In my career in education, non-profit, and more recently, marketing, I’ve reflected that the work that I’ve most enjoyed has been around planning and organizing. Queue the decision to go back to school again to get an MBA and start pursuing project management certifications. I’ve done project management throughout my career but haven’t had a titular position as one. This week, I earned my certification as a Certified Scrum Master (CSM). My eyes are now open and I exploring the depths of where and how Scrum can be used.
You’ve may have heard of Scrum by now. I had, but I didn’t know what it all entailed until recently. And in my studies, I realized that what I thought I knew about Scrum was wrong. Let me share with you some of the insights I’ve gained into this kind and highly productive framework.
What is Scrum?
Well first off, scrum is not the same as Agile. Agile is a philosophy the emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, customer-centricity and satisfaction, and Kaizen (continuous improvement). It is a philosophy that works just about anywhere, but which is most observed in complex environments – you’ve seen them in job descriptions for IT and Software.
Scrum is a framework within the Agile philosophy. Agile is a way of looking at the world, but Scrum gives a clearer picture of how we’ll realize that vision. Scrum is simple and intentionally flexible. Before we get into defining Scrum a bit, it’s worth noting that Scrum is not the One Ring to rule them all. No, it is a framework that can be adapted per team and per organization – which is a major piece of what makes Scrum special.
Scrum asserts that teams are self-organizing and self-governing. A Scrum team is a cross-functional team comprised of three defined roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers. Together, they form the mighty Scrum Team. We’ll define the role further in another post, but what I want you to walk away with today is knowing that this team of no more than 10 people (best case scenario is around 6 people) comprises a whole team capable of delivering a product increment (more on that later).
Example Teams
Software Development: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Engineers, BAs, QA Testers, UI/UX Designer, and Database Admins.
Marketing: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Copywriter, Designer, Salesforce Administrator, SEO Specialist, Email/SMS Specialist
Education: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Teacher, Counselor, Administrator, IT Specialist, Teaching Assistant
Church: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Worship Leader, Youth Ministry Leader, Volunteer Coordinator, Admin Assistant, Event Planner
What have you noticed? Only two roles are common throughout each – the Product Owner and the Scrum Master. Both roles are also knowledgeable, but their functions are distinct. The team itself has everyone necessary to be successful at creating value for the customer/client/end user. Also, did you notice that there wasn’t a project manager/manager? Hmmm… Another teaser for you to unpack later: there is no one “in charge” on a Scrum Team.
The Power of Scrum
Each team is capable and empowered. The team uses the Scrum framework to deliver iteratively and incrementally. Scrum emphasizes small, usable increments of a product in short cycles called sprints. Don’t miss this! This is powerful! And this is why Scrum is Agile. In a complex system, it is impossible to know all the variables upfront. Since one cannot know all the variables, it is an exercise in futility to plan every detail ahead of time. Scrum therefore increases focus on delivering something valuable and increasing the amount of feedback cycles so that the team can make adjustments and increase the overall quality of the product.
As a refresher, a feedback cycle or loop is when input is introduced into a system (a customer need), the team works on it, a version of the product is created (output), the product is evaluated and analyzed against the vision/client needs and recommendations are given (feedback), the team takes those asks and implements them (adjustment).
The ideal Scrum team continually works together (not changing up the team dynamic). Given this dynamic and other aspects of Agile and Scrum, the team grows in collaboration and communication, transparency and honesty, and respect. But wait – we’re all humans, right? Surely not everyone is going to get along indefinitely. Maybe so. This is where the Scrum Master comes in. We’ll talk more about the Scrum Master later – for now, just know that person is the grease and the glue.
Scrum’s View of Time
The last thing I want to unpack here is how Scrum views time. Scrum uses a concept called timeboxing. Timeboxes are fixed-length intervals of activity meant to enhance focus, efficiency, and collaboration. The most well-known buzzword for timeboxing is the sprint. As I’ve just said, sprints are fixed-length intervals of work around a product increment – that’s the business value output of each sprint – a product increment.
Ideally, a sprint is one to two weeks in length, but no more than 30 days. Remember, shorter is better because the system is complex and dynamic, there are unknown unknowns, and we cannot possibly plan everything ahead of time! Even if we did – the customer is going to change their mind and then we’re back to square one! In complex systems, every change affects every thing. So, a short sprint increases the time for feedback. That feedback informs the work going forward. The Sprint keeps the team focused on constant delivery and by receiving feedback (from the customers themselves), it ensures customer satisfaction!
So, what is Scrum? It is a framework within the Agile philosophy that is disciplined, transparent, inspected, and adaptable. It allows teams (who actually do the work) to define the work (including how long it will take and what will be delivered). It allows teams to leave ego at the door and focus on producing quality quickly as well as congealing socially. It is a kick to the teeth of Waterfall Philosophy and is a proven framework for complex systems. We’ll talk more about Scrum over the next few weeks – so stay tuned (yes, like an analog radio dial).
“You don’t know half of Scrum as well as you should like, and understand less than half of Scrum as well as it deserves.”
- Bilbo Baggins (probably)
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