Scrum indispensable for Tech Driven Projects

Today’s growing Digital Transformation sought to have a Framework, which addresses client requests in more robust manner involving every stakeholder on board, analyzing problem at granular level and developing learning pattern within team. There has been a lot of emphasize coming from industry and Project Management Institute. Fortune 500 leaders are also talking about "Way to Agile" in Organizations [Source: Projectified with PMI Podcast initiative].

It’s the Agile a mindset and solution to this growth trajectory of Technology Driven Projectized environments. Environments where Organizations are embracing Technological way to address solutions to their operational problems eventually aiming to improve operational excellence.

Within Agile its Scrum framework which is usually confused with Process but that’s not the case!

Scrum shouldn’t be confused with Process as it is Framework. Process is something which has predefined certain steps which produces almost a same thing taking same input every time. Whereas scrum doesn’t define project management tooling or technology stack to be used for technology driven projects especially when you have lots of cross-functional teams involved and customers are either in-house or you have projects for customers outside. It varies from environment to environment “Your Scrum is not somebody else’s Scrum” hence it is not a Process and it’s framework leveraging you with certain best practices and philosophy to address problem.

I would like to discuss this further under the lens of Theory of Empiricism in Management. This theory states that knowledge come from sensory experience hence the case is with Scrum as well. In Scrum we heavily rely on 3 pillars from Theory of Empiricism.

Inspection

-         Consistently inspecting variances while producing deliverables as initially planned to be. This helps us to critically reviewing what is happening and what it supposed to be.  

Adaption

-         Learn from Inspection and be adaptive to requested change right on time. In continuation with inspecting element as first step in context with said above theory, it is advisable not to spend too much of your time just inspecting. Take decision choosing right direction to move forward timely.   

Transparency

-         Publish real pace in large visible way to stakeholders

o  As you are adopting changes hence it is advisable not to be over-committing something. Be transparent with all stakeholders and publish your results more openly. This will help you setting up right expectations within team and to customers too.

Theory of Empiricism heavily relying on experience and learning from experiences so Scrum Retrospectives, Daily Scrum are ceremonies where each stakeholder’s stay current about progress in transparent way as well as Adoption in every incremental delivery would be clearly stated. You have liberty to design your own documentation, guidelines and practices at your own that's the reason it is light-weight compare with Waterfall.