Be smart about Agile

Costs are usually the deciding factor in most company decisions, and that includes Agile implementation. Often, when a company makes a decision to go Agile (in this case, using the Scrum framework), a few candidates are chosen, and sent off on a training course, with the idea that when they return, the company will implement Scrum and be Agile.

Unfortunately, this is a tall order and often sets up the roll-out for failure, for a number of reasons:

* Newly trained Scrum masters are focused on their teams and not on the organisation. The immediate requirement for Scrum masters is to get their teams up and running; they are in a learning phase and at this point, not thinking of Scrum at an organisational level.
* Scrum impacts the entire organisation. Companies often think that Scrum is just for development teams, and this is often where the process falls down. Business people have to start working in Scrum too, as they drive requirements and thus need to be very involved in writing stories, prioritising requirements, attending review meetings and accepting work completed. Scrum changes an organisation's culture from silo working to collaboration.
* There are variations to implementing Scrum. Having congruence on how Scrum is going to work within a company is imperative. If there are too many variations, people get confused and the framework starts to dissipate.
* Disregard for the trained delegate's opinion. The trained Scrum delegate returns to the organisation with great ideas on where and how to implement Scrum. A two-day Scrum training course gives wonderful insight into how Scrum works, but it is very high level and once the delegate is faced with real-world challenges, it becomes far more difficult. Conflict may arise as the delegate may have to convince work colleagues how to adopt the Scrum framework.
* Lack of leadership. Scrum is often implemented from the IT area of a business, and trying to roll-out to the rest of an organisation from this area is often challenging, as business feels it does not want to be dictated to by IT. Scrum should be rolled out from the top down to ensure everybody embraces it as part of the company's culture.
* Scrum is not a silver bullet. Implementing Scrum does not mean a company's problems are going to go away, but it does give fantastic transparency, which enables faster resolution. However, this cannot be done by a few trained Scrum masters alone!

Estimating in story points or hours? One metric should be decided on, preferably story points, as the whole team can be involved in estimating.

Scrum changes an organisation's culture from silo working to collaboration.

Ensuring tasks are estimated a day or less versus adding hours to each task - again, one metric should be decided on, preferably the former, as the latter adds a lot of additional planning time, which is really not needed.

Implementing 'Scrumbut' as opposed to pure Scrum - if companies start cutting corners early on with 'Scrumbut', the chances of the framework dissipating are high.

For example:

* "We do Scrum but" - each team has its own differing Scrum framework.
* "We do Scrum but" - QA doesn't sit with the team; we only have one QA across seven teams.

How to avoid these pitfalls:

* Select a Scrum champion who is in a respected position, who can lead the Scrum roll-out.
* Get buy-in from the top down. Scrum gives great visibility, but seeing where the problems are doesn't help if there is no support to resolve them. Buy-in from the top down ensures difficult decisions can be made.
* Ensure strong leadership; it is not only important from the top down, but also within the main Scrum roles: product owner, Scrum master and teams. Having weak leadership can negatively impact the success of the roll-out. Try not to select Scrum masters and product owners on the basis of convenience - rather select people who have strong leadership skills and can empower others to self-leadership.
* Train everybody. Not everybody has to be Scrum accredited; what is more important is to have everybody trained in the same manner on the same content. This ensures group empowerment and a spread of knowledge, ensuring cross-functionality and support within teams.
* Have an on-site coach. The most successful implementations of Scrum I have seen have always been those where the training is done throughout the company on-site, followed by a hands-on roll-out with a coach to assist the Scrum masters, product owners and teams.

Be smart about implementing Agile - whether it's Scrum, Kanban or Disciplined Agile Delivery, the same thinking should apply.

Ensure buy-in from the top down, strong leadership within roles, and seriously consider on-site training and coaching. It is cost-effective and will positively impact on cost savings in the long term.