LEGO Scrum
LEGO Scrum is a simple workshop in which people who are new to Scrum
learn some techniques and find reasons for Scrum ceremonies. You will
read a custom variation of the Scrum LEGO game for one small group. It is
basically based on this paper: Simulation with Bricks.
🔷Pre-game requirements
To start and successfully finish the workshop, you will need.
Timebox of 120 minutes
Group of 4-6 people
One Lego box (with at least 200 parts)
Stickers, flip chart paper sheets, markers
Planning poker cards (or hand-made ones)
Whiteboard or another place you can draw charts on
LEGO Scrum Introduction
As a workshop facilitator, you will be playing the Product Owner role. First
of all, you need to communicate the following things:
All of them will be building a single product, so they need to
cooperate.
The product is a CITY
You are the main decision-maker of the product – it is your
city.
The main building elements are LEGO blocks. But they can use
any other material in addition.
You will continuously answer questions and provide feedback.
Your role is newbie Product Owner so that you might make
some Scrum mistakes.
There is no Scrum Master that can coach them during the
game (unless they convince someone to help them).
LEGO Scrum City was made on one of my workshops.
Agenda
After the introduction you should also tell players that game will take
around 2 hours and will have the following points:
1. Information about game rules (already done)
2. Product kick-off
3. Building the Backlog (15m)
4. Estimating (30 min)
5. First Sprint (timeboxed to 15 min)
1. Sprint Planning (3 min)
2. Sprinting (7 min)
3. Sprint Reviewing (5 min)
6. Second Sprint (15 min)
7. Third Sprint (15 min)
8. Debrief and game retrospective (30 min)
Building the LEGO Scrum Backlog
This should take 15 minutes. It is a time when you present the features of
the city. A good way of doing that is by showing a team pre-prepared
sticky notes on a wall. You can include whatever you would like to have
inside the city. Here is a list I use:
1. One-storey building (5 of them, put each on 1 sticky note)
2. Two-storey buildings (3 of them, put each on 1 sticky note)
3. Shop
4. School
5. Church
6. Hospital
7. Bus stop (2 of them)
8. Road (can be drawn)
9. Park (can be drawn)
10. River (can be drawn)
11. Bridge
12. Military base (this might appear in the 2nd sprint)
Students should estimate all Backlog Items with any technique they are
familiar with (planning poker or swim lanes estimation). You should
prepare an empty burndown chart on the whiteboard and also prepare a
TODO / IN PROGRESS / DONE board for them.
Running the First Sprint
You will run 3 Sprints in this game. Every single one will have three
checkpoints.
Planning which will take 3 minutes. It is basically an event on
which the team chooses what they think they would like to
build now. They should put stick notes to the TODO column.
Sprinting will take 7 minutes. This time seems to be low
compared to planning, but it is enough to build several items.
To make sure all players have stressed it is a good idea to
show a big visible stopwatch.
Reviewing will take 5 minutes. When the time is up, you have
to make sure everyone really stops building things and start
demanding: “Where is my city?”. Check the Kanban board.
Move unfinished items back to the Backlog. Go through every
single story and either accept it to decline it. In most cases I
accept only a few things after the first sprint because after I
am shown the buildings, I am nitpicking:
I like the symmetry.
I like one colour buildings.
Buildings are either too small, too big, or too diverse.
Windows of different floors are not lined up.
Mac reviving the City built in the first Sprint of the LEGO Scrum
Later on, you should update the Release Burndown chart, and explain
what your forecast is. I always make a clear and loud announcement that
the release has to be done in three sprints (so there are only two left) and
now it looks like we will not be able to accomplish all stories. A few
minutes can be spent on retrospecting on the topic of “how can we make
it better the next sprint?”.
Running the Second Sprint
During this sprint, the team should do way better. They probably clarified
the Acceptance Criteria of buildings. They probably eliminated
impediments and are delivering high-quality buildings. Feel free to
announce that you are going on vacation and leave the room for half the
planning time.
Running the Third Sprint
If the team deals surprisingly well with stories, I like to toss new urgent
Items to the Backlog (for instance, put a “Military base” sticker on a wall
and explain that Zombie apocalypse is coming, so the City without the
base is no good).
LEGO Scrum Release and Debrief
After finishing all Sprints, you should prepare Release of your City. Finish
the Burndown chart and see how much work is still not done. Sit together
and think about those topics:
1.What did the students observe?
2.What should take more time what less?
3.How accurate were the estimations?
4.What would they have done differently?
5.What do they think about the Product Owner?
6.How did it feel to not deliver in the Sprint?
7.Do they need a Scrum Master? What for?
8.What did they learn?
