Scrum: Easy to learn, hard to master – training for an Agile mindset
According to research conducted by Deloitte , more than three-quarters of business leaders stated that their organisations’ digital capabilities have significantly helped them cope with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, while nearly two-thirds believe that companies that fail to digitize in the next five years will fail to remain competitive.
Transforming to embrace Agility and remain relevant in the Digital Era
In an era of constant development and disruption, organisations look to examples of successful transformations, such as that of Netflix, which moved from their traditional pay-per-rental model into a subscription rental model and from there to their well-known subscription online streaming service. They also take note of examples that resisted change and remained focused on the past, such as Kodak, missing out on the opportunity to remain a market leader in their sectors.
According to KPMG , truly embracing Agility can lead to a fundamental shift in how organisations function resulting in a protentional change to their entire operating model, ranging from structure and governance to capabilities & processes, technology, sourcing, people & culture, and performance management. The optimisation of the operating model enables organisations to benefit from Agility and gain in customer focus, speed, and flexibility while lowering their costs and increasing transparency, predictability, and control.
In recent years, many organisations have focused on the adoption of Agile methodologies through the implementation of Agile Pilots and the use of Agile at the core of their IT. Such initiatives fall under what we call Agile adoption, which is different to Agile transformation in five key areas: speed of change, timeframe, productivity gains, impact on the organisation structure and change in culture. When adopting Agile, the change and benefits are observed and realised locally, in specific processes or business units, while in Agile Transformation there is a widespread impact across the organisation.
Drivers for Agility and Key Challenges in becoming Agile
According to the 15th State of Agile report, the most significant Agile adoption barriers have remained largely unchanged for the past several years and include inconsistencies in processes and practices (46%), cultural clashes (43%), general organisational resistance to change (42%), lack of skills and experience (42%), absence of leadership participation (41%), and inadequate management support and sponsorship (40%).
This is largely due to Scrum’s five guiding principles of openness, focus, respect, courage, and commitment, making it a very straightforward, lightweight, lean, easy-to-follow, and understandable approach. This also makes Scrum a practical and highly effective methodology that can be applied across a variety of business functions and sectors flexibly. Whether comprised of software engineers, product managers or business analysts, Scrum provides a framework that allows project teams to adapt to change and deliver more value quickly and more frequently.
Key Challenges in mastering Scrum
According to KPMG , an Agile culture requires complete transparency within an organisation, shared responsibilities and goals, freedom from the fear of failure, and the encouragement of experimentation and expertise sharing. Although fostering an Agile culture is key to successfully embracing Agility and maximising ROI, 75% of professionals do not feel that their organisation supports an Agile culture.
Looking at the bigger picture, being Agile requires professionals and organisations alike to rethink and reinvent their way of creating value and working with others. To benefit from Agility, organisations need to build the capabilities from the ground up, highlighting the urgency to invest in their people through continuous up-skilling and re-skilling programs that will develop and maintain the skills, behaviours, and mindset required.
Through training and certification, properly trained Scrum professionals can help overcome these organisational hurdles and instil an agile mindset, driving change and ensuring the correct and purposeful application of Scrum principles and successful implementation of skills. This requires (among other things) a comprehensive set of soft skills including leadership, facilitation, coaching, teaching & training, listening, and communication.
How else does a certified Scrum professional bring value to the organisation?
Secondly, they can help companies understand why it’s important to have multilevel planning that responds to a changing environment. Such approaches ensure projects embrace flexibility and in turn avoid unnecessary and costly setbacks, and even failure.
Becoming an effective Scrum Master through training
But of course, speed isn’t everything if corners are cut and standards are compromised. The best Scrum Masters have learnt best in class approaches to manage business risk and threats and capitalise on opportunities that change presents. Through classroom learning they understand business dynamics and when to apply Scrum principles so that they can energise teams to make the right decisions quickly and drive projects to a successful conclusion. For any business adopting Scrum, this expertise is invaluable and can bring a true competitive edge.