How to introduce Scrum into your Organization

If you’ve ever spoken to me you know that I’ve been a huge fan of the agile/scrum methodology. It has been a lifesaver for me and I bring it into every team that I join. Though you hear great things about how it can increase productivity and save time, there are still some haters that will dispel agile/scrum. One is because it does take work to implement it within your organization. There is in fact a right way and a wrong way to start migrating it in. This was a valuable lesson at my last organization, old habits will die hard. Even if those habits are bad, slow, and inefficient. If you are interested in introducing scrum to your organization let’s discuss how to introduce scrum into your organization.

What is a scrum board and why do people use it?

A scrum board is a visual tool used to track the progress of tasks within a project. Teams use a scrum board to organize the tasks into columns and assign tasks to team members. A scrum board is a helpful tool for teams to plan and work together collaboratively. What’s more, it allows teams to prioritize tasks and track progress, making it easier to identify and fix problems. It also helps keep everyone on the same page and ensures all tasks are completed on time.

Main Goal of a Scrum Board

The main goal of a scrum board is to facilitate collaboration and communication between team members. It allows teams to organize and prioritize tasks, track progress, and identify and fix problems. The board also helps the team stay on track and meet deadlines. Staying on track with things can be quite difficult within an organization. Keeping track of the litany of things that will come your way is hard when you and your team aren’t visualizing those tasks. Utilizing the scrum board will allow you to do that with your team.

How to Implement it within your Team

If you are new to agile/scrum, the best place to start is by introducing the core principles and agreeing on a process. Start by explaining the core values and principles of agile/scrum to your team. Then, discuss different processes and methods you can use to implement the agile/scrum methodology. You can also use tools like a scrum board, sprint planning, and retrospective meetings to help with implementation. Once your team understands the principles and process, you can start to implement and refine the process until you find the right fit for your team.

Now the best way to implement those items is to start small and be methodical about scaling up. You first have to educate the organization on the benefits by showing them. You can do this by creating a Scrum team of at least 4 or 5. Then be very deliberate about developing a plan to implement the agile/scrum process. This includes a timeline, roles and expectations, and methods for measuring progress. Once you do that you should design a backlog that will set you and your scrum team up for success. Once those backlogs get put together you need to establish sprints and execute them.

Throughout the process, you have to encourage the feedback loop within your small team. This will induce fun and creativity within your team. Doing it this way will show everyone how much fun you guys are having and other individuals within your organization will want to join in. Because you are 1. having fun and 2. getting work done efficiently. Which allows you to do more things and have more free time.

Takeaway

Adding scrum to your organization can do wonders if you give it a chance and spend time planning. What scrum will really do for your organization is it will organize your thoughts around planning. Which is the big issue with most organizations believe it or not. I’m also a huge advocate for using what works for you. For me, Scrum provides you with the tools but it is up to you to decide what will work for you and your organization. I don’t use everything as prescribed but I do use some and customize it to what the current situation presents. Most people within your organization won’t ever switch to a new system cold turkey. So, be patient with them. How to introduce Scrum into your organization is a complicated one and isn’t a cookie-cutter thing. It is very situationally specific.