Suggest modification to this talk

Title

Description

Teams everywhere are tired of scrum and curious about Shape Up. But very few of them are able to apply it by-the-book, because their companies are structured differently than 37signals, where Shape Up was created.

That hasn’t reduced the demand, however. People understand that estimating story points and writing better tickets isn’t going to solve their problems. There are disconnects between the vision of what to do and what actually gets built. Building takes longer than expected and scope gets out of control. Programmers are treated like ticket-takers when what they really want is to see the whole problem and creatively solve it.

Over the last couple years, Ryan Singer, author of ‘Shape Up’, has worked with a wider variety of companies with very different structures — teams with big gaps between junior and senior, where programmers far out-number designers, and where external pressures make six-week cycles out of the question. The result is new language, new techniques, and some broken rules, that will help you apply Shape Up in a way that’s custom-fit to your team.

Links:
https://rubyonrails.org/
https://basecamp.com/shapeup

#RailsWorld #RubyonRails #rails #shapeup #scrum

Date

Summarized using AI?

If this talk's summary was generated by AI, please check this box. A "Summarized using AI" badge will be displayed in the summary tab to indicate that the summary was generated using AI.

Show "Summarized using AI" badge on summary page

Summary

Markdown supported

In this presentation titled "Applying Shape Up in the Real World," Ryan Singer addresses the challenges of implementing the Shape Up methodology in diverse organizational contexts, particularly in software development teams using Rails. He emphasizes that while Shape Up provides a structured approach to project management, most teams struggle to apply it due to structural differences and varying pressures within their organizations.

Key points discussed include:  
- **Real-World Challenges**: Singer highlights the disconnects between teams and the business side, where developers feel pressure to meet deadlines without understanding the overall context of their work. This leads to confusion and inefficiency, despite potentially high productivity levels of frameworks like Rails.
- **Understanding Shaping**: He introduces the concept of "shaping" as a means to define the scope of projects within a fixed timeframe, contrasting it with traditional estimation methods. Shaping encourages teams to determine how much time they can allocate to a project and to make trade-offs accordingly, illustrated through examples like real estate shopping.
- **Involving Technical Teams Early**: One of his key insights is the importance of including technical expertise in shaping discussions. By understanding the technical constraints and possibilities early on, projects can be better aligned to reality, reducing complications later in development.
- **The Nature of Pitching**: Singer argues against shallow project pitches that lack substance, advocating for clear directives that frame problems and prioritize solutions.  
- **Team Autonomy**: He discusses the advantage of providing teams with the autonomy to understand and execute projects in their entirety, rather than simply completing assigned tasks. This requires good shaping practices that provide adequate context and definition.

Examples like the development of the calendar feature in Basecamp illustrate how the concept of "appetite" aids teams in making informed decisions about project scope within defined budgets.

In conclusion, Singer encourages teams to adapt the principles of Shape Up to fit their specific needs, fostering collaboration and communication among product, design, and technical teams. He invites further discussion and insight-sharing on the challenges and successes teams face when integrating these principles into their workflows.

He also points to ongoing resources, including his book and courses, to facilitate deeper exploration of these ideas.

Overall, the talk underpins the importance of context, collaboration, and trade-offs in applying Shape Up effectively across various team structures and project types.

Cancel