Why We Use Scrum (and How Your Organization Benefits From It)

Why We Use Scrum (and How Your Organization Benefits From It)

What is the value of using scrum in the development process and why do we use it? Find out (and get to know us a little better) in this article!

Keyword(s): scrum

Transparency. Inspection. Adaptation.

Those are the three pillars that hold up scrum methodology, which is a workflow method that focuses on empowering teams to meet deliverables quickly. Scrum focuses on breaking large tasks into bite-sized pieces.

It's built on the idea of not biting off more than you can chew while operating within a strict time-bound period. This prevents projects from dragging on forever.

This learning-first approach is incredibly valuable when it comes to software development. Why? Because the goal is functionality, not being too precious over the process of your own work.

That's one of the cornerstones of agile development, as is constant learning. Everyone makes mistakes. But when they're picked out before a product is released, and the learning process is applied to next time, it allows your organization to level up.

Scrum is a workflow process that focuses on minimizing waste, risk, and lost time. Sounds like a dream come true, right?

Why Do We Use Scrum?

The benefits of scrum are huge when it comes to software development. Development teams often need to wrangle complex projects under budget constraints. This can be hugely complicated.

Scrum methodologies allow your company to reap the following benefits:

• Increased productivity, quality, morale, and customer satisfaction
• Reduced waste, risk, cost
• Faster project cycles and release times
• Greater flexibility when it comes to course-correcting
• The ability to take on more complex projects

There are tons of project management methodologies. Why—and when—should Scrum be used?

Scrum is best when you need to make sense of the chaos. You might not have all the pieces you need, which means that you can't use strict sequential methodologies.

Or, there's room for error and you'll need to make constant tweaks to avoid a huge overload of course-correction at the end of the process. Scrum is also here to save the day because adaptability is primary.

What Is A Scrum Master?

Scrum development spins around one central axis: the team. Usually, scrum teams range from five to nine people.

Rather than a dog-eat-dog environment, scrum prioritizes communal collaboration. Getting your hands dirty by fixing problems, even if they may feel outside of your particular wheelhouse, is encouraged.

This adds value to products because they've been surveyed and influenced by a diverse range of skillsets. It also helps avoid problems, because Scrum places value on pair programming.

This allows coders to partner up and find errors, troubleshoot, and work faster toward an end goal.

The goal, after breaking work up into manageable spring-sized pieces, is to complete functional pieces quickly. Who's overseeing all of this magic? Their Scrum master.

The goal of Scrum workflows is to allow teams to take ownership of their work, course-correct, and adapt in a way that works for them. It's a highly personalized process.

However, democracies can sometimes breed chaos. This is especially true when it comes to high-stakes, high-profile development projects, which is why teams need one central point of contact.

To make it clear, Scrum masters are not 'the boss'. Instead, they embody a model of servant leadership that allows the team to focus on what matters: the work.

They provide reports to higher-ups, which shield the team from criticism, pressure, or questions about deadlines and deliverables. It also provides someone who does all the housekeeping: managing a Scrum whiteboard, tracking deliverables toward a due date, and so forth.

Prioritizing Agile Development

Agile development is the cornerstone of Scrum. This is where the high customer satisfaction results come in.

Here's how Scrum workflows are prioritized: the first tasks accomplished have the highest stakes. The project is organized by order of importance. This prevents high-priority items from being pushed to the back burner.

This allows work to be released in completed chunks. Instead of releasing the entire product at the end, Scrum projects often surface slowly. This gives customers a chance to interact with product pieces.

As they give feedback, teams can alter the remainder of the project based on this feedback. Instead of a vow to 'do better next time', teams can 'do better this time' by altering the project as they go.

This provides a huge benefit over traditional project workflows. Instead of the project scope being set in stone, it can change. However, that doesn't mean time and cost are variable.

With Scrum workflows, those two factors are typically invariable. The project flourishes and morphs within these boundaries, which makes it an easier sell to organizations that need projects done fast.

This allows higher quality, too. Developers don't have to wait around until everything has been solved and their path is clear. Instead, they can dive in headfirst and expect that their team will support them through changes.

This also gives teams the bandwidth to test code throughout the entire project. This makes the project stronger and prevents incidents where developers discover fatal bugs at the eleventh hour.

Leveraging On-Demand Development Teams

Even with Scrum workflows at your side, it might seem like too much. That's why on-demand development teams are a great resource.

For starters, they've worked with many, many companies like yours. They know how to brainstorm, problem-solve, course-correct, and produce software that outpaces competitors and serves customers.

They've also leveraged user research, competitor analysis, and sprint planning to break your goals into bite-sized pieces. This gives you peace of mind when it comes to your goals being met.

Often, development teams can bring a new perspective to the table. This can help them pinpoint problems you might not see, with the experience that onsite teams might not have.

Since they're on-demand, you also won't be paying them for times when they aren't actively producing. This can save you a lot of money, and make it easier to allocate a budget for other things!

If you're looking for the on-demand development solution of your dreams, contact us today! We're happy to help.