Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have paused all purchases and training in and from Russia. Read Statement
Primary tabs

Alex Ballarin Latre
ITNOVE
Dec 2, 2021
Great experience!
Great experience! and Alex is an excellent teacher!
Leobel Nieto
Nov 15, 2021
El Curso de Scrum Master por Alex fue…
El Curso de Scrum Master por Alex fue muy bueno. Alex es un profesional con un conocimiento invaluable y con un curso bien formado y útil. Alex ha sabido superar lo tedioso que puede ser un curso online incentivando la participación de los estudiantes y creando espacios para la discusión.
Recomiendo totalmente sus cursos.
Ana Carolina Castro
Jul 26, 2021
Alex es un excelente Trainer
Alex es un excelente Trainer. El curso está muy bien estructurado, la combinación de conocimiento teórico y práctico enriquece mucho el aprendizaje sumado a las experiencias que comparte Alex y el resto de compañeros, además la facilidad de Alex de hacer el curso ameno también es un plus. Lo recomiendo 100%.
Marvin López
Jul 26, 2021
Completo programa
Completo programa para un curso de 15horas. Tal vez demasiadas dinámicas pero de corta duración que a veces dejan cierta sensación de que un poco más de debate y unas conclusiones finales acordadas quedaran bien definidas en cada lección. En algunas creo innecesario el trabajo previo en un espacio de grupos reducido, pues el debate más interesante se daba en la puesta en común general. El tutor (Alex Ballarín) ha sido excelente
Ildefonso Bellón
Jun 25, 2021
The trainer provided many examples…
The trainer provided many examples focused on our day-to-day activity, which I found very usefull to understand the concepts and remember the main topics.
Joan Basset
Jun 17, 2021
Curso totalmente recomendable
Un curso que se aprende mucho de los casos prácticos que el instructor fue detallando, y también tiene ejercicios que ayudan mucho a comprender las tareas de un Agile Manager.
Wilmer Alcivar
May 10, 2021
Formación de aplicación directa
Me ha encantado el curso, debates, experiencias y nuevos planteamientos.
Mi segunda experiencia formativa con Alex y fenomenal como la anterior.
Angel Luis Lozano Sanchez
May 6, 2021
Buena clase impartida por el profesor
Buena clase impartida por el profesor
Javier de Andrés
Apr 29, 2021
Excelente clase
He asistido a un curso de Professional Scrum Product Owner con Alex Ballarin. Alex es un excelente formador y entrenador de Scrum. El curso es práctico y a la vez lleno de contenido. El tiempo se pasa volando. Estoy deseando aplicar lo aprendido con mis equipos.
Olga Muñoz Ramos
Mar 30, 2021
Very good training class
Very good training class, I appreciate the customization to our own project case rather than doing a generic training class only.
Andres Gonzalez
Mar 9, 2021
Fantastic Trainer
Fantastic Trainer. Resources, explanations, timing, etc.
This training is excellent.
Thanks to Alex Ballarin!!!!
Angel Luis Lozano Sanchez
Feb 12, 2021
Very interesting class with a very good…
Very interesting class with a very good teacher who has maintained a relaxed and lively atmosphere for everyone to participate.
Javier Macías Mocé
Feb 10, 2021
Buena experiencia
genial explicación de la formación PSPO con el maestro Alex Ballarin Latre
Ruben Capdevila Martin
Jan 28, 2021
Very helpful course to understand all…
Very helpful course to understand all steps to know how Scrum works and can be applied.
Eva Ceano-Vivas
Dec 9, 2020
scrum
Buen curso, pero demasiado contenido para tan poco tiempo
Javier Garcia Diaz
Dec 2, 2020
Scrum Master Training
Our instructor was very kind and knowledgeable. Unfortunatelly the remote format has a bit less interaction in general, and some times it was a bit hard to get the context for some concepts or activities.
Roberto Navarrete
Nov 22, 2020
PSM II - ITNOVE
So wonderfull class with a very Good colleagues, Alex did a very good job with online tools and he's a super expert to got a great feedback on different agile topics.
Antonio Poto Corts
Nov 12, 2020
Formación online PSM2 muy recomendable.
Esta formación oficial Scrum PSM2 tuvo que hacerse en formato online dadas las circunstancias del covid19. El formato no restó ni un ápice de interacción y de aprovechamiento de las actividades en las que los propios alumnos ponen en práctica el Empirismo y mediante Transparencia, Inspección y Adaptación llegamos a muchas reflexiones interesantes y perfectamente aplicables a nuestros equipos Scrum. El uso de Estructuras Liberadoras dota a la formación de herramientas muy útiles. Álex, el PST de Itnove, supo mantener el ritmo alto y gran participación mediante el uso de break-out rooms. Recomendaría esta formación y a Álex Ballarín como trainer para cualquier Scrum Master interesado en subir el nivel de conocmientos y llevarlo a la práctica.
Israel Padilla Collado
Sep 19, 2020
After PSM I - some more "non-stop learning"
Thanks Alex Ballarin for this PSM I course.
I wish we had the chance to do some more practical exercices and debate around them.
Next challenge might be go forward in the Scrum Master role and its performance within the Scrum team. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, experience and advice regarding Agile practices.
Moira Chaplin
Jul 16, 2020
Discovering Scrum roles: PO
PSPO has been an excellent 1st. approach to the Scrum framework and to the PO role and its set of skills from "value maximizer" (functional to emotional, etc. values), product "strategist", etc.
Great learnings, from of Evidence Based Management model, tools for figure out/define product value propositions, to Storymapping and many others. 100% suitable in real projects environments. Beyond happy with this course!
Moira Chaplin
Jun 10, 2020
Engaging and enriching course!
Engaging and enriching course!
I didn't know what to expect since this course is more experience-oriented than theoretical. Fortunately, the format allowed for rich discussions with people from different contexts and different levels of experience in working with Scrum, which results in a much better understanding of the Scrum Master roles and its services to the Scrum Team and the organization.
Congratulations to Scrum.org and Alex Ballarin for a wonderful course
Alvaro de la Serna
Jun 10, 2020
It has been a very enriching…
It has been a very enriching experience, both from a professional and personal point of view.
I have shared my learning with other very experienced Scrum Masters and we have been able to practice with real cases that have happened or are happening to us.
I have learned practices, workshops and techniques that I didn't know before and I have seen clearly how I can apply them in my organization to help and contribute at all levels.
Thank you very much.
A highly recommended course
Víctor Farell
May 25, 2020
PSK_Mayo2020
Great conversation with the practical exercices. Althought a bit more of theory would be nice in order to be prepared for the exam.
Lourdes Martínez Orantes
May 22, 2020
Very good 2 day class
Very good 2 day class. Lots of samples, lots of conversations. Very good instructor. Thanks!!
Jordi Xavier Prat
Mar 5, 2020
A great begin for my scrum career! Thank you!
A great begin for my scrum career! Thank you!
Itziar Ruiz Rebolledo
Feb 27, 2020
Scrum PO training
Interesting training regarding scrum and complementary techniques to improve as a PO
Marcello Vincenzo Martinelli
Dec 24, 2019
Very intensive and interactive.
Very intensive and interactive.
Paolo Quartara
Nov 27, 2019
Deep inmersion in Scrum UX and Lean UX
Deep inmersion in Scrum UX and Lean UX, with exceptional mentors and teachers.
Jorge Maestre
Nov 23, 2019
Very good training, I definitely recommend it
Very good training, even for those already working agile. It helps to review all the principles and the methodology and it is very easy to forget about them. Trainer was friendly and very knowledgeable. The only negative point was the classroom, in a basement and without natural light it was not ideal.
ENRIQUE GODINO
Nov 16, 2019
It was an energizing experience
It was an energizing experience, with a lot of shared knowledge by Alex and Pol but also thanks to the day-to-day experience of all the attendees.
Francisco Quintero
Oct 6, 2019
Great foundations
Great intensive course, although the first few hours with warm up activities could have been skipped since the group already knew each other.
Nacho
Oct 2, 2019
Great class with application to our…
Great class with application to our particular cases and focused on understanding the key concepts of product management and scrum.
Jenniffer Camacho
Sep 27, 2019
Excellent course and excellent trainer
Excellent course and excellent trainer. I thank Alex Ballarin Latre for his magnificent work and for his dedication in this course.
Alberto García Marco
Jul 13, 2019
Coaching was really good
Coaching was really good, Alex answered all questions and split the time in a good way. He also gave more of his time for further questions after training. Location was fine, food as well, maybe the bathroom was not according with the number of attenders, one for 12 people and no way to block the door. Finally, I can say I recommend the course with Alex, it changed the way I have been seeing the Scrum Master role so far. Thanks Alex.
Carlos Yanez Rivera
Jul 1, 2019
Very informative and interactive.
Very informative and interactive.
Araceli Diaz
May 31, 2019
Muy interesante y práctico
Estuvo muy interesante y práctico. Lástima que la vida real en mi preciso contexto no sea así. No sé hasta que punto esto se podrá aplicar.
Rubén Casado Fernández
May 31, 2019
Un gran profesor
Un gran profesor, con muchos conocimientos, capacidad de hacer amenas las clases e interactivas.
Jaime Boillot García
May 27, 2019
Great Master Class
Great Master Class we had. Alex has been a professional teacher, handling the class very good and motivating the colleagues. The Scrum is a great way help organizations become them an agiles one.
Daniel Pegoraro
May 15, 2019
Although it started quite slow and…
Although it started quite slow and heavy, little by little Alex was catching the rhythm of the class and became quite enjoyable. I think he is a person with a good knowledge and quite capable. The only downside is that, probably due to the interruptions, we weren't able to see all the subject matter in detail.
Christian Daniel Jiménez García
May 6, 2019
Excellent
Excellent. Very good content. Alex is a great instructor.
Guillermo Seminario
Apr 7, 2019
Alex was really good teacher
Alex was really good teacher. He answered all the question we raised and was highly professional.
Oscar Salas
Apr 1, 2019
Totally worth it!
Great time with Alex! He is a very good teacher and the experience was awesome. Totally recommended
Luis Gonzalez Castellano
Mar 27, 2019
Amazing session. 100% recommend
I have learned many new techniques to apply in my day to day with the teams and it has helped me to review knowledge and clarify doubts and misunderstandings about Scrum
Pedro García García
Mar 20, 2019
Excellent opportunity to share experiences with other Professional SM
It has been two days of intense teamwork, where we have shared experiences and deepened on how the SM can effectively help the Product Owner, the development team and the organization to obtain the best results from the use of Scrum. The course promotes participation given the use of liberating structures dynamics.
Mildred Sarmiento
Feb 28, 2019
Alex is an excellent facilitator with…
Alex is an excellent facilitator with vast amounts of knowledge and experiences related to Scrum and Agile.
Jorge Maestre
Feb 28, 2019
I loved it
I liked the fact that it wasn't about the exam, but about growing in our rol, learning new techniques and sharing our experiences. We did some very powerful exercises to reflect how we are dealing with all the challenges we have to face daily.
Fabiola Areas
Jan 23, 2019
Interesting SCRUM experience
Interactive, entertaining, collaborative A whole experience in SCRUM
Pablo Hernanz
Jan 23, 2019
Very Good Course!!
Very Good Course!!! We recommend it to all people with a potencial profile of Scrum Master or Product Owner
NICOLAS GASTON
Alex's Certifications
Alex's Bio
Alex started working with Scrum in 2009 and pioneered bringing Scrum.org courses to Spain in 2014, having trained more than 6.000 people in Agile, Scrum and Kanban.
He spends most of his training delivering the full portfolio of Scrum.org courses and coaching the leadership of organizations with digital product management practices, business agility and organizational design.
Alex contributes to the Agile community in Spain by:
- Leading the Agile IT Management postgraduate program at the UPC University in Barcelona.
- Leading the Barcelona Scrum meetup, ITNOVE Network meetup & The Liberators Network - Spain
Our customers include
He lives and works in Barcelona, although he enjoys teaching and coaching around Europe.
Languages
- Catalan
- English
- Spanish
Courses taught by Alex
See What My Students Say
Dec 2, 2021
Great experience!
Great experience! and Alex is an excellent teacher!
Leobel Nieto
Nov 15, 2021
El Curso de Scrum Master por Alex fue…
El Curso de Scrum Master por Alex fue muy bueno. Alex es un profesional con un conocimiento invaluable y con un curso bien formado y útil. Alex ha sabido superar lo tedioso que puede ser un curso online incentivando la participación de los estudiantes y creando espacios para la discusión.
Recomiendo totalmente sus cursos.
Ana Carolina Castro
Jul 26, 2021
Alex es un excelente Trainer
Alex es un excelente Trainer. El curso está muy bien estructurado, la combinación de conocimiento teórico y práctico enriquece mucho el aprendizaje sumado a las experiencias que comparte Alex y el resto de compañeros, además la facilidad de Alex de hacer el curso ameno también es un plus. Lo recomiendo 100%.
Marvin López
Jul 26, 2021
Completo programa
Completo programa para un curso de 15horas. Tal vez demasiadas dinámicas pero de corta duración que a veces dejan cierta sensación de que un poco más de debate y unas conclusiones finales acordadas quedaran bien definidas en cada lección. En algunas creo innecesario el trabajo previo en un espacio de grupos reducido, pues el debate más interesante se daba en la puesta en común general. El tutor (Alex Ballarín) ha sido excelente
Ildefonso Bellón
Jun 25, 2021
The trainer provided many examples…
The trainer provided many examples focused on our day-to-day activity, which I found very usefull to understand the concepts and remember the main topics.
Joan Basset
Jun 17, 2021
Curso totalmente recomendable
Un curso que se aprende mucho de los casos prácticos que el instructor fue detallando, y también tiene ejercicios que ayudan mucho a comprender las tareas de un Agile Manager.
Wilmer Alcivar
May 10, 2021
Formación de aplicación directa
Me ha encantado el curso, debates, experiencias y nuevos planteamientos.
Mi segunda experiencia formativa con Alex y fenomenal como la anterior.
Angel Luis Lozano Sanchez
May 6, 2021
Buena clase impartida por el profesor
Buena clase impartida por el profesor
Javier de Andrés
Apr 29, 2021
Excelente clase
He asistido a un curso de Professional Scrum Product Owner con Alex Ballarin. Alex es un excelente formador y entrenador de Scrum. El curso es práctico y a la vez lleno de contenido. El tiempo se pasa volando. Estoy deseando aplicar lo aprendido con mis equipos.
Olga Muñoz Ramos
Mar 30, 2021
Very good training class
Very good training class, I appreciate the customization to our own project case rather than doing a generic training class only.
Andres Gonzalez
Mar 9, 2021
Fantastic Trainer
Fantastic Trainer. Resources, explanations, timing, etc.
This training is excellent.
Thanks to Alex Ballarin!!!!
Angel Luis Lozano Sanchez
Feb 12, 2021
Very interesting class with a very good…
Very interesting class with a very good teacher who has maintained a relaxed and lively atmosphere for everyone to participate.
Javier Macías Mocé
Feb 10, 2021
Buena experiencia
genial explicación de la formación PSPO con el maestro Alex Ballarin Latre
Ruben Capdevila Martin
Jan 28, 2021
Very helpful course to understand all…
Very helpful course to understand all steps to know how Scrum works and can be applied.
Eva Ceano-Vivas
Dec 9, 2020
scrum
Buen curso, pero demasiado contenido para tan poco tiempo
Javier Garcia Diaz
Dec 2, 2020
Scrum Master Training
Our instructor was very kind and knowledgeable. Unfortunatelly the remote format has a bit less interaction in general, and some times it was a bit hard to get the context for some concepts or activities.
Roberto Navarrete
Nov 22, 2020
PSM II - ITNOVE
So wonderfull class with a very Good colleagues, Alex did a very good job with online tools and he's a super expert to got a great feedback on different agile topics.
Antonio Poto Corts
Nov 12, 2020
Formación online PSM2 muy recomendable.
Esta formación oficial Scrum PSM2 tuvo que hacerse en formato online dadas las circunstancias del covid19. El formato no restó ni un ápice de interacción y de aprovechamiento de las actividades en las que los propios alumnos ponen en práctica el Empirismo y mediante Transparencia, Inspección y Adaptación llegamos a muchas reflexiones interesantes y perfectamente aplicables a nuestros equipos Scrum. El uso de Estructuras Liberadoras dota a la formación de herramientas muy útiles. Álex, el PST de Itnove, supo mantener el ritmo alto y gran participación mediante el uso de break-out rooms. Recomendaría esta formación y a Álex Ballarín como trainer para cualquier Scrum Master interesado en subir el nivel de conocmientos y llevarlo a la práctica.
Israel Padilla Collado
Sep 19, 2020
After PSM I - some more "non-stop learning"
Thanks Alex Ballarin for this PSM I course.
I wish we had the chance to do some more practical exercices and debate around them.
Next challenge might be go forward in the Scrum Master role and its performance within the Scrum team. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, experience and advice regarding Agile practices.
Moira Chaplin
Jul 16, 2020
Discovering Scrum roles: PO
PSPO has been an excellent 1st. approach to the Scrum framework and to the PO role and its set of skills from "value maximizer" (functional to emotional, etc. values), product "strategist", etc.
Great learnings, from of Evidence Based Management model, tools for figure out/define product value propositions, to Storymapping and many others. 100% suitable in real projects environments. Beyond happy with this course!
Moira Chaplin
Jun 10, 2020
Engaging and enriching course!
Engaging and enriching course!
I didn't know what to expect since this course is more experience-oriented than theoretical. Fortunately, the format allowed for rich discussions with people from different contexts and different levels of experience in working with Scrum, which results in a much better understanding of the Scrum Master roles and its services to the Scrum Team and the organization.
Congratulations to Scrum.org and Alex Ballarin for a wonderful course
Alvaro de la Serna
Jun 10, 2020
It has been a very enriching…
It has been a very enriching experience, both from a professional and personal point of view.
I have shared my learning with other very experienced Scrum Masters and we have been able to practice with real cases that have happened or are happening to us.
I have learned practices, workshops and techniques that I didn't know before and I have seen clearly how I can apply them in my organization to help and contribute at all levels.
Thank you very much.
A highly recommended course
Víctor Farell
May 25, 2020
PSK_Mayo2020
Great conversation with the practical exercices. Althought a bit more of theory would be nice in order to be prepared for the exam.
Lourdes Martínez Orantes
May 22, 2020
Very good 2 day class
Very good 2 day class. Lots of samples, lots of conversations. Very good instructor. Thanks!!
Jordi Xavier Prat
Mar 5, 2020
A great begin for my scrum career! Thank you!
A great begin for my scrum career! Thank you!
Itziar Ruiz Rebolledo
Feb 27, 2020
Scrum PO training
Interesting training regarding scrum and complementary techniques to improve as a PO
Marcello Vincenzo Martinelli
Dec 24, 2019
Very intensive and interactive.
Very intensive and interactive.
Paolo Quartara
Nov 27, 2019
Deep inmersion in Scrum UX and Lean UX
Deep inmersion in Scrum UX and Lean UX, with exceptional mentors and teachers.
Jorge Maestre
Nov 23, 2019
Very good training, I definitely recommend it
Very good training, even for those already working agile. It helps to review all the principles and the methodology and it is very easy to forget about them. Trainer was friendly and very knowledgeable. The only negative point was the classroom, in a basement and without natural light it was not ideal.
ENRIQUE GODINO
Nov 16, 2019
It was an energizing experience
It was an energizing experience, with a lot of shared knowledge by Alex and Pol but also thanks to the day-to-day experience of all the attendees.
Francisco Quintero
Oct 6, 2019
Great foundations
Great intensive course, although the first few hours with warm up activities could have been skipped since the group already knew each other.
Nacho
Oct 2, 2019
Great class with application to our…
Great class with application to our particular cases and focused on understanding the key concepts of product management and scrum.
Jenniffer Camacho
Sep 27, 2019
Excellent course and excellent trainer
Excellent course and excellent trainer. I thank Alex Ballarin Latre for his magnificent work and for his dedication in this course.
Alberto García Marco
Jul 13, 2019
Coaching was really good
Coaching was really good, Alex answered all questions and split the time in a good way. He also gave more of his time for further questions after training. Location was fine, food as well, maybe the bathroom was not according with the number of attenders, one for 12 people and no way to block the door. Finally, I can say I recommend the course with Alex, it changed the way I have been seeing the Scrum Master role so far. Thanks Alex.
Carlos Yanez Rivera
Jul 1, 2019
Very informative and interactive.
Very informative and interactive.
Araceli Diaz
May 31, 2019
Muy interesante y práctico
Estuvo muy interesante y práctico. Lástima que la vida real en mi preciso contexto no sea así. No sé hasta que punto esto se podrá aplicar.
Rubén Casado Fernández
May 31, 2019
Un gran profesor
Un gran profesor, con muchos conocimientos, capacidad de hacer amenas las clases e interactivas.
Jaime Boillot García
May 27, 2019
Great Master Class
Great Master Class we had. Alex has been a professional teacher, handling the class very good and motivating the colleagues. The Scrum is a great way help organizations become them an agiles one.
Daniel Pegoraro
May 15, 2019
Although it started quite slow and…
Although it started quite slow and heavy, little by little Alex was catching the rhythm of the class and became quite enjoyable. I think he is a person with a good knowledge and quite capable. The only downside is that, probably due to the interruptions, we weren't able to see all the subject matter in detail.
Christian Daniel Jiménez García
May 6, 2019
Excellent
Excellent. Very good content. Alex is a great instructor.
Guillermo Seminario
Apr 7, 2019
Alex was really good teacher
Alex was really good teacher. He answered all the question we raised and was highly professional.
Oscar Salas
Apr 1, 2019
Totally worth it!
Great time with Alex! He is a very good teacher and the experience was awesome. Totally recommended
Luis Gonzalez Castellano
Mar 27, 2019
Amazing session. 100% recommend
I have learned many new techniques to apply in my day to day with the teams and it has helped me to review knowledge and clarify doubts and misunderstandings about Scrum
Pedro García García
Mar 20, 2019
Excellent opportunity to share experiences with other Professional SM
It has been two days of intense teamwork, where we have shared experiences and deepened on how the SM can effectively help the Product Owner, the development team and the organization to obtain the best results from the use of Scrum. The course promotes participation given the use of liberating structures dynamics.
Mildred Sarmiento
Feb 28, 2019
Alex is an excellent facilitator with…
Alex is an excellent facilitator with vast amounts of knowledge and experiences related to Scrum and Agile.
Jorge Maestre
Feb 28, 2019
I loved it
I liked the fact that it wasn't about the exam, but about growing in our rol, learning new techniques and sharing our experiences. We did some very powerful exercises to reflect how we are dealing with all the challenges we have to face daily.
Fabiola Areas
Jan 23, 2019
Interesting SCRUM experience
Interactive, entertaining, collaborative A whole experience in SCRUM
Pablo Hernanz
Jan 23, 2019
Very Good Course!!
Very Good Course!!! We recommend it to all people with a potencial profile of Scrum Master or Product Owner
NICOLAS GASTON
Upcoming Classes by Alex
See all upcoming classes-
Professional Agile Leadership - EssentialsDetails Register
Live VirtualJun 14-16, 2022
9:15 AM - 2:15 PM
Europe/Madrid
Spanish -
Professional Scrum Product Owner - AdvancedDetails Register
Live VirtualJun 28-30, 2022
9:15 AM - 2:15 PM
Europe/Madrid
Spanish -
Professional Scrum Product OwnerDetails Register
Live VirtualJul 11-13, 2022
9:15 AM - 2:15 PM
Europe/Madrid
Spanish
Classes Attended by Alex
-
Professional Agile Leadership - Evidence Based Management
Latest Blogs by Alex
See all blogs
Alex Ballarin Latre
El intraemprendimiento es la aplicación de la mentalidad y prácticas de los emprendedores, que crean nuevas empresas o despliegan iniciativas sociales, dentro de las empresas consolidadas.
May 9, 2022
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
In this article you will learn:
- Why enabling Scrum Teams with UX Design capabilities is important.
- Why introducing UX capabilities to Scrum team is frequently hard.
- What is the job of an UX Leader in a product development organization.
- How to use a UX Design maturity level to coach teams to deliver better outcome
Apr 23, 2022
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
La autoorganización es un proceso en el que alguna forma de coordinación surge de las interacciones entre los componentes de un sistema inicialmente desordenado.
Dec 8, 2021
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
¿Qué es la Definición de Done?
La Guía Scrum 2020 define la «Definición de Done» como la descripción formal del estado del Incremento cuando cumple las medidas de calidad requeridas por el Producto.
También dice que «en el momento que un Product Backlog Ítem cumple la Definición de Done, ha nacido un Incremento».
Así pues, esta definición se aplica a todo el Incremento y detalla las condiciones bajo las cuales el Producto es usable sin tener que añadir ningún trabajo adicional.
Es habitual que se confunda la Definición de Done con las verificaciones de funcionalidad de los Ítems que se van realizando durante el Sprint, como es comprobar el Criterio de Aceptación. Uno de los motivos es que una buena práctica es no dejar estas comprobaciones de funcionalidad para el final del Sprint (realizando una «mini-cascada») para evitar sorpresas desagradables.
Las buenas prácticas de ingeniería de software ágil como la «Integración Continua (CI)» recomiendan verificar frecuentemente tanto las pruebas técnicas, como las funcionales y las de calidad (p.e. la Definición de Done), y obligatoriamente antes de dar por finalizado el Incremento.
La Definición de Done detalla las condiciones de calidad que debe cumplir cualquier Incremento del Producto, mientras que el Criterio de Aceptación define las condiciones específicas de cada funcionalidad respecto su comportamiento y calidad técnica.
¿Qué es el Criterio de aceptación?
El Criterio de Aceptación es una buena práctica de la ingeniería de software ágil consistente en definir, previamente a su implementación, las condiciones específicas de cada funcionalidad respecto su comportamiento y calidad técnica. Esta definición suele realizarse durante el refinamiento previo al Sprint, por parte del Product Owner, los Developers y otros Stakeholders (p.e. los usuarios o expertos concernidos).
Cabe destacar que el Criterio de Aceptación no es estándard de Scrum, no aparece en la Guía Scrum, y que no es un documento que el Product Owner escribe para que lo lean los Developers, sino que suele ser definido de manera conjunta para mejorar su calidad y minimizar malentendidos.
Tampoco debe confundirse el criterio de aceptación con las pruebas funcionales, que se realizan como parte del desarrollo de la funcionalidad durante el Sprint y que pueden adoptar diferentes estilos, como es el Behaviour-Driven Development.
El Criterio de Aceptación es estándard de Scrum, sino una buena práctica ágil, que suele realizarse conjuntamente entre Product Owner y Developers en el refinamiento previo al Sprint.
¿Cómo se usan conjuntamente la Definición de Done y el Criterio de Aceptación?
El Criterio de Aceptación pretende guiar la implementación, así como permitir las estimaciones o detectar dependencias. Permite comprender los aspectos clave de la funcionalidad, p.e. acompañados de una descripción gráfica de las pantallas como un mockup, así como sus condiciones técnicas específicas, como p.e. rendimiento o compatibilidad.
También es un «contrato» básico con el cliente para explicitar las expectativas de los usuarios, lo cual en ningún caso debería significar que se evite la flexibilidad durante la implementación o que se rechacen cambios, pero permite encontrar un término medio de estabilidad durante la implementación.
A partir del Criterio de Aceptación se suele definir de manera más detallada la documentación del comportamiento esperado de la funcionalidad y de sus pruebas funcionales y técnicas. Se pueden utilizar varios enfoques para plasmar estas pruebas, como el Behaviour-Driven Development o las «Pruebas (funcionales) de Aceptación».
Estas últimas son diferentes del Criterio de Aceptación porque tienen como objetivo detallar las funcionalidades para verificar su implementación, aunque la similitud del nombre puede hacer que se confundan con el criterio de aceptación.
Finalmente, la figura siguiente muestra como durante el desarrollo pueden surgir dudas o nuevas ideas que modifiquen el criterio de aceptación. Si esto ocurre, debería consensuarse con el Product Owner y los Stakeholders. Una vez que se concluye la implementación suele verificarse de nuevo la Definition of Done, que no cambia durante el Sprint, sino durante las retrospectivas si se considera necesario o se está en condiciones de mejorar la calidad.
El Criterio de Aceptación, la Definition of Done y la verificación de la implementación (mediante pruebas de aceptación o Behaviour-Driven Development) suelen trabajarse conjuntamente durante el Sprint. Una buena práctica como la Integración Continua recomienda hacerlo a diario, y no dar por entregada una funcionalidad hasta que se cumplen todas ellas.
Si te ha gustado este artículo, ¡no olvides compartirlo en las redes sociales!
May 28, 2021
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
Después de llevar más de 10 años acompañando a organizaciones, tanto startups como empresas tradicionales, que quieren adoptar la agilidad a su manera de trabajar, hemos visto una gran variedad de enfoques a la hora de abordar la iniciativa y de contextos iniciales.
May 2, 2021
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
Este canvas de Scrum.org te permite hacer una revisión básica de como ha adoptado Scrum tu equipo y organización para identificar mejoras accionables. Esta herramienta se usa mejor en un taller colaborativo con los miembros de los equipos Scrum, el management y otros roles relevantes de la organización.
Sep 7, 2020
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
Este artículo es la segunda parte de otro donde hablaba de como integrar el trabajo de los especialistas de UX y los desarrolladores de software.
Aug 30, 2019
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
Tanto el desarrollo de software Agile como el diseño de experiencia de usuario (UX) tienen como objetivos comunes entregar antes sistemas más usados y valiosos para el cliente.
Aug 30, 2019
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
In this article I will stress again the utmost importance of understanding the context of the organization as a strategy to achieve a possible, evolutionary and deep application of Scrum within organizations.
Apr 28, 2019
Read blog
Alex Ballarin Latre
In this post I will review what's a Proxy Product Owner, why you can find so often this role in organizations embracing Scrum, and some proposals to avoid this role and achieve a true Product Owner.
What is a Proxy Product Owner?
A Proxy Product Owner (Proxy PO) is a middleman role between the people taking decissions about a product and the people developing it. A Proxy PO usually perform activities that are usually done by a Product Owner, such as:
Gather the customer needs.
Define and order the Product Backlog.
Plan how to realize the Backlog together with the team.
Decide when the product increments can be released to the customers.
However, a Proxy PO is an incomplete version of a Product Owner. This seriously undermines its efectiveness and makes the value-maximizer mission of a PO difficult to achieve. The main shortcommings of a Proxy are typically:
It is not the owner of the product! So neither takes the main decissions about the product nor is truly accountable for its success.
Does not control the product's budget.
Does not define neither the product's vision nor its strategy.
Does not have the last say over the Backlog and its items.
So, although having a Proxy PO may enable a Development Team to have a stable demand management, this role does not optimize neither decission-taking nor value management of the product, specially in big and complex organizations.
Functional organizations and the Proxy PO
Once upon a time there was an organization grouping employees according to the type of work they did and to their capabilities. This business groups receive several names such as business areas, departments or teams, being the most frequent organizational model. This model is also a heritage of Scientific Management or Taylorism, introduced by Frederick Winslow Taylor in early twentieth century.
A typical business organization divides their workers between the "business" and the "IT" people, subdividing those areas in smaller function-specific groups such as sales/marketing/HR and Dev/Ops/QA respectively. IT traditional roles such as Business Relationship Manager, or Business Partner, prioritize the business demand, and another IT role such as Project Manager leads their realization.
When it comes to embrace Scrum, those organizations without a good understanding of the Product Owner role oftenly identify that role as belonging to the IT department which is set to maintain the communication between the business users and the Development Team. In addition, this role is expected to analyze the backlog items and even define their acceptance criteria. This set of responsibilities fits quite well those of a Project Manager, who also may see himself closer to a Product Owner than to a Developer or Scrum Master. For all this reasons, Proxy PO easily emerge from the IT department.
Furthermore, business people which have the "MAN" (Money, Authority and Need) are usually too busy to also deal with time-consuming activities such as detailed backlog management and requirement definition. That may makes this new role not so attractive to those business roles, which could be the ideal Product Owners. So that, in Scrum adoptions we oftenly have all the ingredients to cook a good Proxy PO recipe.
Proposals to achieve a true Product Owner
First of all, it is essential that organizations those helping them to embrace Scrum understand deeply the Product Owner role. Even more difficult, they should understand the severe organizational redesign this role demands both in the business and the IT areas. IT should not be an "internal IT provider" any longer.
Secondly, it is also important that everybody understands that a true Development Team should be self-sufficient so it may carry out large parts of elaborated backlog management activities, such as refining, item definition and acceptance criteria. This delegation from the Product Owner to the Development Team should be made on the principles of transparency and trust. The Product Owner should remain confident on being informed and responsible for taking the most important decissions about backlog management and item definition.
Thirdly and lastly, finding a good fit for existing project managers within the new organization shouldn't encourage them to be Proxy POs. If they are experts in team management, who else may help a Development Team to be self-managed as another team member, but avoiding the micromanagement and working in another value-adding activities within the Sprint.
Dec 7, 2017
Read blog