by Alfonz Martinez, Oscar Vaquero Viñes and Josep Vives

Chapter 3 – Lessons learned from our Scrum Masters

All of us are experiencing new challenges working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. As Scrum Masters we must find mechanisms to help collaboration, communication and to facilitate Scrum ceremonies. This time at ERNI we decided to share our experiences about tools we are using to keep doing Retrospectives ‘as usual’. Retrospectives must be kept, even more on this scenario where inspection, proactivity and mainly adaptation are becoming more and more critical.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin

So let’s start listing some potential challenges are we going to face doing Virtual Retrospectives

  • It is more difficult to keep everyone attention.
  • It is more difficult to create engagement.
  • Maybe we do not have a digital work space where we can store and track what we learnt and decided.
  • As a facilitator, you might feel a bit lost checking team mood. You don’t have the body language inputs for example.
  • It is much more difficult to do activities and be interactive.

What tools do we have to help with these challenges?

AZURE DEVOPS

Team Retrospectives, a Microsoft Garage project, is an extension for Azure DevOps that provides a good experience for retrospectives and general feedback board scenarios.

Collect feedback on your project milestones, organize and prioritize, and create and track actionable tasks to help your team improve over time. Optimized for both desktop and mobile. Celebrate the good, improve the bad, and increase productivity with Team

 

At ERNI some of our Teams are using Azure DevOps and by default we have Retrospective folder enabled.

Pros:

  • Link the retrospectives into the ALM
  • Plan tasks associated with the development process
  • You have a history of previous retros
  • Is free

Cons:

  • Is more developer-oriented rather than a collaborative tool
  • Is only available using Microsoft Azure DevOps or Microsoft TFS

MIRO and MURAL

MIRO and MURAL allow you to create a virtual interactive boards that you can use with your Teams. Both are easy to manage, very visual and they include some powerful templates not only for Retrospectives, but also for managing Backlog or help you in design phases.

With these tools you can design a Retrospective in advance, share them with your Team and allow all the team to collaborate in real time. We encourage you to try one of them. You will find that they have different options (e.g. ‘dot voting’) that will help you to boost attention and engagement.

collaboration without constraints

collaboration without constraints

Some of our Scrum Masters have used MIRO tool and they have shared some pros and cons based on their experience:

Some Pros:

  • You can start with the free mode that allows up to 2 panels
  • No extra installation is needed for any of the attendees, a browser is enough
  • Each panel has space enough to conduct more than one retrospective
  • It has some templates in order to setup different Scrum events (retrospective, planning review,…)
  • It offers several tools in order to do the setup. Good for creative people
  • Everybody was able to participate without major problems
  • People was quite engaged with the environment because it is so visual. Cards and elements can be moved and dragged , which helps focusing the attention of attendees and allows interaction in real time
  • The video/audio connections did not suffer any lag (10 participants)
  • Even though the payment mode offers extra benefits (such as voting system), the available free toolset offers some workarounds.

Some Cons:

  • Payment version is a must In order to synchronize the tool with external apps (Jira, Trello, Azure Cards…)
  • It takes a time to get used to setup the board, how to move and freeze areas so that attendants do not break anything by accident
  • Only 2 dashboards available in the free mode

 

Previous articles from this series:

Killed by Overreporting? How to recover trust.

Home alone? Boost Virtual Coffees!

News from ERNI

In our newsroom, you find all our articles, blogs and series entries in one place.

  • 27.09.2023.
    Newsroom

    Unveiling the power of data: Part III – Navigating challenges and harnessing insights in data-driven projects

    Transforming an idea into a successful machine learning (ML)-based product involves navigating various challenges. In this final part of our series, we delve into two crucial aspects: ensuring 24/7 operation of the product and prioritising user experience (UX).

  • 13.09.2023.
    Newsroom

    Exploring Language Models: An overview of LLMs and their practical implementation

    Generative AI models have recently amazed with unprecedented outputs, such as hyper-realistic images, diverse music, coherent texts, and synthetic videos, sparking excitement. Despite this progress, addressing ethical and societal concerns is crucial for responsible and beneficial utilization, guarding against issues like misinformation and manipulation in this AI-powered creative era.

  • 01.09.2023.
    Newsroom

    Peter Zuber becomes the new Managing Director of ERNI Switzerland

    ERNI is setting an agenda for growth and innovation with the appointment of Peter Zuber as Managing Director of the Swiss business unit. With his previous experience and expertise, he will further expand the positioning of ERNI Switzerland, as a leading consulting firm for software development and digital innovation.

  • data230.08.2023.
    Newsroom

    Unveiling the power of data: Part II – Navigating challenges and harnessing insights in data-driven projects

    The second article from the series on data-driven projects, explores common challenges that arise during their execution. To illustrate these concepts, we will focus on one of ERNI’s latest project called GeoML. This second article focuses on the second part of the GeoML project: Idea2Proof.

  • 16.08.2023.
    Newsroom

    Unveiling the power of data: Part I – Navigating challenges and harnessing insights in data-driven projects

    In this series of articles (three in total), we look at data-driven projects and explore seven common challenges that arise during their execution. To illustrate these concepts, we will focus on one of ERNI’s latest project – GeoML, dealing with the development of a machine learning algorithm capable of assessing road accident risks more accurately than an individual relying solely on their years of personal experience as a road user, despite limited resources and data availability.

     

  • 09.08.2023.
    Newsroom

    Collaborative robots revolutionising the future of work

    The future of work involves collaboration between robots and humans. After many years of integrating technology into work dynamics, the arrival of collaborative robots, or cobots, is a reality, boosting not only safety in the workplace but also productivity and efficiency in companies.

  • 19.07.2023.
    Newsroom

    When the lid doesn’t fit the container: User Experience Design as risk minimisation

    Struggling with a difficult software application is like forcing a lid onto a poorly fitting container. This article explores the significance of user experience (UX) in software development. Discover how prioritising UX improves efficiency and customer satisfaction and reduces risks and costs. Join us as we uncover the key to successful software applications through user-centric design.

  • 21.06.2023.
    Newsroom

    How does application security impact your business?

    With the rise of cyber threats and the growing dependence on technology, businesses must recognize the significance of application security as a fundamental pillar for protecting sensitive information and preserving operational resilience.