A War Room without a View

 

Recently I was in a discussion with a key resource for a Scrum project in one of Australia's most recognized corporations. After a brief discussion, I was beginning to wonder if this project was indeed Agile or Agitated. The resource, a member of the Scrum team, said they sometimes had daily stand-ups, had an Agile board that was rarely updated, a semi-co-located work area using hot-desks, and no War Room.

The first thing that came to mind was: "This isn't Scrum." The first thing that came out of my mouth was: "Why?" Over the course of the discussion, there was many reasons given as to why these Scrum anti-patterns were occurring, but for the purposes of this blog post, I will focus on why a War Room is a good idea for Scrum Teams.

What is a War Room?

A War Room in most often a meeting room used exclusively by the project, where teams meet together and collaborate on important project issues, and a place where they can see everything about the project at a glance with the assistance of information radiators. Having said that, in an Agile or Scrum environment, the open workspace incorporates the "War Room" usually around an Agile Board or close by. Co-located teams sit within earshot of each other, and everything that needs to be known about the project is displayed visually within a few short meters from everyone. It is a central repository of relevant information that fuels the decision-making process.

Why do we need a War Room?

To get things done, collectively! The best minds for the project are always in the War Room. These are the individuals who are the Generals of Agile action, and they strike with devastating value when the machine is well oiled with correct user stories. The information radiators are kept updated so the enemy (non-value) cannot get the upper hand.

What should be in a War Room?

There are so many things to make a War Room really effective, but here are some key things to include:

The Scrum Team
That doesn't just mean the developers. The Product Owner should be there some of the time at various stages of the day to answer questions and work with the developers. The Scrum Master should be there most of the time, unless removing impediments or assisting the organization or stakeholders transition into the Scrum process or project smoothly.

Information Radiators
Anything relevant that can be displayed visually: burndown and burnup charts, Agile Boards (Kanban without the pull system), story cards, sticky notes, flip charts, Sprint Goal poster etc.

"No BS beyond this point"
Yes, one of my projects had this sign up in the War Room. Basically it means everything and everyone in this area tells the truth, is open minded, team focused, loses the ego, and has each other's back.
 
Video Conferencing
For distributed teams that just can't be onsite. They really need to be kept in the loop with constant visual and auditory feeds as much as possible in the War Room or general workspace area.

Whiteboard
Do I really need to say more?

Round Table and Comfortable Chairs
Yes sometimes Scrum Teams do sit down. Make sure it's not on back-breaking pine boxes. And always use a round table; there are no heads of the Manor here.

Kill Switch
In my book, the kill switch is used when people come into the room and disturb the team too much. Stakeholders are of course welcome, but once they begin to create anti-value, the Scrum Master needs to step in and ask them politely to please return another time as the team is busy "maximizing value" at the moment.

Short and Sweet
Don't drag meetings on. Make them short and sweet and just enough time to deliver a valuable result.

Clever collaboration tools
Trash the email and replace it with tools such as Slack or Skype for Business. They are better collaborations tools. Email is slow death to Scrum Teams.

"To know thy enemy is to know thyself." - Sun Tzu  
 

Thank you for your interest in the Scrumptious blog. If you have any ideas for Scrum topics, please message me here. Until next time, remember, projects can be Scrumptious!