The Scrum values are the foundation of effective agile project management. They help teams produce high-quality products in the most efficient manner. As a software engineering manager with more than 15 years of experience, I’ve witnessed the power of these values to change teams and projects.
You’ll learn why they’re important and how they’ll change your work. So, without further ado, here are the five key Scrum values and why they’re essential to project success.
Scrum Values: The Foundation of Agile Project Management
The Scrum values are the foundation of the Scrum framework. These values are designed to help guide teams in their work and interactions. They were an extension of the Agile Manifesto principles from 2001. The Scrum Guide formally added these values in 2016. Understanding these values is crucial for mastering the agile scrum framework basics.
The five Scrum values are:
- Commitment
- Courage
- Focus
- Openness
- Respect
These values dictate how Scrum teams should operate. They inform decision-making and problem-solving. Teams that embody these values can optimize collaboration and often see higher productivity and project results.
I’ve personally witnessed how these values can completely transform the dynamic of a team. When team members truly internalize these values, their work improves. They communicate more effectively. Trust is established. And as a result, projects are significantly more likely to be successful.
These values aren’t just lofty ideas you can take or leave. They are also essential for the framework to work correctly. Without these values, teams will likely struggle to adapt to change and deliver value consistently.
Commitment: Delivering Value Through Dedication
Commitment in Scrum is about committing to the team’s goals. It’s about committing to doing your best work. This value inspires teams to achieve their sprint goals.
In my experience, committed teams consistently achieve their sprint goals. They take responsibility for their tasks. They help each other as a group when challenges arise. And the collective effort results in completing the sprint goal more often than not.
However, commitment doesn’t mean volunteering for extra work or making commitments you can’t possibly keep. It’s about making realistic commitments. Then it’s about doing everything in your power to honor those commitments within the sprint timeframe.
To encourage commitment in your Scrum team:
- Set specific sprint goals.
- Ensure everyone has a defined role.
- Recognize achievements along the way.
- Remove roadblocks immediately.
Commitment also creates trust among team members and confidence among stakeholders that the project is on track.
Courage: Embracing Challenges and Innovation
Courage in Scrum is about addressing challenges directly. It’s about speaking up when you see issues. It’s about testing new ideas, even if they don’t work out.
Courageous teams don’t avoid the tough conversations. They don’t pretend everything is fine when it’s not. They also don’t use the same approach simply because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
I’ve seen courage show up in a few different key ways:
- A developer proposing a somewhat risky, but potentially revolutionary, feature
- A Scrum Master calling out behaviors on the team that just aren’t helpful
- A Product Owner pushing back on stakeholder requests that just aren’t feasible
Encouraging courage on your team can result in breakthrough innovations. It also creates an environment where team members feel comfortable suggesting new ideas, which often leads to more creative problem solving.
To foster courage:
- Build an environment of psychological safety.
- Look for and praise taking a risk (even if it didn’t work).
- Practice it yourself (showing courage in your actions).
Just remember, courage does not mean being reckless. It’s about taking a calculated risk that will benefit the project.
Focus: Maximizing Productivity and Efficiency
The value of focus in Scrum is working on the tasks at hand within the current sprint. It’s selecting tasks that contribute to sprint goals. This value enables teams to maximize their work output.
An observation I’ve made is that teams that are dedicated to the current sprint:
- Complete more tasks
- Produce higher quality work
- Encounter less stress and burnout
To ensure your team focuses on the tasks at hand within a sprint:
- Eliminate distractions
- Break tasks into small steps
- Use visual aids like Kanban boards to show progress
- Run daily stand-up meetings to ensure everyone focuses on the sprint
Protecting the team’s focus is essential. This may mean shielding them from tasks outside of the sprint. It may also involve creating an environment free of distractions.
Measuring focus is difficult. However, you can measure burndown rates of sprints and story points completed. These metrics often indicate a team’s level of focus.
Openness: Fostering Transparency and Communication
Openness in Scrum is all about transparency. It’s freely sharing information, progress updates, challenges, and issues.
Open teams talk openly and do not hide problems. They ask for and give feedback frequently. This level of transparency helps your team members and stakeholders trust one another.
I’ve seen transparency have a profound impact on project results. When problems are transparent, the team can usually solve them more quickly. This also prevents a small issue from turning into a massive roadblock.
To encourage transparency:
- Ask team members to provide status updates regularly.
- Establish an environment of transparency (e.g., through retrospectives).
- Set an example by being transparent about your challenges.
- Recognize when your team is transparent.
Transparency is uncomfortable. Some team members may fear judgment, while others worry someone will think they’re not smart. You want to establish a safe environment where transparency is encouraged and celebrated.
Respect: Building Strong and Collaborative Teams
Respect in Scrum is all about appreciating each team member’s contribution and respecting their different perspectives and skills. When you promote this value, the team will create a positive, collaborative environment.
Teams that respect one another are more effective because they maximize each person’s strength and help each other when things get tough.
To build respect:
- Acknowledge each person’s contribution.
- Listen to each team member actively.
- Don’t blame people when things go wrong.
- Appreciate different perspectives and skills.
In my experience, teams that excel at respecting each other are more effective at solving conflicts and have higher morale and job satisfaction.
Just keep in in mind that you don’t have to agree with each other to respect each other. It’s more about how you handle disagreements in a professional and positive way.
Implementing Scrum Values: Best Practices and Challenges
It takes time and energy to incorporate Scrum values into daily habits. It requires constant reinforcement and modeling from the leadership team.
The most common challenges to adopting Scrum values are resistance to change, misunderstanding the values, inconsistent application throughout the organization, and lack of support from leadership.
To solve for these challenges:
- Train your team on the Scrum values in depth.
- Regularly discuss and reinforce the values in team meetings.
- Recognize and reward people who demonstrate the values.
- Deal with violations of the values quickly and positively.
Leaders are the primary driver of Scrum values. They need to live and breathe the values through their actions and decisions, which will set the example for the rest of the team.
I’ve seen businesses completely turn around after fully embracing the Scrum values. The end result is typically more motivated employees, better products, and happier customers.
Measuring the Impact of Scrum Values
Measuring adherence to Scrum values can be tricky. However, there are a few key indicators:
- Team velocity and sprint completion percentage
- Quality of products delivered
- Customer satisfaction ratings
- Employee engagement and satisfaction
You can measure value adherence through surveys, retrospectives, or even just observing team dynamics and decision making. The sprint review is an excellent opportunity to assess how well the team is adhering to Scrum values.
We have seen significant improvements in case studies from teams who truly embodied scrum values. For example, one software company increased on-time deliveries by 30% by simply focusing on these principles.
To optimize adherence to scrum values:
- Continuously assess the current state
- Determine where to improve
- Implement specific changes
- Measure results and iterate as necessary
Remember, scrum values aren’t something you just do once and forget about. They require ongoing maintenance and optimization. However, with consistency, you’ll engrain them into your team’s culture, ensuring lasting success on your Agile journey. Understanding these values is crucial when considering scrum vs traditional project management approaches.
To Conclude
The Scrum values are the foundation of effective agile project management. They influence team interactions and project outcomes. Commitment, courage, focus, openness and respect are more than just fancy words. They’re actionable strategies that change how teams operate. It’s not always convenient to apply these values. Yet the value they bring is well worth the effort. Improved communication, higher productivity, and more cohesive teams are just a few of the rewards. Also, don’t forget that Scrum values aren’t set in stone. They change with your team. Continue to measure, adjust, and optimize. Your projects will be better for it.
