The Scrum framework was developed by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland in the early 1990s for team collaboration on complex products of the highest possible value. In Scrum teams, work is performed iteratively as well as incrementally, so problems can be solved and products or other desired outcomes can be delivered quickly. The Scrum framework facilitates small teams’ self-organization, collaboration, and continuous delivery of value to customers, regardless of whether it’s being used to develop software or manage organizational operations.
Originally developed in the 1970s, Scrum is a method of working within the Agile methodology, which gained popularity with the publication of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development in 2001. As a result of the Manifesto’s core values and principles, companies have embraced Agile methodology for its benefits to the business and its employees. In Scrum, people are highly valued as assets.
When you achieve optimal velocity in Scrum, you’re delivering working increments of value to the customer quickly and consistently. A high-velocity Scrum Team is able to perform reliably, predictably, and on pace with demand for one project after another. It is essential to keep the team together, no matter what for efficient and smooth operation. However, if the Scrum Team doesn’t use Scrum best practices to do its best work, this seemingly simple way of working can quickly turn into herding cats. Fortunately, by following these tips, any team can improve its performance in each aspect of the methodology.
Peer-To-Peer Collaboration
A core Scrum value is a mutual respect among peers, and transparency is an integral part of the process. Scrum teams and stakeholders can collaborate and communicate using a project collaboration platform if required, as it may help everyone work together and stay in touch regardless of where they are located. In real-time, participants can discuss task-specific issues as well as best practices, helping to prevent bottlenecks. Scrum participants can have a clear view of the process, a strong voice in solving issues, and a clear view of the task list, burndown chart, notifications, and feedback by creating a central hub for User Stories, Tasks, burndown charts, notifications, comments, and feedback.
Daily Stand-Ups
Having daily stand-ups is an important practice that the entire team will need to adopt. Only asking three main questions relating to work completed the day before, the agenda for today, and identification of any obstacles can allow for smooth, efficient operation of the entire team and faster completion of goals.
During the Daily Stand-up, the team is updated on its progress towards its Sprint Goal. It acts as much more than a status update for the Scrum Master as it provides further clarification to the team members themselves. These three questions keep Stand-ups brief (15 minutes maximum), and team members can address concerns they’d like help with from their teammates or the Scrum Master.
Regular Sprint Retrospectives
The sprint retrospective acts as an opportunity for the scrum team as a whole to not only inspect itself but also create a plan for any further improvements to be enacted during the next sprint. The best practice would be conducting a retrospective at the end of every Sprint. In short, it involves the team reflecting on their lessons learned. It could include focusing on things like what went well, what could be improved, and any takeaways for the next sprint.
Any team can always improve, no matter how good they are at the moment. With regular reflection, Scrum teams can build on their past accomplishments, becoming better with each Sprint. Kaizen is at the core of this.
Improving Performance In Scrum Events
Scrum Events encourage Scrum best practices, starting with adhering to schedules. Every event has a purpose and a set time. Time-wasting events are introduced when meetings are added to Scrum, overriding the efficiencies built into it. It can set up destructive patterns of practices such as burnout, low productivity, and poor quality for a team to lengthen or shorten sanctioned events.
Conclusion
Following Scrum best practices allows for a fruitful project management experience. But if you’re new to the world of Scrum mythology, it may be a good idea to get relevant training. You can find a number of great scrum training programs, such as scrum training in Australia and New Zealand, to ensure you can apply the essence of the scrum framework correctly and reap the most benefits.
