Page 150 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

The sprints are at the core of Scrum's success. In "The 5 Scrum Values", Mark C. Layton writes "The
sprint requires clear goals set within fixed time boxes. The good news is, in this model, you break
down those goals into the smallest chunks of work possible so that you know what you’re getting
into. You’ll know what “realistic” is, so you can set appropriate goals and meet your commitments."

What do advocates of the Scrum methodology say?

Extremely flexible - As Scrum is considered a branch of the Agile methodology it shares many
similarities in terms of its advantages. One of those advantages is its flexibility. As previously
mentioned, scrum projects are broken down into short ‘sprints’, this makes problem-solving much
simpler. At the end of a sprint, any minor issues can be identified and rectified, this ensures that
developers aren’t left with a large number of issues to solve towards the end of the project. Change
is less demanding when following the Scrum methodology, it is much easier to make changes to
small sprints then it is to make changes to a larger sprint, this, therefore, allows developers to take a
different direction of thinking if necessary.

Clear Visibility – Progress in IT projects can be clearly tracked by the scrum leader. Scrum-based
teams will regularly meet in order to discuss the progress in which developers have made. These
meetings allow teams to ensure they have fully completed the previous sprint whilst planning what
they aim to achieve in the following sprint. Any issues that have arisen during the previous sprint
should also be discussed during these meetings, allowing the team to discuss problem-solving
techniques. Consumers should also be regularly invited to provide feedback during these meetings.
Feedback should include any problems they are having with the software as well as any features
they would like to see implemented in future updates.

Great For Goal Setting / Milestone - As previously mentioned, at the beginning of sprints the scrum
leader should meet with the team in order to discuss and plan what they aim to achieve. During
these meetings, the leader team should discuss their overall aim for the coming sprint as well as
what is expected of each individual. A good scrum leader should be able to evaluate their team in
order to understand their limits, this will also for them to set their team realistic targets. This will
ensure that targets push the team to work hard without overloading them with work, thus forcing
the team to sacrifice quality in order to complete the large quantity of work set.

Increased Staff/Team Motivation – As goal setting is a commonly used tool within Scrum teams,
this, in turn, breeds greater morale. Latham, a well-respected psychologist states that ‘The setting of
goals has been shown to increase employee motivation and organizational commitment’. His
research has found when employees are presented with a goal to work towards their work rate
increases. Scrum teams do often seem to be more motivated to complete tasks and therefore often
complete the development of a piece of software, for example, more efficiently.

Teams working with Scrum methodology are also likely to feel more valued in comparison to other
methodologies. Each team member understands that they have a role within the team as well as a
set of responsibilities; the fact that they have individually been assigned a particular task usually
motivates them to work hard to complete it. There can also be a really useful competitive edge to
scrum as individuals strive to deliver first or at least ensure that they aren’t the only member of the
team who has failed to complete their part of the sprint.

Again, a good Scrum leader should be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of those within
the team in order to ensure that employees aren’t assigned a task in an area which they are weaker.