Conquer the Summit with an Effective Scrum Team

Ever aspired to climb Mount Everest? The sheer feeling of having reached the mighty mountain’s summit is intoxicating, stimulating, and inspiring at the same time.

Once you achieve something so grand, all the obstacles, adverse climatic conditions, and exertion from the long hike start to seem miniscule.

But while it’s not the road but the destination that matters, we cannot but ignore all the challenges and hardships we faced and overcame as a team while climbing Mount Everest.

And how exactly did we do that? Obviously with focused & dedicated approach and clear coordination & cooperation with the entire team. Had that not been the case, even a small misstep would have proven fatal in such a humongous endeavour.

Wait … doesn’t this kind of collaboration and teamwork remind us of a #scrumteam where a group of experts come together to work on a certain project? And while everyone has the skills to accomplish their assigned jobs, the final result can’t be achieved without mutual cooperation?

That brings us to a stage where we can draw a direct comparison between the “Everest Climbers Team” and the scrum teams. Let’s try and bring out similarities between the roles people play in both the teams:

Scrum Team Role Players in Apposition to Mountaineers

Product Owner (PO):

• The PO in the scrum team can be compared perfectly with the adventure organizer in a mountaineering team.
• Just like the adventure organizer foresees all the challenges and hurdles in the expedition and sets up a clear vision and goals for the team, the PO sets up a list of goals and priorities for the projects and envisions how the team is going to achieve the final result.

Scrum Master (SM):

• SM is a very vital player in the scrum team. Just as the Sherpa or a cook in the mountaineering team to ensure the team are given the right guidance, tools and route for climbing the mountain and keeping everyone nourished, hydrated, and on their feet, the SM’s role is to help the development team achieve the final goal set by the PO.
• The SM’s job is the most important in the functioning of any scrum team because he/she gives the team a direction and a roadmap to achieve their individual goals so at the end, the collective objective can be accomplished.
• The SM has to take multiple aspects into consideration while effectively performing his/her role—mapping all the pitfalls, checking & managing immediate & long-term obstacles, and making sure the team is adaptable to changing conditions/demands while the project is still in progress.

Development Team:

• Much like the mountaineers or climbers who are passionate and enthusiastic about conquering the peak of Mount Everest, the developers are passionate people focused on reaching their respective goals within the stipulated time limit.
• Each of these team members have specific skill sets and all of them work on allocated tasks to achieve the collective output at the end.

So, you see? Managing and working as part of a scrum team is no less a feat than climbing Mount Everest. But with all the roles pre-defined and goals set in advance, reaching the final destination definitely becomes less painstaking, if not a cakewalk.

#Scrum #Agile #SAFe #Agiletransformation #Kanban #Scrumteam