What is scrum and how can it boost success?

Submitted by Adi Gaskell MCMI on Fri, 05/06/2009 - 10:15

What is Scrum?

Scrum is an incremental process for product delivery. It’s popular with IT projects and has been described as an Agile Project Management methodology. It can be equally successful in helping to develop non-IT products, and for managing other work. The word Agile simply refers to the process being active with the ability to easily change direction. That’s a big advantage in an ever-changing world where things can happen fast!

When Can Scrum Help?

Scrum can be beneficial in almost any project and most helpful in difficult circumstances, such as:
•   The task ahead seems almost too great to manage, and priorities keep changing. Time and money are short, so its essential to somehow create value quickly and be cost-effective
•   The project is large and very complex with requirements changing, and it’s difficult to plan. The technology is unfamiliar and its difficult to estimate schedule or cost
•   You’re not expert in any project management methodology, and you’re wary of being drawn into time-consuming and excessive documentation. You’ve taken over a project that is in trouble and you need to get back on track quickly

How Can it Boost Success?

Scrum can boost success in many ways, for example:
•   The organisation gets what is most needed and most beneficial first, so it profits early
•   Managers get what they want when they want, to help them achieve their objectives
•   Team members enjoy well-motivated activity and can celebrate frequent achievements
•   Users and customers enjoy the benefit of quality products delivered, as promised

How Does it Work?

Very briefly, using a project as an illustration:
•   One manager communicates to the project team what is needed, and the priorities
•   The team is multi-skilled and self-managing, and decides how best to create what’s needed
•   Work is undertaken in iterations of 2-4 weeks duration, for the life of the project. At the start of each, the team makes a commitment about what will be delivered at the end
•   A 15-minute daily meeting ensures the team is synchronised in terms of progress and imminent activity. Any obstacles to progress are identified for elimination
•   Constant collaboration between team and stakeholders, ensures quality and timeliness
•   Overall and detailed progress is constantly visible to all stakeholders