely we have the following concerns when it comes to Scrum;

  • 1. Time boxing and sprints doesn’t work

We cannot commit to a specific time box and deliver only the committed tasks. HR department is getting requests all the time, IT dept is getting work all the time.. There is no way they can say … wait for 10 days.. We have to finish the current sprint before we book your air ticket.. So we know time boxing cannot help much when it comes to operations tasks.

  • 2. We need to deliver all the time

Services of operational functions needed all time deliveries.. not any scheduled releases in every 10 days or 3o days

  • 3. Story point estimation doesn’t make much sense

Estimating the story of recruitment of a Software Engineer as point 20 or 2nd story of addressing a leave issue as point 100 doesn’t make much sense.. relative estimation will be difficult as stories carry functions in different context

  • 4. No finishing and re-starting.

In a sprint we burn all the tasks to 0 and then we commit to a different set of story points in the next sprint.. Simply it’s impossible in operational activities. Activities flow every day every moment..

  • 5. Many teams getting involved in the flow.

We have many teams sometimes working on the same user story.. As an example when the recruitment happens.. we have engineering teams involved, HR, IT and many other ..


So then what should we do.. How about KANBAN..which is more lean…?

Next :
Lean concepts for the operations management - part 3 – Looking at KANBAN..

Lean concepts for the operations management - part 4 – How did we implement it ?



Previous :
Lean concepts for the operations management - part 1 – How did it start?


2 comments:

Max Headroom on 4:48 AM said...

Hi Thushara,

My previous comment went without a response from you but I still read your blog for knowledge.

Is it possible to send me a "User Story" with story points and point estimation? I would like to initiate SCRUM where I work but the "story point" is a mental block.

You may send information to my mail box: kar.desilva@gmail.com.

Thanks in advance.

Ajit

Thush on 2:18 AM said...

Sorry about me neglecting to reply many posts. I have sent you a reply.

Thanks

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