Published by Addison-Wesley Professional (December 4, 2017) © 2018
Kurt Bittner | Patricia Kong | Eric Naiburg | Dave West
Improve and Accelerate Software Delivery for Large, Distributed, Complex Projects
The Nexus Framework is the simplest, most effective approach to applying Scrum at scale across multiple teams, sites, and time zones. Created by Scrum.org–the pioneering Scrum training and certification organization founded by Scrum co-creator Ken Schwaber–Nexus draws on decades of experience to address the unique challenges teams face in coming together, sharing work, and managing and minimizing dependencies.
The Nexus™ Framework for Scaling Scrum is a concise book that shows how Nexus helps teams to deliver a complex, multi-platform, software-based product in short, frequent cycles, without sacrificing consistency or quality, and without adding unnecessary complexity or straying from Scrum’s core principles. Using an extended case study, the authors illustrate how Nexus helps teams solve common scaling challenges like reducing cross-team dependencies, preserving team self-organization and transparency, and ensuring accountability.
- Understand the challenges of delivering working, integrated product increments with multiple teams, and how Nexus addresses them
- Form a Nexus around a new or existing product and learn how that Nexus sets goals and plans its work
- Run Sprints within a Nexus, provide transparency into progress, conduct effective Nexus Sprint reviews, and use Nexus Sprint Retrospectives to continuously improve
- Overcome the distributed team collaboration challenges
Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
About the Authors xix
Chapter 1: Introduction to Scaling Agile 1
Why Agile? 2
Why Scrum? 2
Why Nexus? 5
Simplicity Is the Key to Scaling 6
Chapter 2: Introducing Nexus 7
What Is Nexus? 7
Nexus Extends Scrum 8
The Nexus Integration Team 10
Nexus Events 12
Nexus Artifacts 17
What Do You Need to Get Started with Nexus? 19
Closing 20
Chapter 3: Forming a Nexus 21
Evolving a Cross-functional Team 24
Growing a Nexus 29
Forming the Nexus Integration Team 32
How Does a Nexus Work? 34
Chapter 4: Planning in Nexus 35
Consolidating and Validating the Product Backlog 35
Planning a Sprint in a Nexus 47
Closing 55
Chapter 5: Running a Sprint in Nexus 57
The Nexus Daily Scrum 58
Providing Transparency Inside and Outside the Nexus 61
Nexus Sprint Retrospective 68
Closing 73
Chapter 6: Evolving the Nexus 75
Optional Practice: Organizing Scrum Teams around Features 77
Optional Practice: Managing Code Like an Open-Source Project 78
Optional Practice: Organizing Teams around Personas 81
Expanding the Nexus Integration Team 83
Updating and Refining the Product Backlog 83
Nexus Sprint Planning, Revisited 85
The Nexus Daily Scrum, Take Two 86
The Nexus Sprint Review, Take Two 88
The Nexus Sprint Retrospective, Take Two 89
Closing 96
Chapter 7: The Nexus in Emergency Mode 97
Product Backlog Refinement, Take Three 99
Nexus Sprint Planning, Take Three 102
The Nexus Daily Scrum, Take Three 108
What to Do When the Nexus Starts to Struggle 110
The Nexus (Pseudo) Sprint Review and Retrospective 118
Closing 119
Chapter 8: Retrospective on the Nexus Journey 121
What Worked Well 122
Areas for Improvement 126
What’s Next? 132
Closing 133
Glossary 135
Index 143