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A Mike Cohn Signature Book
The Scrum Field Guide: Practical Advice for Your First Year
Thousands of IT professionals are being asked to make Scrum succeed in their organizations–including many who weren’t involved in the decision to adopt it. If you’re one of them, The Scrum Field Guide will give you skills and confidence to adopt Scrum more rapidly, more successfully, and with far less pain and fear. Long-time Scrum practitioner Mitch Lacey identifies major challenges associated with early-stage Scrum adoption, as well as deeper issues that emerge after companies have adopted Scrum, and describes how other organizations have overcome them. You’ll learn how to gain “quick wins” that build support, and then use the flexibility of Scrum to maximize value creation across the entire process.
In 30 brief, engaging chapters, Lacey guides you through everything from defining roles to setting priorities to determining team velocity, choosing a sprint length, and conducting customer reviews. Along the way, he explains why Scrum can seem counterintuitive, offers a solid grounding in the core agile concepts that make it work, and shows where it can (and shouldn’t) be modified. Coverage includes
Getting teams on board, and bringing new team members aboard after you’ve started Creating a “definition of done” for the team and organization Implementing the strong technical practices that are indispensable for agile success Balancing predictability and adaptability in release planning Keeping defects in check Running productive daily standup meetings Keeping people engaged with pair programming Managing culture clashes on Scrum teams Performing “emergency procedures” to get sprints back on track Establishing a pace your team can truly sustain Accurately costing projects, and measuring the value they deliver Documenting Scrum projects effectively Prioritizing and estimating large backlogs Integrating outsourced and offshored components
Packed with real-world examples from Lacey’s own experience, this book is invaluable to everyone transitioning to developers, architects, testers, managers, and project owners alike.
In 30 brief, engaging chapters, Lacey guides you through everything from defining roles to setting priorities to determining team velocity, choosing a sprint length, and conducting customer reviews. Along the way, he explains why Scrum can seem counterintuitive, offers a solid grounding in the core agile concepts that make it work, and shows where it can (and shouldn’t) be modified. Coverage includes
Getting teams on board, and bringing new team members aboard after you’ve started Creating a “definition of done” for the team and organization Implementing the strong technical practices that are indispensable for agile success Balancing predictability and adaptability in release planning Keeping defects in check Running productive daily standup meetings Keeping people engaged with pair programming Managing culture clashes on Scrum teams Performing “emergency procedures” to get sprints back on track Establishing a pace your team can truly sustain Accurately costing projects, and measuring the value they deliver Documenting Scrum projects effectively Prioritizing and estimating large backlogs Integrating outsourced and offshored components
Packed with real-world examples from Lacey’s own experience, this book is invaluable to everyone transitioning to developers, architects, testers, managers, and project owners alike.
412 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 29, 2012
70 people are currently reading
742 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 17, 2020
Extremely useful book! Loved the practical advice and great examples of how Agile fits into real organisations at different levels of agile maturity. The book is well written and easy to read.
February 1, 2016
I wrote the following about the first edition:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Scrum Field Guide" is a nice way to get started with Scrum. It covers the practices through useful stories and advice. Heavier on the advice side. The stories seem realistic and highlight important points.
I liked the tables and tips provided. For example how to estimate the first time and how to map pre-Scrum roles. And I loved that there was a whole chapter on "done." I also liked the concept of corporate mandates being a tax on your time.
I also liked the practical advice and explanations such as why it is a bad idea for the product owner and Scrummaster to be the same person. Along with what compromises in roles are better to make than others.
I will definitely be recommending this book to my teammates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now for the second edition:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's been four years. In addition to recommending this book to those getting started with Scrum, a good number of people have borrowed my copy to look at it.
I read the second edition. I liked the same things as the first edition. I like that the author says he “refactored” the book. He says in most chapters 10-80% has changed and part five is new. I'm willing to believe that. It's been too long since I read the first one to remember.
I liked the new parts. I also liked that I was able to get different things out of the parts I had already read. I have a lot more knowledge and experience with Scrum now than I did four years ago. This time, I was able to get more out of the analogies like vlecoity being like a speed odometer. I also liked the quiz on how long a good sprint for your team.
While I don't think the book is different enough to be worth “upgrading” if you already have the first edition, I definitely recommend either it or the first edition to anyone using or thinking about using Scrum.
---
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Scrum Field Guide" is a nice way to get started with Scrum. It covers the practices through useful stories and advice. Heavier on the advice side. The stories seem realistic and highlight important points.
I liked the tables and tips provided. For example how to estimate the first time and how to map pre-Scrum roles. And I loved that there was a whole chapter on "done." I also liked the concept of corporate mandates being a tax on your time.
I also liked the practical advice and explanations such as why it is a bad idea for the product owner and Scrummaster to be the same person. Along with what compromises in roles are better to make than others.
I will definitely be recommending this book to my teammates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now for the second edition:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's been four years. In addition to recommending this book to those getting started with Scrum, a good number of people have borrowed my copy to look at it.
I read the second edition. I liked the same things as the first edition. I like that the author says he “refactored” the book. He says in most chapters 10-80% has changed and part five is new. I'm willing to believe that. It's been too long since I read the first one to remember.
I liked the new parts. I also liked that I was able to get different things out of the parts I had already read. I have a lot more knowledge and experience with Scrum now than I did four years ago. This time, I was able to get more out of the analogies like vlecoity being like a speed odometer. I also liked the quiz on how long a good sprint for your team.
While I don't think the book is different enough to be worth “upgrading” if you already have the first edition, I definitely recommend either it or the first edition to anyone using or thinking about using Scrum.
---
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.
May 5, 2020
Excellent book about Scrum with really good practical advice even for experience Scrum Masters like myself.
I especially like the real-life stories (or fiction-ed stories but, who cares, they're similar to situations one either faced or will face in a Scrum project) in the beginning of each chapter as they provide a great context to the subject the author is going to (clearly) explain.
I totally recommended it as it's in my top 3 books about Scrum.
I especially like the real-life stories (or fiction-ed stories but, who cares, they're similar to situations one either faced or will face in a Scrum project) in the beginning of each chapter as they provide a great context to the subject the author is going to (clearly) explain.
I totally recommended it as it's in my top 3 books about Scrum.
March 18, 2018
Great book, full of practical experience!
June 14, 2018
Great information whether you are new to Scrum or currently working with it
March 5, 2019
Perfect for the beginners.
March 19, 2020
Super practical and super relevant all types of scrum teams. Highly recommend to all scrum masters
September 16, 2020
Although old, useful information ;)
March 7, 2022
A good book to learn Scrum
October 12, 2024
Amazing guide for starting as a Scrum Master or to come back to anytime.
April 11, 2012
My company started with Scrum in 2009 and are way past our first year. Nevertheless I found this book quite informative on how to meet challenges. And be sure - we still have them after all this time, they just keep changing their outfit.
I did read the book in order, but you really don't have to - just scan the TOC and pick out the topics that currently interest you. After illustrating the topic with a story from the real word, Lacey always continues with presenting the modela and keys to success. This way you become swiftly familiar with the pattern of the book, which makes it a good reference book also for the future if you want to go back to a certain technique or model you read of some time before.
Although my team (I'm a Scrum Master) doesn't face every problem described in this book, I read at least the story of each chapter because I found them quite enjoyable. Mostly I was then so curious about the proposed solution that I read the models and keys to success as well. Even if you don't need to fix the problem described in your team, you pick up bits and pieces here & there that can be quite helpful in your daily work as a Scrum Master.
I see Scrum Masters as the target group to benefit the most from this book, but would also like it if management or team members might read it to raise their awareness and understanding for certain issues. To hear it from a 'Scrum professional' might make it easier for us 'normal ppl' to argue with them.
When buying this book, please consider the name: it's a 'field' guide that presents common problematic issues occuring when doing Scrum. It's not a book on what Scrum and all it entails is in theory (although there is an appendix explaining the roles, artifacts and meetings in Scrum). But Lacey prodives several references to further readings, that are a perfect supplement to your reading.
Last but not least I - as a non-native speaker - found it quite funny to read the names of two rock bands in a totally different context. I've heard the names so often, but never thought about their original meaning. Have fun reading the book and looking out for them!
I did read the book in order, but you really don't have to - just scan the TOC and pick out the topics that currently interest you. After illustrating the topic with a story from the real word, Lacey always continues with presenting the modela and keys to success. This way you become swiftly familiar with the pattern of the book, which makes it a good reference book also for the future if you want to go back to a certain technique or model you read of some time before.
Although my team (I'm a Scrum Master) doesn't face every problem described in this book, I read at least the story of each chapter because I found them quite enjoyable. Mostly I was then so curious about the proposed solution that I read the models and keys to success as well. Even if you don't need to fix the problem described in your team, you pick up bits and pieces here & there that can be quite helpful in your daily work as a Scrum Master.
I see Scrum Masters as the target group to benefit the most from this book, but would also like it if management or team members might read it to raise their awareness and understanding for certain issues. To hear it from a 'Scrum professional' might make it easier for us 'normal ppl' to argue with them.
When buying this book, please consider the name: it's a 'field' guide that presents common problematic issues occuring when doing Scrum. It's not a book on what Scrum and all it entails is in theory (although there is an appendix explaining the roles, artifacts and meetings in Scrum). But Lacey prodives several references to further readings, that are a perfect supplement to your reading.
Last but not least I - as a non-native speaker - found it quite funny to read the names of two rock bands in a totally different context. I've heard the names so often, but never thought about their original meaning. Have fun reading the book and looking out for them!
May 9, 2012
"The Scrum Field Guide" is a nice way to get started with Scrum. It covers the practices through useful stories and advice. Heavier on the advice side. The stories seem realistic and highlight important points.
I liked the tables and tips provided. For example how to estimate the first time and how to map pre-Scrum roles. And I loved that there was a whole chapter on "done." I also liked the concept of corporate mandates being a tax on your time.
I also liked the practical advice and explanations such as why it is a bad idea for the product owner and Scrummaster to be the same person. Along with what compromises in roles are better to make than others.
I only spotted one typo (first vs last on page 205), but easy to see what was intended.
I will definitely be recommending this book to my teammates!
---
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.
I liked the tables and tips provided. For example how to estimate the first time and how to map pre-Scrum roles. And I loved that there was a whole chapter on "done." I also liked the concept of corporate mandates being a tax on your time.
I also liked the practical advice and explanations such as why it is a bad idea for the product owner and Scrummaster to be the same person. Along with what compromises in roles are better to make than others.
I only spotted one typo (first vs last on page 205), but easy to see what was intended.
I will definitely be recommending this book to my teammates!
---
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.
December 28, 2016
This book should not be considered as a "definitive guide" on Scrum ! It pretend to be the way about how to deploy Scrum. For that, the book is rather comprehensive and well written. However, it's rather an opiniated way to deploy Scrum (and I disagree on several occasion). It should be exposed this way. Some could be enlightened by the text, but I'm rather disappointed.
ma note de lecture en français ici
ma note de lecture en français ici
April 7, 2013
Not all of it was directly relevant to me but plenty was. Presented in an engaging manner with a story to start each chapter by illustrating the scenario he was about to discuss. Lots of useful takeaway points that I will be referencing as we introduce scrum at work. Clearly written in an easily digestible manner and usually well justified arguments.
August 15, 2012
Some decent advice in here for tricky cases. I did find the dialogues annoying and condescending, but it's not like a tech author is supposed to be Hemingway, I guess.
February 12, 2014
Good if you're new to Scrum, OK otherwise.
September 12, 2018
Ideal start for a beginning Agile/Scrum practitioner.
September 3, 2015
Basic concepts for your first try as Scrum Master
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews