Using Scrum to Increase Productivity

 

The market dynamics create environments that are susceptible to change and can cause instability for organizations. Internal factors such as the change in processes and methodologies can also be a cause of instability. For unprepared organizations that tend to avoid such changes, that can be a competitive disadvantage. Among the possible solutions to this kind of problem, are the agile management processes. Commonly referred to as agile methods, these approaches suggest ways of applying different tools and methodologies that focus on speed and quality delivery by fractioning the work into smaller deliverable pieces.

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For valuing factors such as the increase of productivity, collaboration, and continuous feedback, Scrum is one of the most adopted agile methodologies [1]. It can be understood as a work structure (framework) where the practitioners are capable of dealing with complex problems in an adaptative manner and deliver high-value results creatively and productively at the same time [2]. The ample use of this framework by different areas shows that Scrum has high plasticity and adaptability, optimizing work processes in the most diverse fields. Beyond the areas in the IT industry, such as software development, where Agile methodologies were first implemented, Scrum has gained prominence in planning, sales, team performance, client interface, quality assurance of products and processes, communication, education, and research [3,4,5,6,7,8].

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Traditionally, Scrum is made of a team with three personas (Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Development team), in bigger or interdisciplinary projects, finding and managing a wider variety of specialists to act in the project becomes a challenge and it can be difficult to maintain only one team per project, being necessary an adaptation to a multifunctional team [9,10]. This way, even with a few restrictions, Scrum’s capability to adapt creates a strong competitive advantage to its practitioners, whether in business, education or academy.

 

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Bibliographic References

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Sharma S., Hasteer N. 2016. A comprehensive study on state of Scrum development. In Computing, Communication and Automation (ICCCA). 2016 International Conference on, pp. 867-872, IEEE.

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Schwaber k., Sutherland J., Beedle M. 2013. The definitive guide to scrum: The rules of the game. Recovered from: https://www.scrumguides.org/docs/scrumguide/v1/scrum-guideus.pdf Acessed on: 03-02-2021.

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Ashraf S., Aftab S. 2017. Latest Transformations in Scrum: A State of the Art Review.

International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science(IJMECS). Vol.9, No.7, pp.12-

22. DOI: 10.5815/ijmecs.2017.07.02.

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Reinema C., Pompe A., Nyhuis P. 2013. Agiles Projektmanagement – Einsatzpotentiale und Handlungsbedarfe im Rahmen von Fabrikplanungsprojekten. ZWF 108, p. 113-117.

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Van Solingen R., Sutherland J., de Waard D. 2011. Scrum in Sales. How to improve account management and sales processes. In: AGILE 2011. IEEE Computer Society, p. 284-288, Salt Lake City.

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Vogelzang J., Admiraal W. F., van Driel J. H. 2020. Effects of Scrum methodology on students’ critical scientific literacy: the case of Green Chemistry. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2020, 21, 940-

952. DOI: 10.1039/D0RP00066C.

 

Quantitative Single-Cell Biology Lab at Leiden University. Scrum for science: A framework for collective research. Recovered from: http://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/scrum-for-science-aframework-for-collective-research. Accessed on: 07-02-2021.

 

Pirro L. 2019. How agile project management can work for your research. Recovered from: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01184-9. Accessed on: 17-02-2021.

 

Marchenko A., Abrahamsson P. 2008. "Scrum in a Multiproject Environment: An Ethnographically-Inspired Case Study on the Adoption Challenges," Agile 2008 Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada, pp. 15-26, DOI: 10.1109/Agile.2008.77.

 

Weinreich R., Neumann N., Riedel R., Müller E. 2015. Scrum as Method for Agile Project Management Outside of the Product Development Area. IFIP International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems (APMS). Tokyo, Japan. pp.565-572.

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