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A Mike Cohn Signature Book
The Scrum Field Guide: Agile Advice for Your First Year and Beyond
Extensively revised to reflect improved Scrum practices and tools, this edition adds an all-new section of tips from the field.
Thousands of organizations are adopting Scrum to transform the way they execute complex projects, in software and beyond. This guide will give you the skills and confidence needed to deploy Scrum, resulting in high-performing teams and satisfied customers. Drawing on years of hands-on experience helping companies succeed, Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) Mitch Lacey helps you overcome the major challenges of Scrum adoption and the deeper issues that emerge later.
Lacey covers many new topics, including immersive interviewing, collaborative estimation, and deepening business alignment. In 35 engaging chapters, you'll learn how to build support and maximize value across your company.
Now part of the renowned Mike Cohn Signature Series on agile development, this pragmatic guide addresses everything from establishing roles and priorities to determining team velocity, setting sprint length, and conducting customer reviews.
Coverage includes
Bringing teams and new team members on board Creating a workable definition of "done" Planning for short-term wins, and removing impediments to success Balancing predictability and adaptability in release planning Running productive daily scrums Fixing failing sprints Accurately costing projects, and measuring the value they deliver Managing risks in dynamic Scrum projects Prioritizing and estimating backlogs Working with distributed and offshore teams Institutionalizing improvements, and extending agility throughout the organization
Packed with real-world examples straight from Lacey's experience, this book will be invaluable to anyone transitioning to Scrum, seeking to improve their early results, or trying to get back on track.
Thousands of organizations are adopting Scrum to transform the way they execute complex projects, in software and beyond. This guide will give you the skills and confidence needed to deploy Scrum, resulting in high-performing teams and satisfied customers. Drawing on years of hands-on experience helping companies succeed, Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) Mitch Lacey helps you overcome the major challenges of Scrum adoption and the deeper issues that emerge later.
Lacey covers many new topics, including immersive interviewing, collaborative estimation, and deepening business alignment. In 35 engaging chapters, you'll learn how to build support and maximize value across your company.
Now part of the renowned Mike Cohn Signature Series on agile development, this pragmatic guide addresses everything from establishing roles and priorities to determining team velocity, setting sprint length, and conducting customer reviews.
Coverage includes
Bringing teams and new team members on board Creating a workable definition of "done" Planning for short-term wins, and removing impediments to success Balancing predictability and adaptability in release planning Running productive daily scrums Fixing failing sprints Accurately costing projects, and measuring the value they deliver Managing risks in dynamic Scrum projects Prioritizing and estimating backlogs Working with distributed and offshore teams Institutionalizing improvements, and extending agility throughout the organization
Packed with real-world examples straight from Lacey's experience, this book will be invaluable to anyone transitioning to Scrum, seeking to improve their early results, or trying to get back on track.
482 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 29, 2012
70 people are currently reading
744 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