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1-Page Summary of Scrum

Overview

Project management systems are often overlooked. They’re not as glamorous as star engineers or beautiful products, but they help bring these two things together. Scrum is a project management system used by the FBI and many other companies to save time and money. It has been so successful that it’s changing how most technological companies approach their work.

Although Sutherland is already known as one of the geniuses behind The Agile Manifesto, these key points will explain why he’s so important.

After reading this, you’ll learn how Scrum can be used in the workplace; why leaders should report to their teams and not the other way around; and how to start a project using Scrum.

Big Idea #1: If you want to get things done, ditch the traditional waterfall method, and try Scrum.

How many times have you been behind schedule on a project? This happens often when we use traditional management methods, like the waterfall method. The waterfall method is used to illustrate projects using color-coded parallel bars that indicate the timing and length of different parts of the process (the result can look like a stylized waterfall). Although these are popular organizational tools, they often lead to disastrous results because they assume an outsized degree of importance when things go wrong.

For example, the FBI planned to modernize its case management system with Virtual Case File (VCF), which would help prevent another 9/11.

The agency created a Gantt chart, which is a type of bar chart that shows the different phases of a project and when each phase would end. The “technical design” stage was scheduled to end on such-and-such date, at which point the “coding and testing” phase would begin.

Unfortunately, the project failed before any code was written. Ultimately, it wasted years of time and $170 million in taxpayer money. To prevent this from happening again, many organizations have adopted scrum instead of waterfall for their projects as a result.

Scrum is all about teamwork and communication. The name comes from the rugby term scrum, meaning that everyone on the team works together to move down the field towards a common goal.

The FBI applied Scrum to another project, Sentinel. The results were better: they implemented the system in less time, with fewer people and at a lower cost than their previous attempt.

If you want to know more about scrum, keep reading!

Big Idea #2: Effective project management is all about promoting great teamwork.

When you’re working on a project, your chances of success are greater if the team works well together. The best way to improve teamwork is to make four changes.

Let team members decide how to reach objectives. For example, NPR’s award-winning reporting on the Arab Spring in Egypt was only possible because they had autonomy. The team made all the decisions about how to produce their stories, working together to navigate Egyptian bureaucracy, translation, issues of safety and so on.

Teams are more effective than individuals. To make them even more powerful, give your team a broader purpose and make sure they’re all working toward the same goal.

NPR’s success during the Arab Spring was probably due to a number of factors. One factor might have been that this was an opportunity for journalists to report on something important, which gave them a sense of purpose.

A third way to improve teamwork is by having different teams share results and create new, self-sufficient teams.

Teams should be comprised of people from different backgrounds who have a variety of skills and experiences. This is important because it will help the team produce better results than if they simply worked together as individuals.