The Essential Guide to Being a Successful Scrum Team
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How to build trust and collaboration in your Scrum Team and run an agile sprint like a pro?
The strength behind a streamlined development process relies heavily on the organizational skills of all Scrum team members. The Product Owner is responsible for defining and maintaining the product vision, the backlog (and prioritization thereof), and ensuring the product continues to improve and meet the user’s goals. It’s the Scrum master’s task to coach the development team during a sprint and help them to overcome obstacles and bottlenecks while at the same time supporting the product owner and facilitating Scrum meetings.
The development team doubles check they are always following through on their development commitments made during sprint meetings, staying up-to-date with the status of the project, as well as continuously keeping track of the quality of their code. Together, the entire Scrum team carries the collective responsibility to create and improve a product. All of this takes meticulous organization.
How to maximize team productivity? Here are a few organizational skills every member of a Scrum team should have under their belt.
1. Communication
Big groups are notorious for poor communication. The more communication channels a team has, the harder it is for everyone in the project team to communicate with one another and exchange knowledge.
Hence, that is why all scrum team members should be in constant and close communication with one another to guarantee that all development processes are streamlined and deadlines are met. Next to that, product owners also carry the responsibility of being in close contact with the stakeholders. So, one of the most essential skills for a scrum team to master is clear and efficient communication.
They have to be able to listen to their team members, as well as give clear instructions and input. Communicative skills do not just include direct face-to-face communication. The skill to communicate online is becoming increasingly important in times when remote working is becoming the norm. Luckily, technology is continuously improving to provide better communication experiences online.
Scrum teams can work together in the cloud, and they can make use of online communication tools, such as the following:
2. Time Management
Next to teamwork and clear communication, proper time management is a necessity for all members of the team.
Perfection is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, perfectionists try to create high-quality work while also displaying higher levels of attention, involvement, and drive. Yet, their specific standards and all-or-nothing perspective often lead to stress, fatigue, and anxiousness, which severely affects the performance of the other Scrum Team members..
So, to combat this, strict planning needs to be done in such a way that all tasks are prioritized, aligned, and divided across the designated team members. Then, the team needs to make sure that the execution of the plan is running smoothly at all times. Team members need to think quickly, adapt, and make the best use of time in the daily standups to remove bottlenecks. Additionally, the product owner needs to stay highly organized to keep the product vision, backlog, and planning clear.
3. Team Work
Good communicative skills go hand in hand with the ability to be a good team worker. Sometimes, especially in bigger companies with large-scale projects, the Scrum team consists of a lot of members. That means that everyone has to make sure they’re on top of their game and their tasks are aligned with the ones of their team members.
Naturally, Scrum teams will not always agree with each other, therefore they must also be prepared to wheel and deal and reach a compromise for the benefit of the team as a whole.
Online project management tools can greatly contribute to successful teamwork, as everyone has insights into their own tasks at hand, as well as the tasks their team members are working on. Here are some examples of online tools Scrum teams use to optimize their collaborative processes:
4. Planning & Prioritization
Planning and prioritizing tasks is essential for a successful Agile way of working. All tasks need to be listed and scheduled, with the most important tasks as a priority. Next to making and prioritizing the planning, the team needs to continuously follow through on sprint commitments, including testing and implementing changes. The Scrum Master plays a critical role here as they need to be able to coach the entire team and steer everyone in the right direction while keeping all tasks and objectives aligned. Using tools like Slack, Asana, and Trello can also greatly optimize the process of planning and prioritizing tasks, as well as staying up to date with the status of the tasks of team members at all times.
5. Physical Organization
Next to the skills listed above, a physical organization is also an essential skill to master. These skills include keeping your working space clean and organized because a clean space is a clean mind. A Scrum meeting will be much more efficient and effective when the physical space it takes place is decluttered and neatly organized.
Given that most people spend 8 hours a day at work, you want to make sure that each team player feels relaxed while doing their tasks.
As a member of the Scrum team, it’s important to make sure all papers and documentation are organized, as well as clearly structure sticky notes foruser journeying and other Scrum-related tasks. This way, the team makes sure that nothing is overlooked and that the risk of accidental errors is minimized.
Need a hand?
Our Scrum teams at Lizard Global are driven to deliver cutting-edge and high-quality digital solutions, resulting in happy clients. Do you want to know more about the daily tasks of a scrum team? Check out our blog on Scrum Sprints. Or are you looking for a digital partner to help you with the development of your application? Don’t hesitate to get in touch, and let’s sit around the table to brainstorm your innovative ideas.
