What is Agile/Scrum?

I’m sure there are people out there that are saying “What is Agile/Scrum?” and why are you writing an article about it? Well, those are amazing questions and I hope to answer them throughout this article. But to give you a quick summary of what it is, it is basically a methodology that teaches you the art of doing twice the work in half the time.

Agile/Scrum methodology was created by Jeff Sutherland. I’ve been using this methodology for a while now. It has been a game-changer for me. Now with my role as the Chief Technology Officer within the USMC, I finally had a chance to do a full-scale implementation of Agile/Scrum within my company. Let me tell you the results were astronomical!

What is Agile?

Let’s start with something basic and just define Agile. It is an iterative approach to project management and software development. The approach helps teams deliver value to their customers faster and with fewer headaches.

The main idea here is that instead of betting everything on a “big bang” launch, an agile team delivers work in small, but consumable, increments. These requirements, plans, and results are evaluated continuously so teams have a mechanism for responding to change quickly.

What all that means is that when you start a project you break them up into small more digestible chunks. Once you’ve done that you can then change or update each chunk as you go through your process. Making you more agile!

What is Scrum?

Scrum is a framework where a team can address complex adaptive problems. This will allow your team to will be able to productively and creatively deliver products of the highest possible value. It provides a lightweight framework that helps people, teams, and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.

This framework allows teams to work with an Agile methodology in order to raise team morale. High team morale equals more work less time. Which means more time away from work! Who wouldn’t enjoy that!

How does Agile/Scrum Work? Why is it useful?

The way that is useful within any organization is from a perspective of work/life balance. As mentioned earlier, raising team morale is important. How do you do that? Getting things done and making it a creative process is how you do that. It’s that simple. I’ve seen the change within my organization. I’ve heard similar changes from my friend’s organization.

Agile/Scrum allows you to rip the ego out of your organization and actually be part of a team. When you have this fluidity with your team and rank or position doesn’t take away from the process you will see what true harmony feels like. Once you achieve this harmony you will see the difference in morale with your team. Because everyone has something to contribute somewhere.

Takeaway

I wanted to write this article to introduce Agile/Scrum methodologies to those that haven’t heard about them yet. But I also wanted to provide a resource to educate the ones who are currently implementing it within their organizations or personally by providing resources. I’m always looking for new ways to improve my scrum. So, I hope this helps you!

If you are looking to learn more about Agile/Scrum check out my book review on Scrum by Jeff Sutherland (founder of Scrum Inc).