Projects in the age of digital transformation are often so complex that they sometimes cannot be fully captured in a standard project plan. At this point, agile methods are increasingly used, which have their origins to a large extent in “traditional” software development; this also includes the Scrum method.
Strictly speaking, Scrum is not a real method at all, but is predominantly classified as a methodological framework that is intended to help project participants to continuously produce results via lean (iterative, incremental and empirically supported) development loops within the framework of a chronologically defined process. Scrum was first presented to the public by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber at a conference in 1995 and has been continuously developed ever since. Especially in recent years, the framework has contributed significantly to the understanding of modern, agile ways of working.
In contrast to the usual project management methods, Scrum sees itself as the antipode to the waterfall logic as well as to the requirements and specifications logic. The cultural logic behind the framework is also less like a command-control chain. Rather, Scrum roles are intended to empower participants to work creatively, pragmatically, and solution-oriented within their own free space. For this reason alone, Scrum teams often consist less of homogeneous groups of experts and more of highly qualified, interdisciplinary development teams.
Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, among others, captured the aforementioned “cultural logic” in their Agile Manifesto from 2001. The four rules anchored in it, which should guide every Scrum project, are:
- Individuals and interactions are more important than processes and tools
- Functioning software is more important than comprehensive documentation
- Cooperation with the customer is more important than contract negotiations
- Responding to change is more important than following a plan