Ouroboros

"All of this has happened before and will happen again." - Peter Pan, Battlestar Gallactica, The Matrix, ...

Introduction

Welcome to the realm of Personal Scrum, a scaling of agile and scrum tailored for the individual contributor. Specifically, this individual contributor does not have people management responsibilities. In this article, we will attempt to introduce some sanity to your work days, streamline your workflow, enhance your productivity, by introducing principles of scrum into your professional life.

Timebox

At the heart of Personal Scrum lies the concept of timeboxing. Each of your iterations will be a week in duration. Each iteration is divided into blocks – standardized half-days. A full calendar week will, thus, contain ten blocks. Each block is a measure of time and of duration. Each block will contain focused work segments known as 'pomodoros.' These form the building blocks of your productivity. Please feel free to reference the ample information out there on pomodoros, this article will not be able to do it justice.

Backlog

Your backlog is a prioritized list of work items known as 'stories.' Stories range from vaguley defined leadership expectations (called 'expectations') to clearly defined, well-understood stories with acceptance criteria (termed 'goals'). These goals are further broken down into 'outcomes', which are stories ready for immediate action within a single block. Being ready means that the dependencies, prerequisites, environment are all in a state where the outcome can be pulled into the iteration and worked upon. If the outcome is not ready, you will need other goals or outcomes to make this particular outcome ready. In addtion, if the ad-hoc work that comes your way is also important and of priority, ensure that you capture these activities in related stories. This lends to the transparency and alignment between you and your leader.

Backlog Refinement

Backlog refinement is the continuous process of refining ill-defined expectations into detailed, ready outcomes. It is curcial and critical that you align with your immediate leadership on stories at all levels. It is also critical that you align with your immediate leadership on the prioritization of these stories. Early on, substantial effort is invested in this refinement. Over time, as a cadence is established, refinement efforts are distributed as upcoming stories in the backlog.

Iteration Planning

Each week, your iteration planning involves reserving one 'Ouroboros' block. This is the lynchpin of your planning. This block captures the cyclical nature of your processes. It houses planning, review, retrospective, refinement, and other related tasks. Each week you also reserve two blocks for overhead. The 'two' has been arrived at based on many years of experience and observation. Align with your leader on the utilization of the remaining seven blocks to ensure continuous strategic and tactical delivery of value. Remember: do not overcommit.

Value Delivery

In each iteration you only have seven blocks in which to deliver value. Your primary committment are the outcomes that fill these blocks. Remember that each block is two things: the effort required to deliver the outcome and an end-to-end duration of time. In order to deliver the value for which you have been employed reserve continuous blocks of time. Rearrange your schedule to permit this. Only when necessary split a block into two half-blocks. Do not reserve any time period less than a half-block to accomplish your outcomes. Research shows that context switching can take from fifteen minutes to half an hour depending on the complexity of the tasks and the frequency of switching. context switching must be built into your block and must be considered when sizing outcomes. Therefore, work with your leader if your schedule does not permit you to reserve substantial number of blocks or even half-blocks. Ensuring a better schedule is an action item for your leader that you will track to completion. Over time, you will gain an understanding on how much value you can deliver or effort you can expend within a block. This will aid in improving your estimation of outcomes as you mature.

Iteration Review

The iteration review is the stage where delivered value takes center stage. Demonstration, verification, and feedback are key activities. Input from your leader, as well as stakeholders, is invaluable, and discussions may involve changes to acceptance criteria, the granularity of objectives, understanding of work, and more. The focus is on aligning progress and defining next steps.

Iteration Retrospective

Essential for continuous improvement, the retrospective is a shared space for insights, strengths, and areas for improvement. Identifying what went well and what could be enhanced, you and your leader commit to specific actions. This iterative process fosters a culture of learning and adaptation.

To Recap

Timeboxing is at your core, with weekly iterations divided into standardized half-day blocks, each housing focused work segments called 'pomodoros'. The backlog is a prioritized list, featuring 'expectations,' 'goals,' and 'outcomes,' denoting progressively clearer and well-defined work items. Backlog refinement is a perpetual process, evolving from ill-defined expectations to detailed, ready outcomes. Alignment with leadership is pivotal. The 'Ouroboros' block is your lynchpin capturing planning, review, retrospective, and refinement. Always work in continuous blocks.

Conclusion

In the cyclical rhythm of Personal Scrum, the end of every iteration also marks the dawn of a new beginning. This is a journey: a marathon not a sprint. Embrace the continuous improvement. In this realm allow the cyclical properties of nature to become your guide – a perpetual, transformative loop of growth.