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If you're leading a team or a business you need to deliver value. We all want to do meaningful work that has a positive impact, and Scrum is designed to maximize this kind of value.
So how does Scrum help me deliver value through my work?
To consistently deliver value, you must overcome various obstacles. Each team or organization has its own unique strengths and challenges, but here are three common challenges I think Scrum addresses well.
Scrum forces prioritization to happen
Imagine your boss’s boss comes to you excited about a potential feature for a product you’re assigned. You’re uncertain about the value of this feature for the business or client, not to mention you know it will take way more work than they think it will.
It’s easy to imagine because this situation is so common you may feel like I read through your inbox this morning. Let’s look at how Scrum addresses this challenge.
The product owner plays a crucial role in Scrum. They are responsible for defining and prioritizing the work done to deliver the most value to the business and client. The product owner is the intersection between the team and stakeholders. They continually work with the team to update the prioritization and estimation of work to be done.
This prioritized backlog contains the work to be done by the team and is transparent to anyone. The backlog is made of of product backlog items to breakdown the work into actionable pieces. This transparency creates clarity and visibility about what the team should and shouldn’t spend time on.
Scrum handles unclear or changing requirements.
We should expect uncertainty; change is inevitable. The past few years have clearly demonstrated this reality. So what do we do? How do we lead? How does the critical work move forward?
Framing the problem creates clarity.
Requirements are critical in defining the work to be done. But many times, requirements can be ambiguous or continually changing. Scrum uses the tools of user stories and acceptance criteria to clarify the requirements and frame them in terms of the end-user. Framing requirements for the user is a game-changer.
Frequent feedback prevents the team from working very long on “what the stakeholder said, but not what they meant
I’ve had many well-intentioned stakeholders ask for products they would have loved 30 years ago but would be a total miss for our target audience (college students) today. I have to ask, “What do you hope is the impact of this product? What need of the student does it meet, and what action do you hope they will take?”
These kinds of questions are core to user stories. As we walk through the process, the light bulb usually comes on, and they are willing to step back from their solution and entrust our team to help creatively solve today’s problem.
Working iteratively allows for changes.
Scrum is an iterative process with most of the events commonly occurring on a two-week cycle. These short iterations (sprints) allow the team to receive regular feedback on the work they produce. This frequent feedback prevents the team from working very long on “what the stakeholder said, but not what they meant.”
Scrum brings simplicity to tackle both complexity and volatility
If the requirements change, work is reprioritized by the next sprint, and the team focuses on what will deliver the most value. The team can adapt quickly to these changes.
Related Guides
Scrum embraces complexity.
I get asked about Scrum a lot. Sometimes, I explain Scrum as a simple framework for tackling complexity by applying a few constraints to empower freedom and creativity. This world is becoming increasingly complex, and so are the projects and products we work on.
It’s tempting to battle complexity with a complex solution, and this becomes more problematic when volatility accompanies the complexity. The complex solution lacks flexibility or resilience and often breaks in an ungraceful way.
Scrum brings simplicity to tackle both complexity and volatility. Scrum doesn’t have a ton of rules and structure, and it has just enough constraints to create clarity around the work to be done, roles and rhythm. These few constraints give the team freedom and flexibility to embrace the complexity and develop solutions.
Leaning Scrum for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. There are many new terms and concepts in Scrum.
Well we’re here to help.
Related Guides
If you want to learn how Scrum can help you handle complexity and uncertainty with clarity and focus, check out my What is Scrum? A Guide for Everyday People to Learn Scrum. If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out on LinkedIn.
Action Plan
Perhaps you have heard about Scrum but are not exactly sure what it is. Or maybe you know some about it but are not sure how to apply it, especially outside a software development context. You'll want to take a look at Everyday Scrum? A Guide for Everyday People to Learn Scrum where I will explore and explain the key elements of Scrum.
There are a lot of new terms when learning the Scrum essentials, and this post probably introduced you to some of the vocabulary.
If you want to learn more about specific Scrum topics, here are a few to choose from or check out the scrum FAQs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Scrum?
What is the definition of scrum?
Scrum is founded on three essential pillars leading teams to ask the following questions:
- How does this make things more visible? (Transparency)
- Where does this create space to evaluate? (Inspection)
- When does this encourage growth? (Adaptation)
Further explore the definition of scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Is Scrum hard to learn?
This is because Scrum’s simplicity makes learning easy, but Scrum truly changes how you work, and that adjustment can be difficult. It changes power dynamics and expectations within the team and between the team and the rest of the organization.
You can explore further is Scrum hard to learn, along with the pros and cons of Scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
When did Scrum start?
Scrum was initially used as a term related to project management in 1986 by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka in their paper “New New Product Development Game” In the Harvard Business Review. The first recorded Scrum project came a little later in 1993 from Jeff Sutherland.
You can learn more about Scrum’s backstory. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What do all the scrum words mean?
Learning Scrum for the first time can be overwhelming. There are a lot of new terms and concepts in Scrum. I’ve listed the most common terms in a Scrum glossary.
How to use Scrum
Why use Scrum?
It forces clarity and prioritization, which provides the focus necessary for teams to be effective. Scrum embraces complexity and change by keeping many things simple and iteratively evaluating and adapting.
You can learn more about why to use Scrum and three challenges Scrum solves. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
When does Scrum not work well?
Scrum isn’t always the best option for teams. Scrum can fail when there is a substantial mismatch between organizational culture and the Scrum values. It also depends on the nature of the work you do. If you work if very linear, predictable and tightly defined, you may not experience many benefits Scrum provides.
Find out more about aligning your organizational values with Scrum or how Scrum might fit in your context. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
How do I know when to use Scrum?
Scrum functions at its best when you have a dedicated team focused on developing a singular product. Its agility shines when there are time constraints combined with uncertainty.
Explore the pros and cons of Scrum along with expectations vs. realities with Scrum. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Learning to apply Scrum
How to choose between Scrum and Kanban?
Important factors include your team size and the type of work you do. Kanban is very process-oriented, so you should consider how defined, static, or long your process is?
You can explore Scrum and other agile approaches. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
How does scrum help an organization?
Scrum forces clarity and prioritization, which are critical to organizational effectiveness. It provides a competitive edge by allowing teams to adapt as the market or priorities change. Teams operate more effectively because Scrum combines empowerment of the team members with alignment to top priorities.
Learn more about scrum’s impact on organizational culture. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Is scrum a methodology or a framework?
Scrum is more of a framework than a methodology, and it helps teams adhere to Agile principles and get stuff done. Scrum provides basic rules but doesn’t prescribe how to do the work. It provides principles, values, rules, and some core structure but still leaves a lot undefined.
Learn more about scrum as a framework. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
What’s the difference between scrum and agile?
When people say “agile,” they usually refer to it as a mindset. Scrum is a framework for how to organize people and work in an agile way. If you’re practicing Scrum, you’re working in an Agile way.
Learn more about the relationship between scrum and agile. Then browse the most common terms in a Scrum glossary and learn what is Scrum.
Scrum backlog
What is the backlog in Scrum?
There are actually two backlogs, the product backlog and the sprint backlog. They each contain the definitive list of work to be done. The product owner keeps the backlog ordered by priority.
Learn to use the backlog in Scrum and check out the sprint backlog vs product backlog in Scrum.
How are the product backlog and sprint backlog different?
The product backlog prioritizes the features needed in the product. It is a singular visible source of requirements for the product.
The sprint backlog represents the work to do in a given sprint. It is a definitive list of all the scrum team is being asked to produce for the sprint.
Learn more about the sprint backlog vs product backlog in Scrum.
What is a PBI (product backlog item)?
Each item in the backlog represents precise work and value to deliver. Often these PBIs are written using both user stories and acceptance criteria. The PBIs are what gets refined during the backlog refinement session, and if one is too large, it may be broken down into smaller PBIs.
Learn more about how backlogs are used in scrum, the sprint backlog vs product backlog in Scrum and explore the essential Scrum glossary.
What is the Scrum sprint backlog?
The Scrum sprint backlog is a prioritized list of items from the product backlog that the development team plans to complete during the upcoming sprint.
It is a plan for the Sprint and is created during the Sprint Planning meeting where the Development Team decides on how to build the functionality that meets the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog typically includes user stories, bugs, technical work, and other items that the development team needs to work on during the sprint. Each item in the Sprint Backlog has a clear definition of done, so the team knows when the item is considered complete.
The Development Team is responsible for creating and updating their Sprint Backlog throughout the Sprint, making sure they are on track to meet the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog is a working document that helps the Development Team visualize their progress and make any necessary adjustments to their plan as they go along. The Sprint Backlog is also transparent, allowing stakeholders to see what work is being done during the Sprint.
Learn more about the backlogs of Scrum.
What is the Scrum product backlog?
In Scrum, the product backlog is a prioritized list of features, bugs, technical work, and other product-related items that need to be addressed by the development team.
It serves as a single source of truth for what needs to be done on the product.
The items in the product backlog are ordered based on their importance to the product owner and the value they bring to the end-user. As the project progresses, the product backlog is constantly updated to reflect new priorities, changes in requirements, and feedback from stakeholders.
The product backlog is a living document that evolves throughout the project's lifecycle. It provides transparency and enables collaboration among all members of the Scrum team.
Learn more about the backlogs in Scrum.
