What is the best support for Scrum in Redmine?
- Best practices?
- Plugin support?
All plugins I've tried are either not that active anymore and/or not up to the task of managing a major project using Scrum.
I've googled to no avail...
+4
A:
Scrum best practice is to avoid using too many tools.
Agile methods put individuals and interactions first. Tools aren't important. Read this page to see what the real background of scrum is: http://agilemanifesto.org/
Read this to see more about Scrum. http://www.controlchaos.com/old-site/Scrumo.htm
Note that tools aren't really necessary.
Scrum is a series of sprints (managed with a simple backlog and burndown chart).
Scrum is a daily stand-up meeting (managed with no tools at all).
S.Lott
2009-09-22 10:45:05
Thanks! I was thinking along those lines but I needed to know that I didn't miss anything. Our project is scattered geographically (at least most of the time) and a web-based integration with the issue tracking system would be a great added value. At the least to keep those not away up-to-date and to keep a centralized place to find information.
Subtwo
2009-09-23 06:55:38
(correction: Of course I meant to keep those away up-to-date, but you know what i mean)
Subtwo
2009-09-23 06:56:39
Scrum is for development. Web-based issue tracking can sometimes be merged in with the development backlog. Do not make tools stand in the way of the daily scrum meeting.
S.Lott
2009-09-23 10:11:41
You're sorta not answering the question asked.Scrum is NOT only a stand-up, while it's essential.Still, you need to:* estimate* track tasks stuck on certain stage* draw burndown chartWithout this, you have no analysis at all. Without analysis, you can't really tune your process.
Victor Sergienko
2010-04-02 10:04:48
@Victor Sergienko: First, I disagree that there's any tuning component at all with Scrum. However, I agree that it is a good thing to do. The point is that estimating and tuning can be done on a spreadsheet. That's all the tooling anyone needs.
S.Lott
2010-04-02 10:28:46
While it is true that you shouldn't focus on tools with Scrum sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise. What if your team is - against all rules - not in one location? Your only specialist for some thing just happens to live in a different country and he's the only one there assigned to your team? Then you can't rely on whiteboards etc. alone. This is an interesting question because I have been looking at these tools as well and can't give a comprehensive answer yet.
Makis
2010-05-09 14:19:37
@Makis: That is exactly how we do scrum -- spread around. We don't use a physical whiteboard. We don't waste any time on "tools". A shared directory with the burndown -- checked into SVN -- seems to work just fine for us. We have MS Sharepoint, but it's a huge pain in the neck -- it's too much of a "tool" and not transparent enough. A shared document is pretty well transparent because all programming involves source control and shared documents.
S.Lott
2010-05-10 11:03:53
Makis
2010-05-10 12:14:05
@Makis: The burndown os the backlog. It's a shard document. "they tend to be locked if someone edits them". This is (a) poor choice of tools and (b) poor design for the document. Use Subversion or Git or something that doesn't rely on locking. Make the backlog many small files that are assembled (like source) in priority order.
S.Lott
2010-05-10 15:02:59
So it's basically a text-list since binary files do not merge well?
Makis
2010-05-10 18:58:27
@Makis: It's programming. Everything starts out as text because programming provides lots of existing, free, already installed text manipulation and file-sharing tools. In my experience, that's almost all you need. Super-complex "management tools" are often too much tool to solve simple problems. Simple, regular communication via simple text works really, really well.
S.Lott
2010-05-10 22:24:21
A task tracking system is useful for keeping track of the tasks in the product backlog. Redmine is udeful for this purpose.
xagyg
2010-08-09 23:28:19
@xagyg: The question assumes that redmine is useful. You have repeated that assumption. Since the assumption was already in the question, Why are you repeating it here?
S.Lott
2010-08-10 01:13:44
@S.Lott: I am repeating it in this particular section as a response to the above post's comment that "Note that tools aren't really necessary." Sure, you don't have to use tools, but they are very helpful and I think it is foolish not to use something that can save you time and effort.
xagyg
2010-08-16 23:45:15
+6
A:
I don't really know Redmine but it looks like the Scrum Alliance Development Team has several Scrum plugins for it. Others potentially useful plugins are the Scrum dashboard plugin, the Todo Lists plugin, the Backlogs plugin but I can't say if they conflict or overlap with the Scrum Alliance plugins. This requires IMO some further investigations and testing.
My advices:
- If the team is collocated, don't use a web based tool, use sticky notes on a wall and a spreadsheet.
- If there are good reasons to use a web based tool, don't use Redmine if it's not satisfying.
Pascal Thivent
2009-09-22 11:14:43
The Scrum Alliance's fork of Redmine was modified and abandoned several months ago. I wouldn't recommend using it because it's missing a lot of recent changes in Redmine, including security fixes. The Scrum dashboard, Todo Lists, and Backlogs plugins are all maintained and good options.
Eric Davis
2009-10-02 21:51:50
So I took a look at some of these plugins (backlogs, dashboard, charts, and todos) and unfortunately they all need some TLC. All of them had bugs of some sort, either from a tag release or the master/head revision. So expect to put out fires if you plan to use these.
Edmundito
2010-02-25 19:47:26
+2
A:
Scrum PM is a decent, current Scrum plugin for Redmine. It's fairly basic, and the UI leaves something to be desired, but it works.
It has a Backlog where you can create stories, and a Dashboard where you can drag and drop tasks for stories through status to done.
Redmine Issues are Tasks, and Versions are Sprints. There is no strong correlation between tasks and stories, and there are a few (non-blocking) bugs, but it's the best scrum plugin for Redmine I've seen.
fijiaaron
2010-03-24 22:53:10
Ugh, the lack of relationship between User Stories from the Issues list and the User Stories from that plugin is a dealbreaker. Despite the IE issues, Backlogs (as mentioned by Mark below) is a much more promising solution: http://www.redminebacklogs.net/
dariusz
2010-09-21 14:51:53
+2
A:
Thought I'd make mention of the Redmine Backlogs plugin again. It's been getting some TLC lately. product backlog view, taskboard view, real-time updates, reports, task colors unique to the user's preference, etc.
Mark
2010-07-29 13:20:43
+1
A:
You don't need a scrum tool to use redmine in a scrum way, however, it can at least help with acceptance. Redmine Backlogs isn't too bad. I have evaluated it and the product backlogs screen is a little raw, but useful. The task board is good. I recommend you take a look at it.
xagyg
2010-08-16 23:38:13