Key Points

• Scrum emphasizes incremental work, allowing for swift adaptation and remediation of issues as they arise.
• You’re constantly delivering value while providing transparent, open communication with your stakeholders and customers in Scrum.
• Scrum teams are self-directing, with Scrum masters acting more as coaches and aides rather than micromanagers.

The Scrum framework’s history is relatively short, in the grand scheme of things. However, its introduction to businesses had a transformative effect seemingly overnight. At its core, Scrum seeks to address the rigidity and linearity of older methodologies to better suit the rapidly changing needs of customers.

So, with that in mind, we’re taking a closer look at some of the key areas where the Scrum framework has had a massive impact. While there is no shortage of options when it comes to how we approach projects, Scrum has something certainly has something special compared to other methods. So, let’s dive in and see where Scrum has made business history.

Agility

Methodologies like Waterfall emphasize linearity, dealing in detailed planning before any work is done. This has its benefits, as there are clear steps as to what is expected in a project over time. However, it has some significant drawbacks. When changes are needed, methodologies like Waterfall cannot nimbly alter plans. Changes can be implemented, sure, but they’re often quite costly. More often than not, a project simply goes ahead as planned.

The deliverable sent to the customer might not even fit current specifications, leading to a scenario where the work is done, but the result leaves stakeholders and customers alike upset. In the modern era, projects can and will change at the drop of a hat. It comes down to a team’s ability to easily transition to a new specification or demand that determines overall success in the marketplace.

Speed and Evolution

One of the best features of the Scrum framework is its ability to readily alter plans. Since work is done in increments, changing the specifications, materials, or requirements of a given step is readily done. Scrum accepts that customer needs will change, and provides the means to keep pace alongside them. Work is done in Sprints, short 1 to 4-week cycles, allowing for teams to gather feedback, adjust, and pivot as needed.

Sprints handle quite a few of the needs for the changing marketplace, and are a feature unique to the Scrum framework. While methodologies like Agile remain quite nimble, Scrum gives that little something extra to make crossing the finish line worth it. Product specs evolve, and Scrum keeps pace right alongside them.

Value

Everything we do in business functions on the proposition of value. We’re seeking to deliver value to our customers while also making sure the project itself is worth the time, investment, and resources expended to complete it. Other methodologies can deliver value, certainly, like Six Sigma and Lean. However, some methodologies are prone to a misalignment of what creates value for a customer. This leads to discovering issues far too late, and ultimately not completing the best possible deliverable a company can make.

Defining Done

Returning back to Sprints, each completed cycle has the potential to act as an independent deliverable to your clients and customers. This allows stakeholders to see tangible results in real time. Feedback is a given at this stage, and that’s fine. What you’re doing here isn’t so much trying to define value, but rather defining what constitutes done in the context of a Scrum team.

Rapid development, prototyping, and quick results make the Scrum framework quite powerful in the right hands. Being able to quickly ascertain what needs to change and when gives Scrum teams a competitive advantage over teams not leveraging the same methodology. You’re able to readily pivot and adapt, rather than scrambling to implement fixes and ship products out.

Empowering Teams

Depending on which project management approach you’re familiar with, you’re likely familiar with a central leader at the head of any project. You’ve got to keep teams in line with eyes on the prize to get things completed. Micromanaging is fine in certain contexts. That said, it also leads to bottlenecks, defects, and a lack of engagement from team members.

This doesn’t have to be the case. While there is a time and a place for micromanaging your employees, when you’ve got a deliverable on the line, it takes the backseat. You need to establish trust while emphasizing a degree of autonomy for your teams.

Self-Reliance

Independence is a key function of any Scrum team. Teams should be entirely self-reliant, provided with all materials, funds, and everything else needed to complete the work. Further, teams should be completely cross-functional as the wealth of experience and differing perspectives make for an effective self-managing team. Leadership can certainly intervene. It is expected that you’ll receive daily reports on the status of a given project.

However, the core function of any Scrum master is going to be to remove impediments and obstacles in the way of your team. This allows them to readily function as needed and get the product out the door to your customers.

Transparency and Communication

In older methodologies, information is largely siloed away. Stakeholders have limited insight into the progress of a project until a major milestone or KPI has been completed. This can be frustrating for any stakeholder, as time is of the essence when developing any sort of project. Without regular updates, you’re losing out on vital information to deliver to customers.

Thankfully, transparency and communication are one of the major benefits when it comes to the Scrum framework. The importance of communication is greatly emphasized in Scrum, and it’s something you’ll grow fairly familiar with as you complete more projects.

Artifacts and Events

Scrum has some rather dense terminology at first glance. Artifacts don’t refer to buried treasure and the like, but rather core components of any project. This includes things like your Backlog, a prioritized list of all work that needs to be completed, daily Scrum meetings where you inform leadership about what is happening, and reviews to demonstrate when the work is done.

These elements aren’t just a nice concept to bandy about, but core to the entire Scrum framework. Engaging with artifacts promotes transparency and keeps everyone in the loop. Further, it keeps your stakeholders, customers, and team all happy with the progress of events.

Kaizen

Kaizen, or continuous improvement, is integral to any modern business. You aren’t done with the work just because the project has shipped. There is still time to learn from what has happened, adjust, and do better next time. You might have knocked everything out of the park, but if you don’t take a closer look, you’re going to be left in the lurch the next time a hang-up occurs.

Sprint Retrospectives

The Scrum framework has Sprint Retrospectives as a natural part of the completion of any Sprint. This allows teams to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and how to adapt for the next Sprint. Since these are happening with each Sprint, it allows teams to readily change workflows and generally improve. Retrospectives make for a powerful tool while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Risk

Any project has risk; that’s just a natural part of life. You can’t do work without the potential for something to go wrong. In older methodologies, risk is something that is generally addressed late in a project. By then, the damage is done, leading to expensive and time-consuming rework to get things back on track. That’s the best-case scenario. When the rubber meets the road, your project is an utter failure with all the circumstances and effects that are implied.

Swift Remediation

Given how rapidly you can change gears in the Scrum framework, it likely doesn’t come as a surprise that you can readily adapt to risks as they come up. Failures and setbacks in Scrum are an opportunity to learn, not a costly lesson in being better prepared. This alone gives Scrum a leg up compared to other methodologies.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

Ready for a little extra reading to go with the morning coffee? You might want to see how major organizations are leveraging the Theory of Constraints. Any production can be held up by bottlenecks, and major corporations have some novel ways of solving these problems.

BPR can be a massive undertaking for any organization. However, getting your employees engaged early on can make the whole transition that much smoother. Learn some practical strategies in our handy guide that you can read here.

Conclusion

The Scrum framework might be one of the most important methodologies of the 20th century. The approach itself is a flexible, relaxed way of approaching projects. This enables teams to rapidly change parameters as needed, without costly rework being present.