Scrum

What characterises Scrum

Scrum is an approach for undertakings where the goal is not fully known at the start. Instead of writing a plan for months, work happens in short sections, usually two to four weeks. After each section a usable result exists, which is reviewed and accepted or rejected. The plan for the next section is then adjusted.

The advantage lies in early feedback. A mistake becomes visible after two weeks rather than after half a year. The price is giving up long term planning certainty: anyone who has to promise a fixed date and a fixed scope is better served by a classical approach.

The roles and events

Three roles are provided. The product owner decides what is built and in which order. The development team builds it and decides how. The scrum master watches the process and clears obstacles without deciding on content.

Four fixed events come on top. Planning at the start of a section, the short daily coordination, the review of the result at the end and the retrospective on the collaboration. More important than the names is the order: first the result is reviewed, then the lesson is drawn from it.

When it suits a project

• Unclear goal: when nobody knows what the result should look like, a short section beats a long plan.
• Readiness to change: when requirements may or should change, Scrum plays out its advantage.
• Close collaboration: when business side and delivery can talk regularly.
• Small units: three to nine people. Larger groups need extra coordination, smaller ones make the effort too high.

When a plan is better

Scrum does not fit everywhere. A relaunch with a fixed date, an integration against a prescribed interface or a migration with a legal deadline are undertakings where the scope is fixed and the sequence can be planned. A constantly changing plan costs more there than it brings.

Scrum as a label is just as unsuitable. Anyone coordinating daily but drawing nothing from the review carries the effort without the benefit. That is the most common form of failure, and from outside it shows in the fact that no change results from the retrospective.

What remains of it in online retail

For a shop with a small team, a full introduction rarely pays off. Two elements are useful. First splitting into short sections with a visible result. Second reviewing before the next step instead of reviewing when everything is done. Those two elements are the core and need no ceremony.

Frequent questions

• Do I need software for it? No. A list of tasks in order is enough to start.
• How long should a section be? Two weeks for most undertakings, four with a lot of coordination.
• What happens to unfinished tasks? They return to the list and are reassessed, not carried along automatically.