Project Management Exclusive Interview Questions and Answers (49) - Page 3

SCRUM is a methodology which believes rapid changes of customer can not be solved by traditional approach. So it adopts an empirical approach where it believes problem can not be understood or defined. Rather concentrate on the team’s ability to respond to the emerging requirements. 

Before we understand the SCRUM cycle let’s get familiar with some terms regarding SCRUM.

• Product Owner is the end customer or the user.


• Product back log is a list of prioritized items to be developed for a software project.


• Sprint is the task breakup of product catalog. It’s the detail task break down for a development team.

Below figure ‘Product Catalog and Sprint’ shows a typical product catalog broken in to sprint. In the left hand side of the figure we have shown two items in the product back log “Create Customer” and “Create Supplier”. To complete “Create Customer” the developer need to the following sprint task “Code Business Logic”, “Design UI” and “Prepare Test Plans”.
 

Figure: - Product Catalog and Sprint 

Below figure ‘SCRUM Flow’ shows how the development flow moves in a project. We will understand the SCRUM flow step by step.

Step 1:- Product owner (i.e. the customer) creates a list of product log (list of functionalities).

Step 2 and 3:- In these phases we sit with the customer and prioritize the product catalog. We discuss with the customer which functionality is must and must be delivered first.

Step 4 and 5:- In both these phases we breakdown the product catalog in to tasks called as sprint backlog.

Step 6:- We start executing the sprint task and monitoring the sprint activity.

Step 7 and 8:- Once we are done with the sprint activity, we take the next sprint / task by again going to the sprint phase.

Step 9:- If there are no more sprint / task the product log is completed, which means the project is completed.
 

Figure: - SCRUM Flow

SCRUM has some different terminologies when it comes to role names in SCRUM. Below is the list of roles with what actually they mean.
People with pig roles are those people who are committed to the project. If the project fails it affects these people. So of the pig roles are developer, customer, project manager etc.
Product owner means the end customer or user.
Scrum master is the process driver. These are the people who drive the scrum process. They are consultants for Scrum process.
People with chicken roles work indirectly on the project. They do not really benefit from the project but their feedback is valuable to the project. They can not be held responsible if the project is not successful.

Figure: - SCRUM Roles 

DSDM also termed as Dynamic Systems Development Method has the following characteristics:-

• It’s based upon RAD (Rapid Application Development).


• DSDM is best suited for projects which have tight schedule and budgets.


• It’s iterative and incremental.
   

Figure: - DSDM Characteristics

DSDM has three basic phases Pre-project, Project life cycle and Post project phase.

1. Pre-project phase: - In this phase project is identified, project funds are allocated and commitment from all stake holder is ensured.
   


2. Project life cycle phase: - This is the most lengthy and detail phase in DSDM. This is where all actual project execution happens. This phase is explained in a more detail manner in the coming section.
   


3. Post project phase: - In this phase system is operating smoothly. The main activity conducted in this phase is maintenance, enhancement and project defect fixes. Maintenance, enhancement and defect fixing can be viewed as iterative and incremental nature of DSDM.

Figure: - DSDM Phases

There are in all five phases in DSDM project life cycle:-

1. Feasibility Study: - During this stage the can the project be used for DSDM is examined. For that we need to answer questions like "Can this project fulfill business needs?", "Is the project fit for DSDM?" and "What are the prime risks involved in the project?".


2. Business Study: - Once we have concluded that the project has passed the feasibility study in this phase we do a business study. Business study involves meeting with the end customer/user to discuss about a proposed system. In one sentence it’s a requirement gathering phase. Requirements are then prioritized and time boxed. So the output of this phase is a prioritized requirement list with time frames.


3. Functional Model Iteration: - In this phase we develop prototype which is reviewed by the end user.


4. Design and Build Iteration: - The prototype which was agreed by the user in the previous stage is designed and built in this stage and given to the end user for testing.


5. Implementation: - Once the end user has confirmed everything is alright its time to implement the same to the end user.
    

Figure: - DSDM Project Life Cycle

Lean software development has derived its principles from lean manufacturing. Below figure ‘Principles of LSD’ shows all the principles.

Figure: - Principles of LSD
 

Let’s understand in brief about the principles.

Eliminate waste: - Only deliver what’s needed to the end user. Anything more than that is a waste. In short anything which does not add value is a waste. In short we can by pass tasks and still deliver then it should be bypassed.

Decide as late as possible: - Software systems are complex. The more they are near to execution more is the clarity. So delay decisions so that they can be based in facts rather than assumptions. For instance your team decides to use automation testing, but when you complete execution you come to know changes are delivered every day by the developer. After execution you conclude manual testing is the best option. Bad part will be if you have already bought an automation tool, its waste of money.

Deliver as fast as possible: - faster a product is delivered, faster you will get user response and faster you can improve in the next iteration. The concept is not fast coding, but try to deliver is small user identified chunks for better understanding.

Motivate team: - Team members are the most important aspect for success of any project. Motivate them, given them roles; keep your team spirit high and whatever you can do to make them feel good in the project. A highly motivated team delivers project on time.

Integrity: - Software system should be delivered in loosely coupled components. Every component or module can function individually and when integrated with the project it works perfectly well. It should be a plug and play from the end user point of view. This spirit is derived from how actual production system work. You can assemble a car with wheels from one organization and seats from other organization. 

ASD (Adaptive Software Development) accepts that change is a truth. It also accepts in principles that mistakes can happen and it’s important to learn from those mistakes in the future. Below figure ‘ASD Cycle’ shows three important phases in ASD.

Figure: - ASD Cycle

Let’s understand all the three phases in a detail manner.

Speculate (nothing but planning):- This is the planning phase of ASD cycle. Below figure ‘Speculate’ shows in detail what happens in this phase.

Define Project Scope: - This is the first phase in the main speculate phase. In this we set the main goals and what’s the scope of the entire project.

Set Time for Scope: - Timelines are decided for the scope identified in the previous phase.

Decide the number of iterations: - Depending on the time lines and the scope we identify how many iterations will the project have.

Break Scope to tasks: - In this section we break the scope in to tasks. Tasks are nothing but development activity which a developer has to do to complete the scope.

Assign task to developers: - Assign those task to developer.
Now that we know who will do what task, its time for coding / execution.
 

Figure: - Speculate

Collaborate (coding / execution):-Execute as per the task and test it.

Learn (Review and give feedback to planning):- At the end of iteration see what lessons we have learnt and apply the same for the next iteration.