Scrum: The Three Pillars
When trying to implement Scrum in project teams, one is constantly reminded that Scrum must be embedded at the core of the team. Although it is mostly used to optimize predictability, it also helps team members know about each other’s competencies and make better use of it for the product.
Based on empiricism and lean thinking, Scrum focuses on continuous improvement, value for experience, and observability.
As goes for any framework, Scrum stands tall due to its three pillars. Similar to when hit by an earthquake, a building with strong pillars is less impacted - when anything goes off in a process, we should first look into the three pillars of Scrum. So let’s dive deep into these three pillars of Scrum:
- Transparency
- Inspection
- Adaptation
Transparency
Transparency in Scrum says All the work that is done and is being done must be visible to everyone. Everyone — the ones doing the work and the ones getting the done work. In Scrum, decisions are based on the state of the artifacts:
- The Product backlog
- The Sprint backlog
- The Sprint increment
If the state of these artifacts are not transparent, the decisions may be biased and sometimes even risky for the product.
As a product manager, we must always remember that when a team is not transparent about the work being done, or the progress of a certain unit, say tasks, features, or even a module, it creates confusion and a lack of trust. Everyone involved should be known to the facts about the vision they are working for.
Transparency enables inspection, and inspection is necessary to keep the product and the team in track.
Inspection
The progress of the product and the state of the Scrum artifacts must be frequently inspected. Inspection is necessary so that we can prevent any kind of deviation from the process. Inspection is enabled in Scrum through its five events:
- Sprint
- Daily Scrum
- Sprint Planning
- Sprint Review
- Sprint Retrospective
These events must be carried out efficiently to provoke positive changes in the product and the team.
As a product manager, we must be able to carry out inspection to bring everyone in the team on the same page. A slight deviation may also create a huge impact to the team and the product. Carrying out these Scrum events regularly and effectively is key to inspecting each scrum artifacts.
No matter what we are doing, it is necessary to make sure that we are all working towards the same product goal.
Adaptation
Now, inspection without adaptation would be pointless, wouldn’t it?
If any aspects of the product and process is deviating outside the acceptable limits, the process and the resources used must be adjusted. When should we make those adjustments? you ask, as soon as the deviations are identified so that further variance can be prevented.
Let’s all face it, adaptation and adjustment are not easy. Adaptation is possible only when all the members of the team are empowered and self-organizing. Adaptation is done by the team. If your scrum team is strong, adaptation is just another task to create a healthier environment for the work to be done.
As a product manager, we should reinforce the needs and benefits of adaptation. If something is deviating from the anticipated path, we need to adapt a process that guides it correctly, which is possible only through adaptation.
Work on making your team more self-managed, and they will start adapting on their own.
End Remarks
Scrum works when these three pillars are efficiently implemented. Make the work transparent to the team members and stakeholders → Create a culture of diligently inspecting work and increment → Adapt to new and necessary processes if a deviation is identified during inspection.
