Scrum is an agile framework that, if applied properly, can boost the efficiency of teamwork. It is known to be versatile enough, so it could be applied in basically any sort of productive teamwork, even beyond IT (e.g. bakeries, government organizations, etc.)
However, I’ve never ever seen it being used anywhere else other than in software development, therefore I’ve always been curious if Scrum is actually being used outside of IT somewhere.
Any time I’ve heard of Scrum being implemented, it’s usually a negative thing. I’ve had a few friends where their workplace tries it, and the smart ones usually drop it. The others just lose people instead. Biggest complaint I’ve seen is the daily meetings that 110% could have been an email. I think it just doesn’t get applied “correctly”.
Why we don’t see it elsewhere is it’s not really applicable elsewhere in a lot of ways. I work in healthcare and I do not know how that would be implemented into my job. It’s not like we have team goals or projects even, we’re just out here scanning patient’s and processing their images. I’m sure management has goals but we’re so short staffed that I don’t pay any attention to it. I’ve got more important things to worry about than patient satisfaction scores or how many open appointments we have.
One of the former managers wanted me to implement agile programming, as it would be so much better, he had heard. I am the only programmer in my specialized field in the company…
I swear some of these managers don’t even have two brain cells to rub together
I do two scrum-style a week and go daily if we’re busy. Team of 5, I set the time limit to 3 mins which means we’re realistically done in 4-5. I’ll also sometimes do sprint-style stuff for quick turnover projects with 2+. Usually this is a big chunk of analytics or report that needs to get done, so it’s best to break apart the requirements and designate people that specialise at different parts onto each job. I also use digital boards for projects and larger tasks since there can be a lot going on at once. This helps me clear blockers and re-prioritise upcoming tasks or redesignate someone’s capacity to assisting with other tasks if need.
My fav part is the team having everything cleared and all that’s left is blockers I’ve already actioned for movement. If anyone asks why we’re idle and doing a jigsaw puzzle or personal development, I can just show the board. The transparency is sweet justice for senior management which are often involved in the blocks.
I make sure to not go full agile because it’s just not really compatable. I pluck the basic parts and the general concept and use what works and ignore what won’t.
Because a project management framework does not work for operations jobs.
How does Susan and Emma in accounts express their work as a sprint? How does Steve or Sarah running a bakery express their work as a sprint?
Project management does not only apply to IT tho. Some example:
- other engineering product development
- event organizing
- construction
- sales
- shipping
Rugby.
It’s a pretty common term on the rugby pitch.
I’ve seen it turn into utter disasters in tendering large construction contracts on both sides of the fence. I’m usually only peripherally involved, but every time I hear someone runs them in a scrum, it just breaks down.
You can’t place a bid with a few less features because you’re out of time. You can’t break down the process into stories you can close, because one detail can throw all your previous work away. You can’t summarize highly specialised work in a stand-up because most people aren’t event in the same field as you (listing blockers still works though).
I worked for a big commercial real estate company years ago. Think buying and selling whole apartment complexes. We adopted scrum in our IT department, then saw the sales support team start doing it. Each sale was treated like an epic and each task a story. Actually worked pretty well for them.
I have a friend whose team uses Scrum as an internal auditor at a utilities company. Their audits are treated as epics while specific deliverables or findings are stories. After a few weeks of growing pains, he likes it a couple of years after implementation.
Myself? I’ve had mostly bad experiences working in various IT and Dev roles both as a IC and team manager. Maybe it’s because I’ve been trained on using it, but I still believe in the methodology and blame greedy implementations. I see management/customers count or haggle points, sizes, or hours and it’s like staring down a speeding freight train.
I like using a variation of it to keep track of my projects at home.
I’ve done this before
We just started using a kanban board with monthly “sprints”. We have a backlog of things to choose from. Then we pick out a few that we know we can complete this month. Move them to in progress when we start working on them. Then move them to complete so we have something to “show for it”.
I once heard of a sport called rugby
