3 Drivers of productivity with Scrum

October 23, 2011
One question is: “How important is Scrum anyway?  I mean, it is always the team that does the work, whether they use Scrum or not.”

And this is true. But I do think most teams (if not all) that use Scrum give themselves a big advantage.  They are more likely to be more successful if they use Scrum.  And if they will fail, that failure is more likely to be identified sooner. Which is actually a win!

OK, so what are the 3 drivers of productivity in Scrum?

Well, I want to focus on some not-so-obvious things.  Not the explicit dance steps of Scrum, but other things.

1. Creativity.  The team can and should be more creative than before.  Well, we all can always be more creative.  And one thinks that the Scrum team enables more creativity.  In every meaningful dimension relevant to their specific situation, compared to a waterfall ‘team’ (which is never, in my experience, a real team).

This is the intent with Scrum. Yes, Scrum per se cannot make them be more creative. Except that it sets up conditions that almost demand creativity via working together.  Yes, logically speaking, one group of 7 people could be doing all of the bare framework of Scrum, and yet not be more creative.  It is hard for me to imagine, but I guess it is logically possible.

But it is not what any Scrum trainer or coach would recommend.  And it is against the spirit of Scrum. The framework should be used to help the Team be more creative in each timebox. The Team should be more motivated and be having more fun — again, these should drive more creativity.

2. Velocity.  By removing impediments, the team can increase their velocity, as measured by story points completed per Sprint.

3. “The vital few.”  By selecting the very least amount of work (features) to put in the release (that still make up a minimum marketable feature set), we can get it done more quickly.  We do not bore them with features they care little about.  By making the product simpler, we make the system more elegant and easier to maintain and grow.  This can lead to much much greater productivity.

It may be easier to talk of these three things as completely separate. But, just as it is amusing to speak of body and soul as separate entities, it is more fun to live them as joint and unseparated entities.

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Posted in: agile business, managing agile
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One thought on “3 Drivers of productivity with Scrum”

  1. PM Hut

    Hi Kitty,

    Your post presents a simple overview on how to increase productivity with Scrum, and that's why I would like to republish it on PM Hut under the Scrum category.

    Please contact me through the "Contact Us" form on the PM Hut website in case you're OK with this.

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