The Value of Scrum Values

Like anyone’s journey through an Agile transformation, I have moments where I appreciate the elements of the Scrum framework and genuinely understand their importance. I have recently experienced one of those occasions where I now realize why the five Scrum values are so critical to the successful growth of any Scrum team. But the team shouldn’t be the only ones holding these values in high regard. When the organization can appreciate and support these values, the effectiveness of Scrum as a delivery model showcases itself.

“When the values of commitment, courage, focus, openness, and respect are embodied and lived by the Scrum Team, the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life and build trust for everyone.” - The Scrum Guide

When I read this, I interpret that these values uphold the pillars of Scrum, which makes them a significantly foundational piece of the entire framework. If these values are essential to the successful implementation of this empirical process, then we need to examine how to encourage each other to adopt these values through every interaction.

Commitment to accepting Scrum as the organization’s way of delivering complex projects should be complete. If we only endorse the elements of the framework we feel comfortable with, success is far less likely. There are plenty of areas where individual teams can tailor Scrum to suit their needs like the daily scrum format, which estimation technique to use, or how to go about refining the product backlog. But some fundamentals should not be negotiable. The roles, events, and artifacts of Scrum are all clearly defined and serve specific purposes that work together. Our commitment to the enactment of Scrum needs to be enduring to avoid sowing doubt so we can give our teams the best chance at success.

Change can be difficult and uncomfortable, but we need to work through tough times courageously as a team. If we have moved to an agile process, then we have likely identified that it will improve the way we operate, and we have already expected a somewhat major shift. What we have to ensure is that we dare to see it through. We’ll encounter many steps that will feel contrary to how we’ve operated in the past, but letting them be roadblocks won’t yield the results that Scrum can deliver.

Without question, the organization still needs to operate through an Agile transformation, and it is far too easy to lose focus on the goals of adopting Scrum when everyone still needs to continue to perform their daily tasks. Just like a Scrum team would focus on the sprint goals, the aim of continually improving our adherence to the rules of Scrum must remain firmly in our sights. We might even reach a point where we believe that we’ve gone far enough through the journey when we are not even close to complete implementation. A “good enough is good enough” moment. Or perhaps we decide early on that full utilization of the framework won’t work for us. But how would we know that? Learning by doing is what the entire theory of Scrum asserts. If we don’t focus on walking the full path, we can’t realize what potential rewards wait for us at the end.

Any team or organization that feels comfortable expressing their opinions on how well their processes are working for them are much more likely to identify and improve problem areas. Fostering a culture of open communication is pivotal. Every person has something to contribute, regardless of their experience, and understanding the different points of others can often cultivate one’s personal growth. When we make changes, we need to inspect those changes to see if we achieved the intended results. Feedback from the people who feel the impact of the changes is an essential measure of success, so to determine required further adjustments, we must enable our team to express themselves.

We should give respect to one another in any workplace, agile or not. Every team member’s understanding of Scrum and their role within it will continually improve, so we must be patient and appreciate each other’s opinions to enable growth for the entire team. Every person can fulfill their part, no matter where they are on their path. Remember, there is no role in Scrum that is a leader of people. Product owners lead the product, and Scrum Masters lead the process, but we must depend on each team to work together to govern themselves. When trust and respect are missing from your organization, Scrum, or any other framework, will not solve that problem.

As we iterate through our sprints and increase our adaption to Scrum, we should reflect on these values regularly. Teams can get wrapped up in how to execute the events such as, how much time to spend planning, what to say in daily stand-ups, or whichever template works best for retrospectives. Organizations will spend time on things like determining how many Scrum Masters they need and how to divide product ownership. These decisions are essential to the success of an Agile journey, but every one of those choices will garner more support and acceptance from everyone involved when we all practice these five Scrum values.