Long time readers might remember that our company decided to run an experiment to see if scrum-like principles could be applied to areas other than software engineering. The results are in, and while the experiment would not be deemed a success, I sure did learn a few things.

  • Team members should have clear focus.
  • Upper Management must buy into the concept with more than words.
  • The team members need to see the benefits.
  • A single blade of grass a grassroots movement does not make
  • The facilitator should not go on vacation during the 1st month
  • Going from nobody being in charge to no one being in charge is not progress!
  • Teams should have a clear mandate and have a critical mass (more than 3 people!)
  • A small company, where everyone has 5 roles is not the best place for agile processes.

We ended up hiring someone to oversee the operational aspects of the business, more in line with traditional project management. I believe this was the right decision for us. Your mileage may vary.