Loved, loved, loved “Agile Project Management with Scrum” by Ken Schwaber.
I learned about this book digging through PMI’s (Project Management Institute) website. At the time of my purchase, I didn’t know that Ken Schwaber is one of the fathers of scrum methodology. His authority on and command of the topic are apparent in reading the book. Scrum is a project management methodology that is helpful in complex, development-oriented projects, such as software product development.
Software development is highly iterative (develop, test, tweak, repeat), as compared to say building an office building. Traditional project management techniques, as defined by the PMI, add a lot of value when you are building a building or implementing a software package. However, a project centered around actually developing the software requires a different approach. Ken Schwaber, along with Jeff Sutherland, saw the need and developed scrum.
Since I had no prior introduction to scrum, I found it helpful that Ken opened the book up by talking about the basics of scrum methodology in the first chapter. The rest of the book includes example after example illustrating the application of scrum to different projects he was engaged in.
I was surprised at how relatively easily the scrum methodology (the principles, process, and roles) could be explained. In fact, I was so surprised that I did further research to ensure there wasn’t more to it. No, it’s about that simple. You can see for yourself by locating the “Scrum Guide” on Ken’s site. So what you see is what you get with scrum. Since conceptually scrum is simple, the numerous illustrations were helpful – to see these simple concepts played out, so-to-speak.
This book is a great introduction to the concept of scrum. To become proficient at using it, one must find opportunities to apply and practice it.
“Scrum on!!!” as Ken says on his blog.
Bite-Sized Pieces 