Scrum is a popular agile framework that helps teams deliver value to customers in an iterative and adaptive way. But how do you convince your organization to adopt Scrum and reap its benefits? Learn some practical tips on how to promote the value of Scrum to your stakeholders, colleagues, and managers.
The first step to promote Scrum is to explain how it can help your organization achieve its goals and solve its problems. Use examples, stories, or data to illustrate how Scrum can improve customer satisfaction, quality, speed, collaboration, innovation, and learning. You can also highlight how Scrum can reduce risks, waste, and costs by delivering value in small increments and responding to feedback and changes.
It's not about Scrum, it's about solving the problems people have, and getting the work progressing in an orderly way. If you make it all about Scrum, people will switch off. What's in it for them? If it solves a problem for them, you will have their ears. If you sound like a salesman you'll get the level of attention salesmen usually get.
Start by highlighting its benefits, like increased collaboration, faster delivery, and continuous improvement. Share success stories or case studies. Offer training sessions, workshops, and hands-on experiences to help teams understand the frame work. Engage leadership by aligning Scrum's principles with business goals, and create a culture that supports Agile practices. Encourage open communication, celebrate early wins, and provide ongoing support to ensure a smooth transition.
1) Before even starting to promote the Scrum I feel that the organisational readiness needs to be checked. Whether leadership is ready to accept drastic changes that the methodological change is about to bring , is an important factor in evaluation of what needs to be done next. 2) At the time of promoting the approach should be clear whether top- bottom or bottom-top . Also what are motivation factors for organization to work upon this shift has to be understood thoroughly. 3) Business agility that can be achieved and benefits and advantages to stay ahead of competitors can be selling points.
Promoting Scrum in your organization starts with educating your team about its benefits, such as improved collaboration, flexibility, and faster delivery of products. Begin with a clear explanation of Scrum principles and roles. Highlight success stories and case studies from similar organizations. Offer training sessions and workshops to build knowledge and skills. Start with a pilot project to demonstrate Scrum’s effectiveness. Encourage a culture of open communication and continuous improvement.
Nous mettons en avant les réussites antérieures en soulignant les avantages tangibles tels qu'une collaboration améliorée, une livraison plus rapide des produits et une satisfaction client accrue. Des sessions de sensibilisation et de formation sont organisées pour familiariser les équipes avec les principes et les pratiques de Scrum. Nous intégrons progressivement Scrum dans nos projets, démontrant ainsi ses avantages de manière pratique et éliminant les éventuelles résistances. En parallèle, nous encourageons une culture d'apprentissage continu en organisant des retours d'expérience et des forums pour partager les réussites et les le?ons apprises.
Promote Scrum by showing its value in action. You can do this by applying Scrum to a small or pilot project, or by inviting your stakeholders to observe or participate in Scrum events, such as sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, or sprint retrospective. Share the results and outcomes of your Scrum project, such as working software, customer feedback, or metrics, to demonstrate the value of Scrum.
Scrum demonstrates its value through its adaptability, customer-centric approach, transparency, empowerment, incremental progress, and commitment to continuous improvement. These qualities enable teams and organizations to deliver good products, mitigate risks, and remain competitive in today's dynamic business environment.
To successfully advocate for Scrum adoption within the organization, it's vital to demonstrate its long-term advantages to stakeholders. One effective approach is to initiate Scrum methodology for a small project, following the framework thoroughly. Upon project completion, present the results in the form of a functional product, customer feedback and relevant metrics. This practical demonstration will highlight how Scrum can positively positively influence the organization and drive success.
While demonstrating the value of Scrum, it's crucial to choose a pilot project or team that is open to change and collaboration. Additionally, ensure that your Scrum implementation is consistent and follows Scrum principles correctly to provide a reliable demonstration of its effectiveness. Make sure to capture and present tangible results, such as improved product quality, faster delivery times, or increased customer satisfaction, as these can be compelling evidence of Scrum's benefits
To help your organization see the value of Scrum: (1) Share stories of projects that did well with Scrum, like how it made work better and customers happier. (2) Use numbers to show how Scrum makes work faster, products better, and profits higher with numbers and data. (3) Stay flexible by explaining how Scrum helps teams change and get better over time, which is really important.
One time at work, I applied Scrum to a small pilot project to showcase its benefits. In my experience, inviting stakeholders to observe Scrum events like sprint planning or daily stand-ups helps them see its value firsthand. One thing I’ve found helpful is sharing the results from these Scrum projects—like customer feedback or working software—to clearly demonstrate the value of Scrum.
Address the potential challenges or objections that your organization may have about Scrum. Start by acknowledging the difficulties and risks of adopting Scrum, such as changing mindsets, culture, processes, and roles. Provide solutions and support to overcome these challenges, such as coaching, training, mentoring, or facilitating. You can also share the best practices and lessons learned from other organizations that have successfully implemented Scrum.
When addressing challenges or objections, be prepared to provide specific examples of how other organizations have successfully navigated similar issues during their Scrum adoption. Tailor your solutions to your organization's unique context, considering factors such as company culture, industry regulations, and the existing project management framework. Highlight the potential long-term benefits that can outweigh the short-term challenges, such as improved adaptability and sustained customer value delivery
Scrum enjoys high acceptance due to its adaptability, but challenges persist. One arises when Scrum is forced into entrenched SDLCs, hindering its flexibility. The shift requires a change in culture, not just process adoption. Additionally, organizations may mistake Scrum for mere ceremonies, missing its core principles. To fully embrace Scrum, they must move beyond rituals and focus on collaboration and customer value, embracing its values for genuine Agile success.
After sessions about agile, empiricism, scrum framework and behavior, I'd go for a 1-2-4-all with people from the organization. Not just managers or team members; get them together. Ask them what they think might be challenges and let them talk/discuss about the topics. Be there to facilitate and inform about anything when needed/asked.
Scrum is a very specific, method-heavy branch of team agility under agile and XP. YMMV will apply here, you might get some success with Scrum adoption, but you might not be very successful in other areas — the trick is to understand what the limitation is, and be honest / upfront about what your org should/should not adapt as it would help/hinder the overall goal. Know when you are winning; know when to call it quits, especially when teams are more hung up on the approach than focusing on the over-arching goal. Remember, agile manifesto “people over processes”. Is Scrum the end goal? In most cases, certainly not. But will it be interpreted as such? Sure, it happens all the time so you really need to know how to differentiate the two.
To promote Scrum in your organization while dealing with its challenges: (1) Teach and learn, by training your team and others about Scrum, including the tough parts. Education is key. (2) Get Scrum guides, by getting onboard experienced Scrum Masters or coaches to help teams and people deal with difficulties. (3) Keep improving, by regularly talking about what's hard with Scrum and figure out how to make it better. That is how everyone gets better at it over time.
Involve your stakeholders in the Scrum process by engaging them in the product vision, backlog, and roadmap, and by soliciting their feedback and input throughout the project. Empower them to make decisions and prioritize the value they want to receive. Communicate and collaborate with them regularly and transparently, and by building trust and rapport with them.
Involving stakeholders effectively may require clear communication plans and strategies tailored to different stakeholder groups. Understand their motivations, concerns, and communication preferences. Ensure that the channels for stakeholder engagement are well-defined and easily accessible. Moreover, establish a feedback loop that allows stakeholders to see the impact of their decisions and contributions within the Scrum framework. Actively involve stakeholders in sprint reviews and product demonstrations to make their engagement more tangible
(1) Offer simple sessions to teach stakeholders about Scrum and how they fit in. (2) Ask stakeholders for their opinions during and after projects. Show that you value what they say. (3) Keep talking to stakeholders about how things are going. Share good news and challenges. This helps build trust and teamwork.
I would highlight embedding explicit involvement with everybody from your top management to your most-junior team members. Going off-piste from what folks know will always be risky, and depending on the level of comfort and how easily each person is receptive to each change, there is no real reason for anyone to want to do it UNLESS your proposed changes would be much better off than sticking to the status quote route, weighing the level of discomfort and perceived lack of control over the situation, and possibly other factors, are integral to all of this.
Transparency is the foundation of trust.Any shortterm set backs are welcomed but we must be careful not to lose the transparency and focus. Engaging stakeholders in that journey will definitely enrich the product we deliver. The ownership lies with everyone who is involved in making them successful.
We need to introduce stakeholders to broader agile and lean concepts, showing how Scrum fits into the larger picture of organizational agility. We establish outcome-focused metrics together, looking beyond Scrum artifacts to measure real business value. The goal is to create a shared understanding of agile principles and foster an environment of continuous improvement, where Scrum is just the first step in our agile journey.
Always celebrate the successes and achievements of your Scrum team and project. You can do this by recognizing and rewarding the efforts and contributions of your team members. Share the positive impact and outcomes of your project with your stakeholders and organization. Showcase the value and quality of your product, and highlight the customer satisfaction and feedback. You can also encourage and foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning.
Highly recommend celebrating the successes and achievements of your Scrum team and project. By recognizing and rewarding the efforts and contributions of your team members, you create a positive and motivating environment. Sharing the positive impact and outcomes of your project with stakeholders and the organization helps to showcase the value and quality of your product. Don't forget to highlight customer satisfaction and feedback, as it demonstrates the effectiveness of your Scrum approach. Lastly, foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning to encourage your team's growth and development. Celebrating successes is not only a way to appreciate hard work, but also a means to promote a successful Scrum adoption in your company.
Some tips that apply to all digital transformation: - making successes visible; - celebrate small, and celebrate often; - celebrate success, celebrate fails without punishment; - attribute specific, objective steps and explore ways to encourage future successes; - engage folks in a continuous learning and continuous improvement mentality — that’s the key
The only success the stakeholders care about is working usable product that solves their problems! Do that. Then do that continuously.
(1) After each sprint, organize a Sprint Review meeting to showcase the accomplished work. Highlight the user stories completed during the sprint to emphasize the progress made. (2) Implement a Scrum Recognition program where team members can earn "Scrum Achievement Badges" for their contributions and achievements. Recognize the "Scrum Master of the Sprint" or the "Team Member of the Sprint" to celebrate excellence. (3) During Sprint Retrospectives, reflect on the positive impacts of Scrum. Recognize and celebrate the improvements and successes the team has achieved, reinforcing a culture of continuous improvement and appreciation.
Celebration is a must to attain bigger achievements. Initiatives, persuasion, relentless efforts towards problem solving, follow up, collaboration, coordination ,how small or big the effort is ,we must keep acknowledging and celebrating with our entire team and stakeholders..As they say no question is dumb question,like that all effort counts !
Spread the word and influence others about Scrum. Share your experiences and insights about Scrum with your colleagues, managers, or other teams. Invite them to join or observe your Scrum events, or to collaborate with you on cross-functional or cross-team projects. You can also advocate and champion for Scrum in your organization, and by inspiring and motivating others to adopt Scrum.
To spread the word about Scrum, consider organizing workshops, brown bag sessions, or lunch-and-learns to educate others about Scrum principles and practices. Encourage your team members to share their positive experiences with Scrum within the organization, as peer testimonials can be influential. Leverage internal communication channels, such as company newsletters or intranet platforms, to reach a broader audience and share Scrum success stories from other teams and departments
Focus. People will already have heard of Scrum unless they are totally new and thus junior, whereupon Scrum is more a case of training. But for the rest, what they heard is likely to be wrong, and our added value here is to find and address the misunderstandings they have. And listen; we can also learn from them. What in particular we can learn, is the problems they have. There's nothing so good for engagement as helping to solve the persistent problems people have. If we can do that once, they will come back in the hope that we can do it again. Scrum doesn't solve all the world's problems, of course, so rather than focusing on Scrum, focus on solving the problem and use Scrum where appropriate.
Implementing regular quiz sessions for experienced members is also a good strategy to reinforce Scrum concepts and best practices within the organization. With these quizzes, teams can validate their understanding of key Scrum principles, roles, events, and artifacts. You can cover variety of topics, from fundamental concepts to advanced practices. Sessions can be in person or virtual. Having variety of questions such as multiple-choice, true/false, or scenario-based questions, encourages critical thinking and fosters discussion among participants. Additionally, gamifying the participation can further motivate employees to actively engage in these sessions and showcase their knowledge of Scrum.
Scrum is just a starting point. It helps you practice working in small “sprints” doing iterative and incremental development, organizing a backlog of work + its execution, and communication to coordinate, unblock and improve work and the team. Don’t be dogmatic about it - I see so many people falling in this trap. Scrum is not a “religion”, and it’s also not the end game - it’s a good first step in a good direction, but there’s a lot more beyond it. Learn the benefits and principles behind it and then evolve. Finally, the most value I’ve gotten from Scrum was when introducing “agile” engineering practices (think XP/Extreme Programming) together. These practices are what really enables speed and building iteratively with top-notch quality.
Scrum is all about living the 5 scrum values - Openness, Respect, Focus, Courage and Commitment adhering to the 3 maim pillars of Transperancy, Inspection and Adaption. In simple terms, it gives us an opportunity to fail faster, improvise and adapt. Faster feedback helps mitigate the risks at an early stage saving both cost and time unlike traditional approaches. The scrum events are well defined and fosters continuous improvement, growth and learning which benefits both individual team members and organization as a whole. Techniques like coaching, mentoring and teaching helps in faster adoption of scrum and once people starts benefitting from it, there will surely be a mindset shift which paves way to achieving greater heights.
Scrum is a social technology chosen by a team to help them. Scrum should not be imposed but instead chosen by the teams that feel it will add value. Offer Scrum training, don't mandate it, just as you offer training in many other skills.
Scrum is just a Framework to get into the Agile Mindset. Of course it is really good when we work on complex problems. So before even trying to force Scrum to your org, please try to understand clearly the problem(s) you are trying to solve in your org. If it can be sliced properly by using a User story map sort of tools that should be the first thing to do. Only then try to make the org first understand the Agile Mindset and values to solve any problem or opportunity. When people really see the value in Agile Mindset it will be easy to introduce and Scrum initially at smaller projects and slowly scale it to the org level.
Just do it. The first places I used Scrum or other agile approaches, the dev teams started using them. Going back about 15 years now: Senior Manager: "I've been hearing great things about Scrum. I think we ought to try it" Developer: "Great idea. We've been using it for 3 years". Realistically, anyone not already using agile approaches is probably either fixed against them or thinks they are already using them. The latter are the harder problem; they just can't see the distinction and don't see why they should try. Care must be taken else they will stop listening and dismiss what you say as rubbish, taking it as an attack on their understanding. "We're already agile. Now go away".