[Fiware-chapter-architects] Agile Dynamic: Sprint 4.1.3 - Retrospective

[MANUEL ESCRICHE VICENTE]

Dear Partners,

Please, find below the retrospective collected from Sprint 4.1.3

WHAT WENT WELL:

JIRA/AGILE

·         The meetings with Manuel have improved significantly our performance regarding the management of the backlog

·         Activity per component is more precisely reflected and easier to monitor than in previous sprints.

·         Extensive usage of tools like the JIRA tracker improved by some of partners (including coordinator)

·         Another positive aspect is that the development work on several issues associated to this sprint (GE support channels, GE tag support, advanced search) has been almost completed

·         The progresses in using JIRA are visible.
ACCOMPLISHMENT

·         we managed to close all the features and issues planned in the sprint backlog despite of the Christmas vacations jointly with the preparation of the Technical Roadmap delivery and the Whitepaper have reduce significantly the time we could devote to development efforts. Nevertheless

·         Planned features per component have been technically accomplished (except communicated delay in CKAN)

·         Documentation (requirements, use cases description, scope etc.) about most GEs in the chapter is publically available in Forge and will be updated regurlarly when necessary.

·         Although implementations are rather new (e.g. Robotics) or deeply updated (e.g. OFNIC), first results already achieved and demonstrated

·         Content for Whitepaper was prodcued and delivered on due time; and Technical Roadmap was produced and delivered almost on time

·         A positive aspect is that an agreement has been reached about the new theme/look&feel of the catalogue. First priority has been given to this task.
WHAT TO IMPROVE:
DUPLICATED INFORMATION

·         Duplication of information in Jira and wiki (e.g: about the roadmap) implies extra maintenance and creation effort. Additional added value for this is not easily understood.

·         Double edit both on JIRA and on Wiki regarding EPICS/Features description should be avoided in the future
COMMUNICATION/COORDINATION/RESPONSIVENESS

·         Coordination among partners in joint GEs need to be improved, expecially for Robotics, avoiding time inefficiencies
Some Feature developed not fully demonstrated, as there is a need for GUIs (e.g. for OFNIC)

·         Not all GE owners responsive as required, task on coordinator to improve methodologies and increase the awareness of tools usage

·         Last but not least difficult to close this sprint due to a number of GE owners already on vacation this despite demand issued to get things done before their departure

·         The communication among the team members will improve over time.

·         Required short notice extra dissemination effort has negatively impacted technical work, in some cases (e.g: Kurento). It is requested to inform about this required dissemination efforts at least a month in advance.

·         Feeback on content provided to Whitepaper would have been appreciated;

·         Following chapters didn't provide retrospective after 30 days, and some reminders: CLOUD, IOT, WEBUI,
NAMING CONVENTION/ISSUES HIERARCHY

·         Still some topical questions to address regarding the naming of Epics and Features in order to improve and add some flexibility

·         We strongly recommend to add a new class of link devoted to convey the hierarchy of issues (e.g. which feature pertain to which epic, etc.) This information is currently stated by the naming convention we use. This feature could improve searches in the backlog, navigating through the issues hierarchy, etc
OTHERS:

·         There is a misalignment between internal CKAN releases dates and FIWARE major release dates, which can imply delays to have available the latest CKAN release in FIWARE

·         Risk management in view of the risks which were raised

·         A less positive aspect is that, due to be priority given to the new theme/look/feel, the work on several issues associated to this sprint (GE support channels, GE tag support, advanced search) even if it has been almost completed, will be finished in 4.2.1 and on top of the new theme/look&feel of the catalogue. We have considered that it would have been non-sense to add new functionalities on top of the old theme/look&feel.

Some comments on the topics found to be improved:

-          Duplicated information.

o   This strategy was chosen so as meet the deadlines for early deliverables like the Technical Roadmap. We're working on a tool to publish information from JIRA to the Wikis as informed when the task was launched.

-          Communication/Coordination/Responsiveness

o   This is something we can overcome by paying attention to info request from others. Given we are willing to cooperate, and believe in team work.

-          Naming Convention/Issues Hierarchy

o   Proposal can be done for the management committee to discuss and approve.

-          Risk are raised when there's no evidence of work or progress according to expectations or the corresponding lack of justification.

The website http://backlog.fiware.org  intends to help some aspect related to coordination, and backlog understanding.

I also notice lack of responsiveness from leaders to activities related to JIRA or the backlog.  The risk mechanism is meant to help and mitigate this circumstance, by creating a deep awareness level.
Obviously, if it doesn't get cooperation from the partners, I tend to interpret it as lack of willingness or cooperation. Evidently, it's a deeper problem, which need other tools.

Thanks again all for cooperation!!
Kind regards,
Manuel

----------------------------
Manuel Escriche Vicente
Agile Project Manager/Leader
FI-WARE Initiative
Telefónica Digital
Parque Tecnológico
C/ Abraham Zacuto, 10
47151 - Boecillo
Valladolid - Spain
Tfno: +34.91.312.99.72
Fax: +34.983.36.75.64
http://www.tid.es<http://www.tid.es/>


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