Reboot bbc.co.uk

Building my rebooted:bbc.co.uk homepage - #16: Scrum

Martin Belam

Once projects go into the technical build phase within the BBC's New Media department, they often follow a development management process known as Scrum.

Essentially it is a process where producers and designers specify a list of what they want software to do in descending order of priority. They then leave the programmers alone to get on with for the length of a scrum cycle. At the end of the cycle the programmers present back what they have developed, which should always be working software. It may not have all of the features yet, but it should be good enough to work. During the development phase this process will be reiterated until the product is ready to launch. At the beginning of each cycle the producers can re-prioritise what is important, remove features or add new features.

As a system of working it should bring two key benefits. Producers get a new version of the software or a system which works at the end of each month, so they can do testing, and show it to people. Programmers get a defined set of requirements to work on which do not change for a given period of time.

Of course, when I say that the producers and designers leave the programmers alone, I don't mean that they are locked in a box incommunicado. A key part of the Scrum process is an update meeting that takes place everyday. Each programmer will state what they worked on yesterday, what they are going to be working on today, and report any problems that are holding them up. The aim is for this meeting to take as little time as possible - project managers, designers and producers are welcome to attend, but forbidden to speak. After the meeting would generally then be the time for the technical lead on the project and the producer to discuss together any concerns they might have. Essentially Scrum should allow programmers to get along with what they do best - programming - whilst forcing producers and designers to focus on making sure their contribution meets the deadline of being ready for the next time they have access to request work.

Of course, my hypothetical reboot:bbc.co.uk entry doesn't have a technical team building it using Scrum, it is just me and my trusty copy of Photoshop ;-)

• 23 May 2006 12:27