Agile project management is nothing new. And it is spreading like wildfire. More and more employees and applicants attach great importance to more freedom, personal responsibility and natural development. That is why many companies are moving away from outdated hierarchical structures. We have been working with Scrum for years and have had very good experiences with it. We are enthusiastic.
Why Scrum can be a booster for your company and what you should look out for when introducing it, you can read here
Why can Scrum be a booster for your company?
1. Creativity.
Scrum that is truly lived increases the creativity of each individual. It makes your employees resourceful and inventive and encourages lateral thinking.
2. Responsibility and courage.
In Scrum, each role has its own freedom of decision. Nobody can hide here. Employees automatically take on more responsibility and have to show courage. And it allows each of them to grow naturally.
3. Respect and openness.
In Scrum, respect and openness are essential. As soon as all team members have internalised these values and live them, cohesion and team spirit improve. The result is a pleasant working atmosphere, full of trust and constructive cooperation.
4. Risks & costs.
Agile project management minimises risks and costs. Scrum was developed precisely for this. It creates a very high level of transparency and leaves out everything superfluous.
5. Productivity.
It is only logical that efficiency increases when only meaningful things are done, isn't it?
You can find out how Scrum works from its creators: The Scrum Guide - The Rules of the Game.
What it means to live Scrum, and why it sometimes goes wrong.
It sounds so easy and simple. And many a company considers introducing agile project management according to Scrum. The right employees for the roles of Scrum Master, Product Owner, development team and stakeholders are quickly found, too. So why does the introduction of Scrum fail in some companies?
Reason 1: Suitability of the project for Scrum.
One main problem can be that the project is not suitable for agile project management, but the decision-makers chose Scrum because it is “in”.
So the motto should not be: “The other companies are introducing Scrum in their projects, so we'll do it too.” It would be much wiser to have an experienced project manager/agile coach check whether Scrum is suitable for the project.
Reason 2: Willingness of employees to introduce Scrum.
Scrum is more than just applying the rules and holding Scrum events. Only if everyone involved is prepared to live Scrum can they enjoy the benefits of agile project management. What does that mean? Living Scrum does not just mean naming the Scrum values: courage, focus, commitment, openness, respect. It is crucial to recognise them as the basis of Scrum.
Here are two examples:
If there is a lack of respect for others in the retrospective, not every team member will dare to openly contribute suggestions for improving the process. And valuable ideas are lost for good. If the company's employees involved are not open from the outset to the introduction of Scrum and open to adapting the process, people may say they work according to Scrum, but in reality only the terminology is used. And nothing has changed…
How did we convince our employees to work with Scrum? We didn't have to. (Scrum is very widespread in software development.) They wanted to try it out of their own accord. And curiosity turned into strong Scrum teams that work hand in hand with the customer. If you are thinking about introducing agile project management in your company, we can only recommend it. The easiest way is to be supported by an experienced Scrum Master at first and later to train your own employees as Scrum Masters.
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