Minimum Desirable Agile in a Scrum Framework

‘Agile’ has become a fashionable term, much like artificial intelligence and machine learning. Every organization wants to claim these buzzwords, but can an organization truly become agile just by describing itself as such? As a certified Scrum Master who has experienced various flavors of agile throughout my product management career, I’ve learned that the answer is more nuanced than many realize.

Understanding True Agility

I often hear “we have our own agile processes” when joining a new organization. While it’s perfectly acceptable to customize agile processes to fit organizational needs, I believe certain minimum elements must exist for a product development lifecycle to genuinely qualify as agile.

The way I’ve come to understand agile is by imagining an athlete on a track. Even the term “sprint” used in Scrum helps reinforce this metaphor. Being agile means developing the flexibility to adapt to changing requirements and phases while maintaining forward momentum. It’s about building the stamina to achieve business goals over time, delivering value incrementally rather than all at once.

The Three Pillars of Scrum

At its core, Scrum rests on three fundamental pillars that everyone on the team must understand. First comes transparency – significant aspects of the process must be visible to all stakeholders, including the development team. Second is inspection – regular examination of Scrum artifacts and progress toward sprint goals helps detect undesirable variances. Third is adaptation – the ability to adjust aspects of the process and its results when they fall outside acceptable limits.

Essential Roles and Their Reality

The Scrum framework defines specific roles, each with crucial responsibilities. The Scrum Master coaches the team, removes impediments, and facilitates events. The Product Owner expresses product backlog items, prioritizes them, and ensures clear communication with the development team. The Development Team takes responsibility for delivering the “done” increment, creating the sprint backlog, and estimating work.

In my experience, especially in startups, these roles often overlap. It’s not uncommon to see a Product Owner also serving as Scrum Master. While this isn’t ideal, it can work if the person understands and can execute the responsibilities of both roles effectively.

The Living Artifacts

Scrum artifacts aren’t just documents – they’re living tools that guide the development process. The product backlog serves as an ordered list of everything needed in the product. The sprint backlog represents what the team commits to delivering in the current sprint. The potentially releasable product increment embodies the actual value delivered to users.

The Rhythm of Scrum Events

The events in Scrum create a natural rhythm for development. Product backlog refinement happens continuously, ensuring the backlog remains clear and ready for upcoming sprints. Sprint planning sets the stage for each sprint, with the team selecting work and creating a clear goal. Daily scrums keep everyone aligned and surface impediments quickly. Sprint reviews showcase working product and gather feedback, while retrospectives help the team improve their process.

These events aren’t mere meetings – they’re opportunities for inspection and adaptation, crucial elements of the agile process. When held meaningfully, they bring life to the entire development cycle.

Finding Your Minimum Viable Agile

The beauty of frameworks like Scrum lies in their flexibility. Unlike traditional project management methodologies with rigid processes and templates, Scrum provides a foundation that organizations can build upon. However, this flexibility shouldn’t come at the expense of its core principles.

Think of it like learning to play a musical instrument. Before you can improvise jazz, you need to master the basics. Similarly, before customizing agile processes, teams need to understand and implement these fundamental elements effectively.

The Path to True Agility

The journey to becoming truly agile isn’t about checking boxes or following a prescribed set of practices. It’s about embracing the mindset of continuous improvement and adaptation. Start with these minimum elements, but remember they’re just the beginning. As your team grows in experience and capability, your implementation of agile can evolve while maintaining these core principles.

The key is understanding that agile isn’t a destination but a journey of continuous learning and improvement. Like an athlete training for a marathon, your organization’s agile capabilities will develop over time with consistent practice and dedication to the fundamental principles that make agile work.

Remember, being agile means more than just using the terminology or following certain practices. It means embracing a way of working that enables your team to adapt, learn, and deliver value consistently. The minimum elements described here provide the foundation for that journey, but where you go from there depends on your team’s needs and goals.