Scrum Down

The term scrum was first used in the context of product development to refer to the unified nature in which a team should work, not unlike the way a pack of forwards work together in rugby.

Scrum as an agile framework is now common place in software development however in many instances implementing a perfect incarnation of scrum has become the goal, this leads us away from the reasons scrum was conceived, namely to implement an agile approach to delivery.

This rigid adoption of scrum has lead many to perceive it as something that gets in the way of forward progress and is something that exists for its own sake.

This is the antithesis of what scrum was designed to accomplish so where have we taken a misstep and how do we tackle these misconceptions.

Agile Qualities

In essence scrum is a simple process.

A product owner creates a prioritised list of value, a scrum team decides on a subset of this work they fill they can achieve in a certain time scale, after this time period elapses the team reviews their achievements, looks back on how things could have been done differently, and presents a potentially shippable increment of the product to the product owner.

There are certain key take aways from this process that its important not to lose site of and separates a scrum based approach from its waterfall predecessor.

It promotes flexibility and speed, a scrum team should be nimble and agile such that they can move their focus to different priorities as the product, and the world it exists in, move on. Each new iteration is a chance to tackle to a different problem or react to a new imperative.

It promotes commitment and accountability, the team lays down very clear objectives to be achieved in a specific timescale and hold themselves accountably if they fall short of these goals. This is all done in order to increase output and lay the foundation for more accurate future estimation.

It promotes an iterative and open approach, keeping the product moving forward on a definite cadence with all decisions being made in the open with input from all team members and stake holders.

Scrum Ain't Heavy

The root of many peoples unwillingness to embrace scrum comes from a perceived rigidness in its application.

One source of this frustration can be scrum ceremonies.

Fundamentally scrum only has three ceremonies, a planning session, daily stand-ups and a review/retrospective session.

Because agile promotes communication between team members there will be other occasions where time needs to be allocated to discussion, there is no need for these arrangements to be strictly applied, an organic and informal approach will suffice.

A second point of contention can be what is perceived as a slavish following of the estimation process.

In both cases a dose of reality may be required to understand these things are unavoidable, if we develop a skepticism of the need for communication or we believe that more information about a situation shouldn't trigger a re-evaluation of effort then we are creating the conditions necessary for failure.

If it starts to feel like scrum is getting in the way then its more than likely implementing scrum has become the focus of the team and minds have been diverted from the delivery it is supposed to bring.

Find Your Own Way

Scrum is a framework not an answer and not a cure for all ills.

Scrum provides you with a toolset and some guidance on best practices for getting the best out of your resources using these tools, but this guidance cannot be slavishly followed.

Do not blindly follow how others have decided to implement scrum and always remember the end goal is to adopt an agile mindset. Its possible for scrum to resemble waterfall if this concentration on agile principles isn't observed.

This all means you should find a way that works for your team.

Providing you are following an approximation of the scrum process, and therefore exhibiting the agile qualities it should promote, then you're doing just fine.

It is also highly unlikely that you will be able to properly identify this nirvana immediately, it will be the product of lessons learnt and a willingness to admit the need for improvement via introspection of what is working and what isn't.

If scrum is seen to be something that comes with a rule set and a rigid doctrine then the battle is lost, it holds certain values dear but how you implement them is in your hands.