Four Reasons to Use Scrum

I was recently asked why someone like myself would take a left turn in their career to become an entry-level Scrum Master. I understand why the question was asked, since it may seem illogical from a career-advancement perspective. For me, the change had to do more with what role I find fulfilling and what I’m passionate about, and that is working with Scrum.

While Scrum was developed in the mid-1990s, my scrum journey began about a year ago after obtaining my Certified Scrum Master (CSM®) certification. Following that course, I continued my education by becoming a Safe Agile Practitioner. From there, I was afforded the opportunity to facilitate a Scrum team on the Gordon Food Services account at Bravo LT. It has been a challenging and rewarding journey over the past year and I am here to tell you, I made the right decision for myself.

Before starting my journey as a Scrum Master, I was Bravo LT’s Director of People and Culture. While the director role was very fulfilling, for me it seemed to lack the type of long-term impact that I wanted to have on my company and on a team. I wanted to be able to coach, teach, develop, and enable a team in the most effective way possible. Enter Scrum!

Scrum was developed by a team of software developers who were seeking a better way to manage their work. It is an agile framework for managing projects that delivers high value in a short period of time. Since its development, Scrum has become one of the most widely adopted agile methodologies in the software development industry.

While there are many reasons why Scrum is a good choice for software development projects, here are four key benefits of using Scrum that I have discovered.

Increased Productivity

Scrum is designed to help teams work more efficiently and effectively. It does this by breaking down large, complex projects into smaller, manageable chunks called "sprints." Each sprint focuses on a specific set of goals, and the team works together to complete them within a fixed period of time (usually 2-4 weeks). This helps teams stay focused and avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary details or distractions.

Improved Quality

Another reason why you should use Scrum is it emphasizes continuous improvement and the inspection and adaptation of work products. This helps teams identify and fix problems early in the development process, resulting in higher quality software.

Better Communication

Scrum promotes open, honest communication and encourages team members to collaborate and share ideas. This helps to build trust and foster a culture of transparency and accountability.

Enhanced Customer Satisfaction

One of the key principles of Scrum is delivering value to the customer as quickly as possible. This means that teams are constantly working to deliver working software that meets the needs of the customer. This helps to build strong relationships and increase customer satisfaction.

Overall, Scrum is an effective agile framework that can help teams develop high-quality software in a shorter period of time. As a result, organizations that use Scrum, like Gordon Food Services, often see increased productivity, improved quality, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Is your team using Scrum?

Written by Matthew Cunningham, Scrum Master