As an Agile professional, we regularly hear critical comments about the Scrum framework. And although we are very much in favor of a critical view, there are also a number of frequently heard misconceptions that we encounter in the field. Let's go through this one shall we?
There are too many Scrum events and the events take too much time. I can't get to work anymore.
One of the most common complaints about Scrum is: there are too many Scrum events and the events take too much time. The reason for this misconception is that the events are not efficient and that the team maintains all kinds of other meetings in addition to Scrum events.
So it is not the Scrum events that are the culprit, but their poor application. The Scrum events contain everything you need. You discuss what you will develop in the coming period (planning), what value you can deliver in a short period (sprint), whether you will achieve the sprint goal or whether you need to adjust your plan (daily), what you have delivered, or whether is to your liking (review) and how the team did this together (retro).
Therefore, take a critical look at the meetings. Are you achieving your goals? If not, then that is where the improvement lies. Also take a critical look at the rest of your agenda. Does it include discussions on topics that actually belong in a Scrum event? The solution is simple: delete this meeting and place the topic in the correct Scrum event.
As a team you are self-managing
In a well-run team, the Product Owner provides direction and inspires the team to add maximum value to the product. This is based on his/her vision of the product. The Scrum Master guides the team by drawing up and monitoring frameworks. Within these frameworks, the Scrum Master himself stimulates organization. This means that the team is jointly responsible for results and how they achieve them. The more mature the team is, the less guidance the Scrum Master will provide. In short, as a team you are not self-managing, but you are self-organizing.
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By working in sprints, you only focus on what you can achieve in one sprint and you do not look at the long-term effect
Unfortunately, it happens that teams focus on what can be achieved in one sprint and do not look at the long-term effect. What often goes wrong here is that the Product Owner is a cooperative foreman or woman. A senior who takes on the Product Owner role and knows the most about all the details. This is a huge pitfall. The role of Product Owner requires capabilities such as being able to form a vision for the long term, collaborating with the customer and including the team in your vision. As a team you can ask your Product Owner about this and the Scrum Master coaches the Product Owner on having and communicating a long-term vision.
So, as a Product Owner, be aware that you must include your team (one of your most important stakeholders) in your vision and roadmap.
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Scrum doesn't work for us, we should start working Kanban.
Why isn't Scrum working for you? If you are a development team with its own product and Scrum does not work for you, then something else is going wrong. Usually teams are not end-to-end responsible for their own product. There are dependencies with other teams, which increases the lead time during the development of your product and therefore you do not achieve your sprints. The solution is not to start working Kanban, but to attract the missing knowledge into your team, so that you can achieve your sprint goals.
Dependencies outside your team therefore require good coordination and planning. Be active and involve each other in the results to be delivered. Working together to achieve a great result is motivating!
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Refinement is a meeting that takes place every Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. with the entire team
Newsflash: refinement is not a Scrum event. This is often planned as standard, which gives the team the feeling of having many meetings (see point 1). Refinement is a process in which the Product Owner is constantly looking for where the most value can be added and where to invest or not. The Product Owner needs the team to properly estimate this. As a Product Owner, bring together demand (stakeholders / customers) and supply (team). When this happens and with whom, this should be a conscious decision each time rather than a standard meeting.
These are the most common misconceptions we encounter in practice. Are there more? I'm sure, I'm curious which one you still know?
Do you want to learn more about Scrum, about the practice or how you reach that next level as a Scrum Master or Product Owner? Then take a look at our training courses. A few more will start soon!
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