Saturday, March 5, 2016

A List Summarizing Scrum

We have a slightly improved version of our 'List Summarizing Scrum.' Not many changes, but a few minor ones. A list summarizing ScrumV6 How can this be useful? First, it is only a list, and prints onto one page (front and back). Two proposed uses:

Visit a team, and discuss the list fairly quickly.

The purpose is to enable a conversation that leads to a more successful use of the lean-agile-scrum ideas. The purpose is of course to decide where to improve next. What are [they] doing? What are [they] not doing? Any ideas [they] do not understand? Which areas do [they] need the most help?

Define Agile-Scrum at your company

The list is a start at defining what you mean by agile at your company. Perhaps you have a rule that says "If you are going to be 'agile,' you are expected to be doing the things on the list. If you need to make an exception, please speak to Dr. Freud." The notions behind this rule are several.
  • Often 'agile' has no definition, and this often leads to unprofessional agile.
  • Things can be crazy 'out there.' (Hence a smiling reference to Dr Freud.)
  • There is a need for each team to be different, so some allowance needs to be made for that, even at the 'framework' level.
  • Often teams are junior or do not understand agile fully. Or have mistaken ideas about agile. Once they talk to an expert, they see the 'errors of their prior thinking' and decide to do agile more professionally.
We recommend more the carrot than the stick. That is, people should be encouraged and supported in doing agile professionally, rather than punished when they 'do not comply.'

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Personally, I agree with your belief "more carrot than stick". I've definitely found that people are more motivation by, well, actual motivation instead of being constantly being beat down and told what to do. This is covered at length within quality agile course material ... Thank you for sharing. Very informative and easy to read.