When it comes to the business world, things can change in an instant. What was once successful and profitable can quickly become obsolete. To stay ahead of the competition and maintain a strong foothold in the market, businesses must be willing to adapt and evolve with the times. Scrum can be useful in this situation.
Scrum values are essential for businesses looking to succeed in today’s market. When a business neglects them, they risk becoming irrelevant and losing out to the competition. Let’s analyze more closely what these values are, their types, tips, how teams can use them effectively, and why they should not be neglected.
Scrum values: what it is and why it matters
Scrum values are about much more than just the mechanics of getting work done. At its heart, it is a set of values that emphasize collaboration, sentiments, adaptability, and transparency. It is a lightweight, iterative, and incremental approach to handling projects that helps teams deliver valuable products in little time.
It’s based on the concept of “sprints,” or short, time-bound periods in which specific tasks must be completed. This means that project management can be performed more quickly and with less wasted effort.
At their core, the framework’s values are based on the “pillars of agility,” which are:
- People come first, not processes.
- Being able to respond to change is more important than following a plan.
- The best way to predict the future is to create it.
These principles guarantee the team’s flexibility and adaptability for a given project.
Types of scrum values to keep your business afloat
The framework’s values are embodied in the way we work together as a team. They guide team members in their decision-making and help them to remain agile in the face of change.
Commitment
Without a commitment from everyone on the team, the philosophy of scrum values will not work. The stakeholders must be committed to the success of the project and their roles to make progress. According to recent research, commitment should ideally be accompanied by team cohesion to deliver maximum results.
Focus
Focus is a key attribute for achieving success. It allows the team to concentrate on the task at hand and ignore the counterproductive habits that can come up along the way. Being focused also means being efficient with time, enabling employees to achieve great results without having to spend extra effort or resources. This doesn’t mean that one can’t take breaks or have time for oneself, but it does mean that when working, an employee should be giving it their all and striving for excellence. With focus as one of its core values, Scrum helps teams reach their full potential and become productive and successful.
Openness
Openness refers to the willingness of all team members to speak freely and honestly with one another, even when discussing difficult topics. It promotes collaboration and builds trust between team members, making it easier for them to work together effectively. It encourages feedback because it eliminates the fear that speaking one’s mind will cause discord. Ultimately, this helps teams capitalize on their combined creativity and reach goals faster. The value of openness is often associated with horizontal team relationships, which should be taken into account when building the team and setting the framework for its functioning.
Courage
Courage is an essential element of the framework. Without it, teams wouldn’t be able to take risks when necessary or have the conviction to stand behind their decisions. Being courageous means showing bravery in the face of adversity and having no fear of failure. It also means being honest with your teammates and standing up for what you believe in despite any outside pressures. The courage value reminds one to stay committed and never give up, especially when times are tough. Courage is contagious, so it might be a good idea for your company to find social media influencers who will act as a role model for the employees.
Respect
The team should respect each other. This creates an ideal work environment where everyone can do their best work. When participants are respected for their ideas and opinions, it creates an open and collaborative environment where everyone feels safe to share their thoughts. Different perspectives can be brought together in a way that encourages growth both as individuals and as a team. Respect also fosters trust among members, ensuring that the work towards achieving common goals is undertaken with dedication. Valuing respect keeps communication constructive, creating pathways that ultimately lead to improved outcomes.
Five aspects of why businesses stick to Scrum
If you analyze the social media performance of a business that adheres to the scrum philosophy, you will understand why the latter is important. Most notably, the approach is simple, meaning it can be learned quickly, and there is no need for extensive training or certification. The framework is also flexible enough to be adapted to any company’s specific needs. So here is a review of what makes businesses stick to it.
It brings results
Scrum is a proven method of project management that helps businesses run more efficiently, saving time and resources while producing valuable results. Focusing on company values, continuous improvement and ongoing collaboration and communication between teams helps bring out the most innovative ideas and encourages everyone to work together towards common goals. The result? Projects are completed in shorter periods of time, with higher accuracy and better outcomes for your business as a whole. Implementing the framework is thus an effective way for a company to maximize its potential.
It is flexible
The framework integrates robust principles yet offers plenty of room to pivot in response to changing conditions. The methodology has been tested and proven over the years, giving your business the support it needs to succeed in a wide variety of scenarios. Plus, there are resources available online to help guide you as you plan for the transition and make sure you’re up-to-speed on all that Scrum can offer you and your team. This flexibility is one of the key reasons why companies continue to use this approach year after year.
It is simple
Scrum is one of the most accessible project management frameworks out there—after all, it was designed to be lighter and simpler than traditional approaches! The key advantage of using this approach is that its processes are lightweight, making adaptation quick and painless. Implementing the framework allows your team to focus on their work without letting administrative tasks take too much time away from actual progress. It also removes red tape that would otherwise interrupt the development process and provides everyone with a little more operational flexibility in how they approach various tasks. With Scrum, there’s no need for complex rules or procedures; its principles can be quickly learned and put into action.
It is efficient
Companies that use Scrum find that they can get more tasks done in less time. For example, many businesses reported progress in their social marketing campaigns after they implemented the framework. Measuring one is simple: use Twitter analytics tools or any other tool that allows you to monitor social data around a campaign by tracking its hashtags. Most likely, you will see that the reach of your marketing projects has increased if your team is guided by Scrum principles.
It leads to success
Ultimately, the reason most businesses adhere to Scrum is that it leads to success. Companies that use it are more likely to achieve their goals, deliver excellent customer service, and often see a significant improvement in their overall performance. This point is proven in the book Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems by Ryan Ripley, which talks about the experience of companies adhering to Scrum principles.
What if a business doesn’t use Scrum?
When businesses neglect their philosophy’s values, they put their projects and their team’s productivity at risk. Here are five things that can happen:
- Poor quality: Without the guiding principles of the approach, such as respect for people and focus on the customer, businesses may end up delivering low-quality products. This can damage a company’s reputation and cause customers to go elsewhere.
- Missed deadlines: If a team is not following sprints and is not adhering to the relevant values, deadlines are likely to be missed. This can lead to large financial losses for a business and lost time for customers waiting for your product or service.
- Increased stress: When teams don’t adhere to the values of openness, courage, and commitment, stress level tends to increase. This can impact team productivity and individual morale.
- Inflexible teams: Without adequate values in place, teams become inflexible and less able to adapt to changes in the market or customer demands. As a result, you may find yourself losing market share to more agile competitors.
- Lack of transparency: One of the most important values behind the approach is transparency. When this value is neglected, it can lead to a lack of communication and collaboration within the team. This can result in projects being delayed or even canceled altogether.
Tips for using scrum values
The Scrum methodology can seem very simple until it comes to applying it to your team. Therefore, to successfully implement Scrum principles into the company’s philosophy, you should pay attention to the following tips:
Daily basis
Any technique is only effective if it is used on a daily basis. When every member of the team realizes the practical importance of indefatigable adherence to the principles of this technique, you will see tangible results.
Trust
Don’t be afraid to trust your team members with more difficult tasks. It is trust that nurtures the Scrum principles. Each employee should not only be a team player but also be able to work independently. Awareness of one’s value is the key to the success of the entire team.
Unobtrusive control
At the stage of instilling Scrum principles, good manager must accompany this process with light control so that the methodology works as it should. It is precisely unobtrusive control that is required so that the processes of self-organization and self-control are set up within the team.
How can teams use scrum values effectively?
No matter how successfully the Scrum methodology has shown itself in different businesses, its effectiveness is tied to many aspects.
Firstly, the team should understand why they adhere to the Scrum methodology. Each team member needs to see point A and point B and be aware of what can be achieved using Scrum principles in the work.
Secondly, in order for the Scrum framework not to be just a craze, it is necessary to not only inculcate the philosophy entirely but also to work out each of the five principles separately and thoroughly.
Thirdly, half of success is awareness of responsibility for success. Scrum is not a panacea. But Scrum multiplied by interest in the common cause is already a claim for a decent result.
Final words on scrum values
To summarize, businesses that disregard Scrum may face a slew of negative consequences. While it’s useful to be mindful of this, it’s also important to remember that the approach is flexible and can be adapted to fit the needs of any business. By understanding and following the approach’s core principles, businesses can create an effective and efficient workflow.
