Scrum Project Delivery : How Does Scrum Enable Organizations to Achieve Flexibility in Project Delivery?

Scrum helps organizations become more flexible and open to change. However, it is important to understand that although the Scrum framework emphasizes flexibility, it is also important to maintain stability throughout the change process. In the same way that extreme rigidity is ineffective, extreme flexibility is also unproductive. The key is to find the right balance between flexibility and stability because stability is needed in order to get work done. Therefore, Scrum uses iterative delivery and its other characteristics and principles to achieve this balance. Scrum maintains flexibility in that Change Requests can be created and approved at any time during the project; however, they get prioritized when the Prioritized Product Backlog is created or updated. At the same time, Scrum ensures that stability is maintained by keeping the Sprint Backlog fixed and by not allowing interference with the Scrum Team during a Sprint.

In Scrum, all requirements related to an ongoing Sprint are frozen during the Sprint. No change is introduced until the Sprint ends, unless a change is deemed to be significant enough to stop the Sprint. In the case of an urgent change, the Sprint is terminated and the team meets to plan a new Sprint. This is how Scrum accepts changes without creating the problem of changing release dates.

Scrum facilitates flexibility through transparency, inspection, and adaptation to ultimately achieve the most valuable business outcomes. Scrum provides an adaptive mechanism for project management in which a change in requirements can be accommodated without significantly impacting overall project progress. It is necessary to adapt to emerging business realities as part of the development cycle. Flexibility in Scrum is achieved through five key characteristics, which are shown in the ensuing diagram: iterative product development, Time-boxing, cross-functional teams, customer value-based prioritization, and continuous integration.

Scrum also enables achievement of flexibility through time-boxing. Time-boxing refers to setting short periods of time for work to be done. If the work undertaken remains incomplete at the end of the Time-box, it is moved into a subsequent Time-box. Examples of Time-boxing include limiting the Daily Standup Meetings to 15 minutes and setting Sprint durations to be one to six weeks. Time-boxes provide the structure needed for Scrum projects, which have an element of uncertainty, are dynamic in nature, and are prone to frequent changes. Time-boxes aid in gauging the progress of the project and allow the team to easily identify when they may need to modify a process or approach.

Time-boxed Sprints contribute greatly toward meeting deadlines and achieving high levels of productivity. Sprints promote order and consistency in a volatile work environment. They provide a platform to gauge results and obtain feedback in a short span of time. Sprints also allow for frequent assessment of progress and the methods used to manage the project, including effective change management. Errors or problems can be identified early and can be rectified quickly.

By using Time-boxing in Sprints, the team frequently revisits the process of estimating the work to be done, so the projection of time and effort required becomes more accurate with each subsequent Sprint as the project progresses. These iterative cycles also motivate team members to achieve projected targets and incremental goals toward reaching the larger objective.

Here is a video on change management in Scrum: http://www.scrumstudy.com/watch.asp?vid=590

Organizations also achieve flexibility due the fact that Scrum facilitates flexibility through cross-functional and self-organized Teams. Self-organization ensures that Scrum Team members determine on their own, how to do the work of the project without a senior manager micromanaging their tasks.  Having cross-functional and self-organized teams allows the group to adapt and effectively manage the ongoing work and any minor issues or changes without having to obtain support or expertise from members outside the team, and in the process, create deliverables that are ready to be shipped if necessary.