Game Dev using SCRUM - a slight modification

OK, so you read my rant about using Excel for Project Management... (sorry, queasy feeling came over me while typing that) There is one exception that I will allow... keep track of the Product Backlog, and even the Sprint Backlog, for Scrum.

I recently attended a class and I saw Excel used by the teacher for this simple task. She had some other fields and it looked like good tracking, but there was a limit. The tasks were not broken down on her sheet and she have to cut & paste every day when things changed.

OK, now that you know what NOT to do. I love Scrum, so what are the alternatives?

Over the years I have found very few places that use 100% pure Scrum. I even worked with a company that refused to use Scrum, but agreed to a daily meeting and a list of tasks broken down every 2 or 4 weeks. (Ahem)

So to help these poor people, I made a MS Project file that tracks Scrum. The added benefit is that for each Sprint, its possible to create a GANNT chart. No really! I'll hook up the files and you'll see what I am talking about.

The files can be found here... SenourScrumPackage

In that zip file you'll find a PDF of the basic instructions of how to use the other file, a MS Project 2007 sheet. There is still some copy&paste that's needed every day. But it will satisfy those that want a wall sized GANNT chart, but still have daily meetings. (Admit it, you know who you are)

Good luck and hit me up with questions!