Sets
- Prepare Roles and Requirements:
- Perform the Sprint Ceremony:
- Conduct a Daily Standup
Prepare Roles and Requirements
Identify Product Owner
- Read the brief description of the Product Owner (PO) role.
Note: The list includes some duties not relevant in “Slight FuSS.” - If your startup has one majority owner, that person is the PO unless they choose to designate someone else.
- Otherwise, have the owners choose whether:
- One will be the sole PO, and whom.
- The role will be rotated among them, in which case, also decide the frequency and order of rotation.
- The role will be shared (not recommended).
Tip: If you choose this option, consider splitting the duties by having one person handle product/service requirements and the other handle “build-the-business” requirements. Each will have opportunities within Slight FuSS for input on the other type.
Identify Facilitator and Meeting Schedule
At a team meeting:
- Show everyone the descriptions of both the Product Owner and Facilitator roles, pointing out those include added tasks not required in Slight FuSS.
- Identify someone other than the Product Owner(s) to serve as the Facilitator, plus a backup.
Tip: You can also have several or all non-PO members rotate the role. - Show the team the description of the Daily Standup.
Note: This links to the only part relevant in Slight FuSS, “Answer Three Questions.” - Decide as a team what time each day to hold the standup, sometime after everyone usually starts work each day, and before their usual end-of-day.
Choose a Tracker
Product Owner(s):
- Review the options for tracking your work requirements (“user stories”):
- The free Slight FuSS Tracker spreadsheet—after downloading, see the “Legend” tab for instructions.
- A paper tracker posted on a wall.
- Any of a number of Agile trackers that are free online—search using the term “Agile tool,” going deep into the results, and make sure the description mentions Scrum.
- Depending on your choice:
- Put the tracker in a network or online location where everyone on the team can see it.
- Create your paper tracker.
- Set up the digital tracker, giving everyone on the team “editing” rights.
- If your team members are not in the same office, also choose and set up a tool for virtual meetings.
Create Initial User Stories
Customer(s) if possible, and Product Owner:
- If you do not have enough customer and market requirements to fill at least two months of the team’s time under your current processes, try to gather that many.
- Write or convert all requirements into two-week-sized “user stories” in your Product Backlog, each with a draft of:
- If using the Slight FuSS Tracker—the “User,” “Requirement,” and “Purpose” columns for each requirement, plus “Notes” if desired.
Note: Do not complete the other columns at this point; those are team decisions. - In other trackers, the story statement in this format: “As a [type of user], I want [to do this] so that I can [achieve this purpose].”
Tip: Online trackers typically have a “Name” or “Description” field for this statement. For the paper tracker, enter it at the top of a sticky note or note card (one story each).
- If using the Slight FuSS Tracker—the “User,” “Requirement,” and “Purpose” columns for each requirement, plus “Notes” if desired.
- Add an initial set of business and technical requirements, including other needed story types such as support and cross-training stories or known defects.
- Revise or delete stories near the top as desired.
Note: If you want a record of deleted stories, create an archive backlog in your online tracker; use a folder/envelope for a paper tracker; or move each to the “Archive” tab of the Slight FuSS Tracker with some indication it was deleted. - Place approximately a month’s worth of requirements (regardless of type) at the top of the list in order of importance based on value to the business, however you choose to define “value.”
Tip: Don’t worry about getting the order exactly right—the team will provide input later.
Details:
Perform the Sprint Ceremony
Pre-Groom the Backlog
Product Owner, shortly before each Sprint Ceremony:
- Add any new requirements desired to the backlog.
- Confirm the rank order and wording of the stories at the top, including several more than the team usually completes in a sprint.
Example: If your team usually does seven stories per sprint, review the top 10. For the first ceremony, estimate based on the usual amount of work completed in two weeks. - If any of those stories have blockers (see next step set) liable to continue into the ceremony, review that number of additional stories.
Details: “Pre-Groom for Speed.”
Demonstrate the Prior Sprint’s Results
Facilitator, at each ceremony after the first one:
- Show the list of stories worked in the sprint (the Sprint Plan).
- Have members take turns showing or describing the deliverables they completed.
- Ask the requester or PO to accept or reject any completed stories, and explain any rejections.
Note: Add the explanation to the story (for example, in the “Notes” section of the Slight Fuss Tracker), and revise the story statement if needed. - Discuss what to do with any incomplete stories.
- If new requirements emerge, add them to the backlog.
- If at any point in the Slight FuSS process a blocker is identified:
- Mark the story as blocked, with the reason, and if possible add an action item to clear the blocker.
- Cease discussion on that story (until unblocked), unless the person addressing the blocker needs help.
Details:
Check for Lessons Learned
Facilitator, at the ceremony:
- Ask: “What is going right with the sprints or company?”
- Ask: “What is going wrong?”
- Ask: “What can we do differently next sprint?”
Note: Address every “went wrong” item. - Create user stories or action items to address the “do differently” items.
- Continue to the next set.
Details: “View the Sprint in Retrospect.”
Review the Backlog Order
- Show the team the backlog.
- Ask if there are suggestions for re-ranking stories.
- Briefly discuss the reasons for each suggested change, and ask the PO for permission to revise the order.
- If the PO wants to retain the current order of any item under discussion, retain it and close off further debate.
- Check whether any blocked stories can be unblocked.
- Continue to the next set.
Details: “Review the Order.”
Groom a Story
- Open the top ungroomed, unblocked story in the backlog (“groomed” means the team has reviewed it together).
- Review and revise the story until everyone’s questions have been answered.
Details: “What’s the Real Story?” and “Why Do the Story?” - Ask if the story can be completed in one sprint.
- If not, break it into new, smaller stories that can be completely done in one sprint each, and perform the steps above for the first one in the series.
Details: “Epics.” - Indicate somewhere in the tracker that the team has groomed the story, in case you decide not to put it in the next sprint.
Example: In the Slight FuSS Tracker, place an “x” in the “Groomed” column. - Continue to the next set.
Address Risks
- Ask:
- “What could go wrong that would affect our ability to complete the story within one sprint?”
- “What might go wrong if we complete this story—in other words, what could we break?”
Note: If the answer is “nothing,” skip to the next steps set. - Add a list of possible answers (“risks”) to the tracker.
- Determine whether any or all of these are true:
- The story should be blocked due to the risk.
- Action items are needed to address the risk before it is committed into a sprint.
- Tasks are needed to address the risk during the sprint, in which case note them somewhere in the story.
- Continue to the next set.
Details: “Projects are a Risky Business.”
Complete the Sprint Plan
- With the story still open:
- Ask for a volunteer to take the lead on completing the story and record their name.
Note: Digital trackers will have a field to add a name. Add it as the “Leader” in the Startup FuSS Tracker, or to the paper story card (preferably in a consistent place for all stories). - Ask the volunteer if he or she needs help, and if so ask for as many other volunteers as required.
Note: The Leader can track the names, or add them to the “Notes” or similar section in the tracker. Typically digital trackers only allow one name per story. - Allow discussion among the team about the story language and volunteers, but give the lead volunteer final say on whether the story is clear.
- If someone is missing, allow the team to “volunteer” that person for stories.
- Ask for a volunteer to take the lead on completing the story and record their name.
- Return to “Groom a Story” and repeat the steps down to here for each unblocked story, working from the top down, until everyone has enough work to cover 80% of their time (less if they have non-project duties).
Note: To increase predictability, do not allow people to take more stories than they are 100% certain they can complete within the sprint. They can start additional ones after completing those. - If a member was out, on their first day back, ask them to check their stories and make changes if desired, including trading with another member.
Details: “Speak Up for Missing Persons.”
Conduct a Daily Standup
At the team’s chosen Daily Standup time (except on Sprint Ceremony days), facilitated by the Facilitator or any team member present:
- Start the meeting on time even if some people are missing.
- Have each person answer only:
- “What sprint tasks did you work on since the last sprint meeting?”
- “What sprint tasks do you intend to work on before the next meeting?”
- “Do you have any blockers?”
- If people stray from the three questions, interrupt to keep the meeting focused.
- After everyone has reported, ask if further discussions are needed and who needs to be involved.
- Let everyone else go as soon as they are no longer needed, though they can stay if they wish.
Max. Daily Standup Time: 15 minutes.
Details: “Answer Three Questions.”
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