5. How to implement SCRUM, especially in SMEs?

In order to make the process of inter-organisational collaboration successful, a few tips shall help you:

• Create a clear vision about the goals of “agile”: this includes a clear definition of the expected outcome and the resources
• Create “agile” culture: this includes a failure-culture which follows “fail often, but early – in order to succeed at last”, the creation of a clear team spirit, a customer centric view and a total will for transparency.
• Agile yes, but outcome-centric. Many organisations are embracing agile development methods, but misunderstand it as “there are no rules”! Agile development means structural flexibility and adaptability, but can of course follow rules, methodologies, frameworks etc. And the outcome must be very clear: satisfied customers!
• Train persons involved, including stakeholders – and continue the trainings, as person tend to forget
• Keep the motivation high and make sure that no one ruins the culture
• Set up metrics for the quality and the outcome

Conclusion

Agile methods, such as SCRUM, help to solve complex challenges by and splitting it up into smaller and more manageable parts, so called sprints. The methodologies are adaptive and iterative processes which involve stakeholders and users and aim to create the best solutions for them. They are especially suitable for challenges in changing environments and allow constant learning. Even if easy to implement they require training and a culture which is failure-tolerant and adaptive. Usually, they not just lead to better results but also reduce risk and cost.