The Agile movement developed in the mid-eighties based on product and software development. The reason was to be able to deal better with uncertainty and change in a project environment and finally also to shorten the turnaround times in order to respond better and quicker to customer needs. In this way Agile developed more as a work philosophy and it was not a methodology in itself. The main principles on which this new mindset was based were:
- Be able to show output to the customer quickly and early with rapid feedback loops.
- Simplicity in actions and decisions.
- Adjustments and “change requests” are welcomed and are not seen as a barrier and co-operation with the customer is essential.
- Knowledge and skills are grouped in state-of-the art self-managing project teams which guarantee speed and work on a regular basis.
It was not until 1993 that the Agile philosophy was converted into a specific work method which is at the same time powerful and dynamic and within a fixed frame of reference offers a high guarantee in terms of project results. Building on the Agile principles, SCRUM forces the project workers in a particular rhythm to achieve the project commission. Characteristics of the SCRUM approach:
- An iterative & incremental development (“rugby” approach compared to the earlier “relay race” or waterfall method). There is a clear concept, minimum conditions and a deadline but the planning is progressive as the plan will probably still change and often only offers false security.
- A 100% “dedicated” team that is self-managing and has a conclusive mandate. The analogy with rugby from which the term scrum has been derived is striking: the team works together closely like a rugby team to move the ball across the field toward the opponent's half. It is important that all players are geared properly to each other, have the same intention and a specific aim in mind.
- It works with so-called “sprints” which each comprise one PDCA cycle.
- Clear roles: 1 product owner, 1 scrum master and a fixed development team.
- A well-defined process with a sprint planning, daily scrums and sprint reviews. The meeting time is kept within reasonable limits (20% meetings versus 80% execution, etc. often it is the other way around).
- A rigid reporting system whereby an accurate follow-up is guaranteed. In this way the priorities are all handled one by one which guarantees a good insight in the progress and adjustments are possible in plenty of time.
