The management Scrum team
Lead by example
In an Agile environment a management team should be acting as servant leaders for their teams. My question to you: is your management team a Scrum Team? Here’s why this is a good idea.
The work for the management team is complex. This is where Scrum functions best:
“Scrum (n): A framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value.” — Scrum Guide 2017
You will benefit from all the good things Scrum brings, like structure, focus, continuous improvement and working on the most valuable items every time. If you make Scrum work for your management team you lead by example by practicing what you preach!
And then I didn’t even mention the best part. The Management Scrum Team will be super transparent. The Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog are visible for all and the Sprint Review is perfect to reflect on the past Sprint, share what you learned and progress and discuss what to do next.
You show that you take your people seriously.
How could it work?
The CEO could act as the Product Owner, determining the order of the Product Backlog, a backlog that is visible to everyone. This doesn’t work for all items, but there are plenty that can. Examples are:
- The journey to determine the companies’ vision;
- Translation of the vision into concrete steps to bring organisational changes;
- Staffing activities;
- Representation of a company towards the stakeholders.
You could even decide to create multiple Scrum Teams, all focusing on different areas. You could also contemplate to invite people from the work-floor to join the Scrum Teams. That will surely help you to bring your message across and increase transparency and ownership.
Conclusion
Scrum is a framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products. The management environment is complex. Scrum can bring a lot of benefits to get your complex work done. Here’s how Leon Krancher rephrased my conclusion:
By making Scrum work for your management they not only benefit from Scrum but also lead by example.
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