Agile Project Management with Scrum (Microsoft Professional)

Software development has grown more and more complex to the point where it approaches chaos. Most approaches to it have been aimed at controlling (read, taming) the chaos. And such approaches are doomed to failure since chaos, by definition, cannot be tame. A more realistic approach is to accept chaos and learn to harness it to give you a competitive edge. Such is the message Chet Richards' fantastic little book, Certain to Win, and such is the message of this echo of Agile development processes.

Mr. Schwaber has given us the tools we need to understand what Agile is and is not. He also gives us the basic tools we need to begin using Scrum for as a chaos-harnessing approach to software development project management. All the key players and their tasks are identified through the use of several case studies. Each case study illustrates, by example, key concepts in applying Scrum to project management. The use cases are gleaned from the author's personal experience and are therefore believable and real world examples and not just theory. Scrum works where other approaches have failed.

Scrum is particularly suitable for engineering projects in that it focuses on people rather than processes and enhances rather than stifles creativity. It allows engineers, who are creative and innovative thinkers, to do what they do best and allows them to approach a given problem from the direction they find most efficient. It let's good problem solvers concentrate more on solving problems and less on managing processes.

Though Mr. Schwaber focuses primarily on software engineering projects, Scrum is a generic approach to managing a variety of project types. The real world examples he provides may all be software projects but the concepts are clearly defined enough to be applied to many project types.

A definitive work for an exciting and liberating approach to project management. A must read for project managers and senior software engineers in particular. It is at last a remedy to the dilemmas identified in Dr. Brooks' The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition).

Let me just say, right off the bat, this is a wonderful book.

But how so, you ask.

Well, I have been involved in agile projects as tech lead, as project manager and as SME for just about a decade. I have also been practicing SCRUM for past few years. I find these methodologies (or techniques) quite helpful in "getting things done".

But.... despite my experience, I believe this book taught me a lot. Not in a sense that it taught me new ideas, but rather that it put structure on my existing knowledge base.

I found the book to be very well organized, maybe not as detailed as I would've liked, but sufficiently so. The subject matter has been dealt with properly and explained so that it is easy to understand. While it is definitely a good book to have for a novice, it is a good reference for those of us who have been in the field for a while.

This book gave me a fast and easy intro to this tenique as a project manager

Nobody knows Scrum better than Ken Schwaber. This is a good read for launching new Scrum projects.

There's plenty of books on SCRUM - and finding the right one is a tough job.

This book is what you're looking for if you want a basic introduction and examples of applications - because there's plenty of case studies. SCRUM techniques are described and then discussed by resort to case studies, helping the lessons become more applicable to you.

The end result is a good SCRUM Manual for a more experienced Project Manager or IT professional. It's not a book that's pick-up-and-learn basics - its a book on theory, philosophy, and applications for people who have been there.

If you need a first SCRUM book, and want to get the most out of one book as possible, this is definitely a good choice. It's also an excellent book to have to bone up on theory and real-life applications. Finally, it's a definite "lender" that you'll pass around the office.