Case Study of Agile and Scrum at the Speed of Light

Editor's Notes

• #3: This is how I learned Agile for the first time – as scrummaster at GiveCamp I didn’t learn by being in a classroom, it wasn’t about legal contracts. This wasn’t about the individual, this is all about the team, working together to create working software.
• #5: The Scrum PO is typically a project's key stakeholder. The product owner's responsibilities include having a vision of what he or she wishes to build, and conveying that vision to the Scrum team. ... The Agile product owner does this in part through the product backlog, which is a prioritized features list for the product
• #7: 30 GiveCamp twitter feeds with one in Berlin Germany
• #8: LeanDog is agile software development company. I learned about Kanban, Lean, agile and scrum from them.
• #9: Google “GiveCamp” and Cleveland dominates the search results Other cities (Seattle, Denver, DC) reach out to us around how to organize GiveCamp
• #10: http://clevelandgivecamp.org/nonprofits/ Over 75 apply each year – 15-20 can be completed Project Managers start in April-May to vet the applications and especially in mid-June working to keep the non-profits on track with their preparations Volunteer signup is in June..until we max out or the event in July Sponsor signup is ongoing from January to the day of camp Sponsors are continuously being signed up to participate – no deadline! => Non-Profits Apply: Contact information, 501c3 tax ID number Project description A project that can be completed in one weekend Organization information Organization name and address Organization Website, Organization history and background Tax ID Number as a 501(c)3 nonprofit Contact Name, Contact Email, Contact Phone Number, Contact Mobile Phone Project information How did you hear about Cleveland GiveCamp? Project Description (work requested) (i.e. Is it a website, database application, mobile site/mobile app, something else?) Project Stakeholders Project Goals Look (i.e. if it is website, what do you want it to look like – modern, traditional, etc.) Specifications Web Plugins – (Is there specific software or apps that must be integrated into the project? Online giving, membership module, etc.) Examples of websites you like Examples of websites you don’t like. Comments on Existing Technologies Comments on Skill of Support Staff Keep in mind it is instrumental that your organization has someone with decision-making authority available during the entire GiveCamp weekend. We plan to select around 15 to 20 nonprofits to serve this year. This number varies based upon the number of technical volunteers who have committed to help at the event and the scope of the projects. Our ultimate goal is to complete all projects in a weekend. When selecting our nonprofit partners, we evaluate the projects based on certain criteria: Can we complete the project over the course of the weekend? Will the project greatly enhance the mission of the nonprofit? Will the nonprofit NOT be able to do this project without our help? Meaning, do they have the financial resources to do it on their own? We want to make sure we help those who need it most.
• #11: => My charity got selected. What now? If selected, before GC: Content written Graphic designs created Site map if a website Congratulations! We fondly look forward to working with your organization. Here are a few things to think about that might be helpful when planning your project. The main emphasis on projects is technology. For organizations needing written content, we suggest they have a majority of it ready and planned before coming to GiveCamp. We do have copy writers available to help, but we suggest utilizing these volunteers to tighten up copy or fill in the gaps. For organizations needing graphic design… GiveCamp volunteers are focused on the technology aspects of your project. We do have graphic designers assigned to teams creating websites, but their role is to infuse your brand into the site. They will not be able to create a branding campaign or logo for your organization. Those items must be developed ahead of time. We suggest you take time to plan your project ahead of time. If you want a website, look at other sites and plan a site “map.” This document will make it easier for our volunteers to set up your site. If you are planning an app or database, think about those who will use them, the fields or sections you want to include, and plan accordingly. My charity did not get selected. What now? More than 75 nonprofits apply each year for assistance and unfortunately we cannot accept every project. If you have applied and were not accepted, we encourage you to consider applying again the next year. There are also other GiveCamp events planned throughout the region that may be able to help your organization.
• #12: Before, during and after tweets
• #17: LeanDog is agile software development company. I learned about Kanban, Lean, agile and scrum from them.
• #18: People really do camp! Lake Burkefront airport – which has a nice Women In Space museum exhibit (with the cutout) and LeanDog. It’s a great site to work on since it’s a barge, converted into a restaurant, and now hosts an agile software development company and a marketing firm. Location of our work is important. Co-locating makes it easier to get work done. A friendly environment can’t always be had but the effort to make it nice
• #19: For both the PO and the Development team
• #20: Kickoff – We learn how the weekend will go, similar to a project kickoff. What is our goal? Why are we here? Who are our coworkers? Who is here with us? Who is our customer? What are the nonprofits we are going to work with? Who is the support team that will help us that isn’t directly on our teams? Deal with blockers of code and food! - Similar to the DevOps
• #21: One non-profit tells us about their organization. CAN - Collective Arts Network Journal It’s at the kickoff that we, the volunteers, commit to this effort and to the project. People are assigned by skillset to each project, since projects differ.
• #22: Mostly Wordpress Salesforce one time Veggie Worms was an application with 20 people, variety of skills We knew ahead of time there was a special project and recruited people for specially for that project. Usually we don’t have a animator and graphic artist .
• #23: Volunteers donated $750K of their time.
• #24: All food is donated Snacks and drinks are available around the clock
• #26: PO is onsite and available all day, every day Malachi House Everyone is co-located and committed to the weekend.
• #28: First thing to do – Build the backlog. Work with the non-profit representative to find out what the project is. Build the backlog of how to approach the project for the next 47 hours. (1 hour went to the kickoff) Give the technical info to the developers so they can load the app on their local machine.
• #30: Scrum Ceremony – Standups Project Managers only – can be a BA, PM – anyone not a developer can lead a team What’s said at a standup – status of the project, how much done, confidence on getting done on time, any hindrances/blocks, need help, if a person or entire teams is done and devs can move to another project Short and to the point – there are 21 teams after all
• #31: Back to working the backlog
• #34: In 2016 the Heavy Hitters wore red shirts. They float around the teams. If a team needs help they find someone with a walkie talkie – the organizers and heavy hitters – and find a red shirt. The expert flies over to the team and helps solve the problem. Remove the blockers
• #35: Wordpress, Security education given to non-profits Yes, her name is really Heidi Cool – Wordpress Security Training from Tom of Team X security team
• #37: Project team Leadership team Social media/photography team Heavy Hitters team
• #39: Project managers present final products My project in 2015 was to help rewrite the non-profit’s website. The non-profit was Malachai House. They are an end-of-life hospice home and their website was terribly outdated. And it wasn’t maintainable by the staff. They did their prep work and had their logo redesigned in the new colors. They brought pictures to include on the site. They had all their technical web information ready for the team. The project team gave them a new layout using a free Wordpress template. And they can update themselves. The 2 product owners attended the Wordpress training. ---------------------------- Another project I worked was a contact database. This required a special skill and the developers were able to make just get it done in the givecamp time period. It was a large project to accomplish in 48 hours.