Contents

Methodology

This page describes the development process used in the Incubator. During the course of the GÉANT 4.3 project, the incubator runs a number of sequential cycles called "Activities". An activity cycle typically lasts 6 months. During such an activity cycle, an incubator activity team, or A-team, engages with a number of different topics, typically 2 to 3, in parallel. The incubator has 2 A-teams working in parallel. As such, the Incubator can work on 4 to 6 topics in parallel during a 6 month activity cycle. The development process used for this engagement is a loose implementation of the Scrum development methodology, and roles and also some terminology used in this document are borrowed from this Agile methodology.

During the activity cycle the A-team uses Sprints too work on the topic. A sprint runs for 4 weeks. The Principe Investigator, or Magnum P.I., defines the work for a specific sprint, and its priorities. While the A-team itself is as stable as possible, a Mentor is a senior A-team member with specific expertise being brought in on a per activity basis to support the A-team as a subject matter expert. The A-team supports the PI by providing feedback to the work items defined. The team also makes estimates of how much work specific workitems are so the PI can decide priorities accordingly. In the spirit of the scrum methodology the A-team itself is responsible for planning of the work, based on the prioritized list of the PI.

During the activity, various artifacts are used to collect and report on the work being done. The Backlog holds all items the PI wants to work on. The PI may updated, change and (re)prioritize the Backlog at any given time, according to newly gained insights and priorities. The Sprint Backlog holds a selected set of Backlog items the A-team is working on for a specific sprint. The Sprint Backlog does not change over the course of a Sprint.

The Scrum methodology also includes a number of so called ceremonies, meetings who all have with a specific function.

Below we describe the roles we use in the activity in more details, the structure of an activity, the artifacts we have in the activity and which ceremonies are part of the activity.

Roles and responsibilities

Principal Investigator / Product Owner (Magnum P.I.)

The Magnum is the person mainly responsible for defining the work and then prioritizing those tasks. The PI is clear on the goals of the activity and represents the stakeholders,e.g. the customer, market and organizations. 

Main Incubator Board (MIB)

This board consists of senior members of the trust and identity community. The board helps the PIs to (better) articulate community and NREN needs. They will evaluate the results of each Sprint and provide feedback to the activity.

Activity Team (A-Team)

The members of the A-Team are the ones doing the real work within the activity. A team is typically made up of people with various skills and different expertise.

Scrum Master (SM)

The Scrum Master supports the activity by facilitating task communication, organizing meetings and allocating resources. Their major task is to keep organizational overhead away from the team and resolve impediments, so that the A-Team is able to focus on their actual work.

Mentor / Incubator Activity Mentor (IAM) / Activity Advisor (AA)

The Mentor is an experienced advisor who helps Magnum to plan the product and upcoming work by providing their technical knowledge and high-level view on the activity.

Activities

Plan Backlog

The Scrum Master, Mentor (optional) and Magnum meet at the start of each sprint to discuss the remaining work to be achieved within the Incubator cycle. New work items that were discovered will be added to the Activity Backlog as well as remaining items from the last Sprint.
Although it is fine to document future work, it should also be considered that it is possible to implement the backlog during the remaining time.

Actors: Magnum, Scrum Master, (Mentor)
Input: Trello Template
Output: Activity Backlog (Trello)

Sprint Retrospective & Plan Sprint

The Sprint Backlog prepared is summarized by the Scrum Master who provides the major action items of the next sprint to the A-Team, Mentor and Magnum. The purpose is to plan the activity for the upcoming sprint.
It is necessary that each team member estimates the amount of time she will contribute to the activity during this Sprint. Since internal tasks may reduce the average time one can contribute to the tasks, which is absolutely ok, it is import for the planning to provide a honest assessment.
The team evaluates the remaining Activity Backlog and assigns work items according to the working time available for the Sprint.

Actors: Mentor, Scrum Master, A-Team
Input: Activity Backlog, Estimated FTE, Feedback from MIB Sprint Demo
Output: Sprint Backlog (Trello) consisting of assigned action items (Trello cards)

Implement

The Team implements the agreed Backlog over the course of a Sprint.

Actors: A-Team
Input: Action items (Trello cards)
Output: Result (e.g. Software Release, Concept, Business Plan, ...)

Weekly Standup Meeting

The team meets once a week for a short meeting to report work done, work for the next week and impediments. The Magnum should provide a short status report which can be provided to the SC.
Note: This meeting should be scheduled Thursday or Friday to discuss an entire calendar week. Furthermore, it should be done for all projects similarly to enable a project management meeting at the end of the day.
Actors: Scrum Master, Magnum, A-Team
Input: Trello cards
Output: Impediments, Project Status Report, Add dates to calendar in confluence

Sprint Demo & Review

The team presents its Sprint results to the SC, which provides feedback for the next Sprint. Software projects have to show a demo and business projects prepare some slides.
Note: The meeting should take place for all project at once. This could be combined with an “all-hands” meeting by which at least one representative of each project stays for the entire session. This way we keep the SC as well as the other projects informed.
Actors: A-Team, Scrum Master, Steering Committee
Input: Sprint Results (e.g. Software Release, Concept, Business Plan, ...)
Output: Feedback

Meeting Overview: