Home > Store

Agile Software Development with Distributed Teams: Staying Agile in a Global World

Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.

Agile Software Development with Distributed Teams: Staying Agile in a Global World

eBook (Watermarked)

  • This product currently is not for sale.
  • Includes EPUB and PDF
  • About eBook Formats
  • This eBook includes the following formats, accessible from your Account page after purchase:

    ePub EPUB The open industry format known for its reflowable content and usability on supported mobile devices.

    Adobe Reader PDF The popular standard, used most often with the free Acrobat® Reader® software.

    This eBook requires no passwords or activation to read. We customize your eBook by discreetly watermarking it with your name, making it uniquely yours.

Not for Sale

Description

  • Copyright 2014
  • Edition: 1st
  • eBook (Watermarked)
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-349198-6
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-349198-2

This is the digital version of the printed book (Copyright © 2010).

All software projects face the challenges of diverse distances -- temporal, geographical, cultural, lingual, political, historical, and more. Many forms of distance even affect developers in the same room. The goal of this book is to reconcile two mainstays of modern agility: the close collaboration agility relies on, and project teams distributed across different cities, countries, and continents.

In Agile Software Development with Distributed Teams, Jutta Eckstein asserts that, in fact, agile methods and the constant communication they require are uniquely capable of solving the challenges of distributed projects. Agility is responsiveness to change -- in other words, agile practitioners maintain flexibility to accommodate changing circumstances and results. Iterative development serves the learning curve that global project teams must scale.

This book is not about how to outsource and forget your problems. Rather, Eckstein details how to carefully select development partners and integrate efforts and processes to form a better product than any single contributor could deliver on his or her own. The author de-emphasizes templates and charts and favors topical discussion and exploration. Practitioners share experiences in their own words in short stories throughout the book. Eckstein trains readers to be change agents, to creatively apply the concepts in this book to form a customized distributed project plan for success.

Topics include:

Understanding Distributed Development
The Productivity Myth
Ensuring Conceptual Integrity
Trust and Mutual Respect
Iterations and Releases
Using Features to Steer the Development Effort
Team Velocity
Virtual Retrospectives
Dispersed Synchronization
Introducing Agility to Global Projects
and much more

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

Assessing Agility and Distributed Projects

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3 and Index)

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 Getting Started    3

Focus      4

Intended Audience    4

Perspective   5

Roadmap to the Book      6

Chapter 2 Assessing Agility and Distributed Projects    9

Understanding Distributed Development     9

Working With Several Development Sites     10

Distributed and Dispersed Teams      10

Large Projects    11

Coordinating Companies    12

Different Sites    13

Customers and Distance     14

Centrally Coordinated or Globally Integrated     15

Overcoming the Distance     16

Understanding Agility    16

Core Value Pair Statements     .17

Systemic Approach  .19

Risk Reduction     19

The Productivity Myth     20

More Than Practices       21

Neither Chaotic nor Undisciplined     21

Agile Principles Influencing Globally Distributed Projects      22

Summary      24

Chapter 3 Building Teams

Feature Teams      27

Single- and Multi-Site Teams  28

Dispersed Teams     31

Forging a Team     32

Teams Happen, by David Hussman      33

Roles       36

Feature-Team Constellation  36

Architect and Chief Architect       38

Experiences as a Software Architect on Global Agile Projects, by Michael Kircher     40

Coach     43

Product Owner and Product Manager     44

Project Manager     48

Collocate Key Roles with Teams      49

Ensuring Conceptual Integrity     49

Starting Team Provides Model      50

Technical Service Team     50

Summary      51


Chapter 4 Establishing Communication and Trust     53

Trust and Mutual Respect    54

Trust Threshold     55

Changing Meeting Locations  56

Vocabulary      57

Communication     58

In-Person Team Meetings     58

Face-to-Face Project Meetings    59

People Rotation     60

Communication Costs     61

Communication Flow    62

Cultural Differences     63

Similarities Versus Differences       64

Culture Fit      65

Crossing Big Boundaries, by Ainsley Nies  67

Realistic Planning    68

Taking Responsibility    68

Problem Reporting  69

Honest Feedback      70

Noise     71

Humor      72

Communication Media      72

Summary      74

Chapter 5 Keeping Sites in Touch     76

Communication Facilitator    77

Communication Facilitator As Ombudsman      77

Technical and Social Prowess    78

Management By Flying Around     78

Ambassador       79

Site Representation  80

Characteristics and Competency     80

Travel Schedule     81

Concrete Tasks       82

Social Connections     83

Joint Celebration    83

Picture Power    83

Everyday Life  84

Travel Tips      84

Tools      .85

Direct Connections  86

Synchroneity Versus Asynchroneity     86

Audio and Video    87

Instant Messaging    88

E-mail       89

Virtual Space    90

Common Repository    91

Wiki and Other Collaboration Platforms     91

Summary      92

Chapter 6 Ensuring Development and Delivery  94

Iterations     95

Iteration Length     95

Done-Done  96

Project Heartbeat    97

Delivery Delay     97

Releases    99

Release Iteration    99

Release Site    100

Integration and Build    101

Local Success First  101

Integration Effort  101

Production Shut-Down    103

Integration and Build Optimization    104

Infrastructure    105

Build and Integration Process and Tools    105

Configuration Management  107

Follow the Sun, by Joseph Pelrine      109

Power      111

Security    111

Network Sense     112

Tools     113

Summary     113

Chapter 7 Ensuring Business Value    115

Steering Through Valuable Features     115

Real-Customer Awareness     116

Connecting to a Distant Customer, by Daniel Karlström      117

Iteration Preparation    119

Understanding Requirements    122

Treating Requested Documentation As Requirements     123

Team Velocity       123

Unknown Velocity    124

Estimation Unit      125

Planning Poker     126

Estimation Parity  128

Velocity Disparity  130

Planning an Iteration      131

Feature-Planning Integrity  131

Planning-Meeting Essentials       132

Planning-Meeting Schedule  132

Tangible Planning Tools     133

Iteration Tracking  134

Planning and Tracking Tools  135

Keeping Goals in Focus     136

Dealing With Change    138

Iteration Length Marks Response Time    138

Change-Request Scheduling      139

Team-Structure Change    139

Overall Project Plan     140

Release Planning  140

Forecasting  141

Release Versus Milestone     142

Summary     143

Chapter 8 Eliciting Feedback and Conducting Retrospectives 145

Customer Feedback       146

Identifying the Customer  146

Distant Customer  147

Customer Presentations     147

Review Meetings  148

Iteration Reviews  148

Individual and Dispersed Versus Joint and In-Person Review Meetings 149

Release Reviews  151

Retrospectives      151

Individual-Feature-Team Retrospectives     154

Project-Wide Retrospectives      154

Joint-Site Retrospectives  156

Retrospective Protocol     156

Virtual Retrospectives     157

Distributed Retrospectives, by Linda Rising  158

Retrospective Attendees    160

Common Retrospective Mistakes     160

Facilitation Techniques     161

Facilitating an Effective Virtual Retrospective, by Debra Lavell    162

Metrics     166

Progress Measurement      166

Estimate-Quality Measurement     169

Increasing the Test Base    170

Summary     170

Chapter 9 Honing Practices  172

Development Practices  172

Pair Programming  173

Unit-Testing    175

Refactoring    175

Refactoring on Large Projects, by Nicolai M. Josuttis      177

Collective Ownership     180

Common Coding Guideline      181

Feature Communication via Tests    182

Distributed Agile and Acceptance Testing, by Naresh Jain     183

Out-of-the-Box Practices     187

Process Practices     188

Development Culture    196

Project-Wide Practices     197

Evolving Practices  198

Different Practices  199

Process Standards Based on CMMI and ISO  200

Equal Rights     202

Summary     203

Chapter 10 Introducing Agility into New and Existing

Distributed Projects 205

Start Locally,Grow Globally     206

Collocation and Rotation 207

Fundamental Iterations     208

Early-On Iteration    210

Time-Boxed Project Start     211

Growing Teams and Growing Sites    211

Kick-Off       211

Project-Culture Transmittal  213

Cultural Training  214

Integrating New People    215

Introducing Agile to an Existing Project    216

Gradual Versus Project-Wide Change    216

Team-Structure Change    217

More and/or Better Coaches      218

Estimation and Velocity    218

Lone Fighter     219

Summary     220

Afterword    223

Glossary      225

References     232

Index    241

Updates

Submit Errata

More Information

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020