Scrum: Hinder or Help?

In fact, it all depends on the specifics of the project and your experience. In some cases, Scrum becomes the best management method, in others it is advisable to abandon it.
But how to determine? Let’s talk about this in more detail.

Maksym Prokhorov, founder and managing partner PM PARTNERS

Briefly about the essence of Scrum

I’ll start by explaining this concept. If you have already heard about Scrum, you can refresh the main points in your memory again. And for those who come across this for the first time, there will be no need to google. Just read on.

Scrum is an agile development methodology, where there is a non-standard distribution of roles in a team and a unique organization of iterations (a fixed-length time interval allotted for software development). Scrum involves a team approach to project implementation and continuous improvement during work. With specific roles, rules, and instructions, the team produces the software product faster.

Scrum belongs to the group of flexible (Agile) methodologies, which are the philosophy of software development. An alternative could be XP, Kanban, Lean, Crystal, Rapid application development, Scrumban and a number of others. How to choose the right one, talk a little lower.

To understand Scrum and understand its essence in detail, I advise you to read special literature, including the use of Agile in different business areas and areas of our lives. For example, you can choose from this list:

Scrum. Learn to do twice as much in less time.” (Jeff Sutherland)

The book is in the Top 10 Amazon.com, the author is the developer of the revolutionary Scrum methodology, which allows you to build flexibility and improve its quality. For 20 years, the technique has helped not only IT specialists, FBI employees, businessmen, but also ordinary people in their work.

“Pure Agile. Back to basics” (Robert C. Martin).

In the nearly 20 years that have passed since the publication of the Agile Manifesto, the understanding of this methodology has become significantly different from the intentions that were the basis of its creators. Now is the time to return to the original idea of ​​Agile: a lightweight solution to a small problem given to small teams of programmers doing small tasks.

The Book of Scrum. Flexible product and business management” (Ken Schwaber).

Carries the spirit of Scrum, revealing its values ​​and basic principles. Ken Schwaber, co-creator of Scrum, co-author of the Scrum Handbook, and founder of Scrum.org, has collected best case studies from his practice, showing examples of successes and failures of Scrum in real projects. They will help you understand how to use it to solve complex problems and achieve results. The author tells how to effectively manage complex, cumbersome projects and changing product requirements, simplify the organizational structure with the help of self-managed development teams, get clearer descriptions of requirements and intelligible feedback from clients and customers.

“Scrum without errors. Tools, techniques and tips for those working in Agile” (Ilan Goldstein).

The book talks about 30 life hacks, thanks to which the use of Scrum will be quick, successful and painless. The author outlined his many years of experience as a scrum trainer in 10 chapters, analyzed in detail the pitfalls and pain points that inevitably arise in the path of every practicing Scrum team. The author described the analysis of typical mistakes and ways to eliminate them quite wittily, accompanied by vivid metaphors and stories. This practical guide to implementing Scrum practices will be useful to both the Scrum Master and any member of the Scrum Team.

“Agile in the family. 200 bold and fresh ideas” (Feiler Bruce).

This is a guide on how to reduce domestic chaos and increase happiness. Author Feiler Bruce (acclaimed American writer and broadcaster) chose the brightest examples, sought out the smartest people and the most organic families he could find to put together the best experience available today. Based on this, he created a kind of guide for happy families. This book will help answer the questions “How to manage the chaos in our lives?”, “How to instill in children our values ​​​​and help them avoid mistakes?”, “How to make your life full and your family happy?”, “How to avoid routine and save love in a couple?”, “How to support each other in different situations, quarrel wisely and have difficult conversations with a child?”.

When is Scrum suitable and not suitable?

In fact, Scrum explains how the team works to create value in each sprint (the short time frame during which the Scrum team completes a given amount of work). This is necessary for the production of products, the achievement of goals and the solution of complex problems.

Scrum is great when a team has to complete tasks under some uncertainty. If we detail on the example of IT projects, then we can talk about a customer who, without waiting for the completion of the first task, gives the second one with significant adjustments. And the clarifications or changes made affect the entire product. Here Scrum will help not to waste time on redoing, and the team will show visible results after each sprint. In addition, you will be able to understand whether you are moving in the right direction and implement new changes in the next sprint.

However, there are situations when you definitely don’t need Scrum. I will describe the main ones.

Implementation of a template project. In this case, the situation is stable, the task is set accurately and completely, no changes are expected. Here it is better to apply the waterfall model — the phased implementation of the project, while you can proceed to the next stage only after the end of the previous one. The method was especially popular in the 90s of the last century, in some cases it is still relevant today.

If the customer only needs bug fixing. That is, your team is only required to troubleshoot the software (inconsistency between the behavior of the program and the terms of reference).

When only software product support is needed.

Also, the customer can apply to your team for a number of specific tasks with reference to the agreed deadlines and calendar dates.

In the last three cases, Kanban is more suitable, assuming the use of the “just in time” principle, with an even distribution of workload among workers.

In fact, there are many cases in practice in which Scrum will not be the best solution. However, when it is definitely needed, it will become your great assistant. Therefore, I advise you to delve into it and practice in suitable projects. What do you think of Scrum? Share in the comments.