One of the things I really like about Scrum is how beautifully simple it is. Actually, the challenge in implementing any agile method is in how it makes you think about how to do things differently, both in terms of doing things incrementally in very short iterations, and also in terms of doing things collaboratively as a team, instead of as individuals. But putting the mindshift aside, the actual process of Scrum is simple, and relatively easy to lay over the top of your existing technical practices.
Now that’s not to say there is no merit in changing your technical practices. I’m also a big fan of XP (Extreme Programming) because of the good technical practices it introduces. However it is possible to get many of the benefits of agile just by implementing Scrum, particularly if your pain points are not technical quality but management issues like planning, visibility, prioritisation, teamwork, and delivery.
In fact Scrum is so simple, I often found myself wondering how anyone could write a whole book about it. Or how anyone could spend two days or more teaching it. So – in the spirit of the One Minute Manager – I decided to put that to the ultimate test and try to provide you with an explanation of Scrum in exactly one minute!
Here it is as an MP3 file: One Minute Scrum Master
If you’d like to find out more about how to implement Scrum, but still don’t really want to read a whole book on the subject, read my series of 10 blog posts explaining exactly how to go about it in more detail How To Implement Scrum in 10 Easy Steps!
Kelly.