Key Points

• Most issues in Scrum adoption come down to misunderstanding the objectives behind Scrum.
• Fostering an environment of open communication is paramount for successful Scrum adoption.
• Don’t forget to keep your eyes on the prize when it comes to maintaining project deadlines in Scrum.

What common pitfalls in Scrum do people run into? Scrum has been one of the most popular approaches to Agile in recent memory, dominating the software industry for decades at this point. However, it isn’t always smooth sailing when it comes to adopting Scrum. As with any new methodology or approach, there can be some teething pains.

As such, we’re going to take a closer look at some of the most common pitfalls of Scrum and how to avoid them. If you’ve been on the fence about adopting Scrum, you’re certainly in the right place. Hopefully, you’ll come away from today’s article raring and able to make the most of your Scrum projects.

What Is Scrum?

Scrum is an Agile framework intended to guide work in incremental bursts. This is done through the introduction of new roles and the planning of tasks like sprints. Scrum works best when integrated with an Agile workflow, as the communication pipeline for both allows for an open feedback loop.

Smaller teams are the best sort of working environment for a Scrum project. Larger teams seem to bury the lede, lose focus, and eventually not maximize the output quality necessary to satisfy customer needs.

Skilled Scrum implementation is going to focus on smaller teams, which can compartmentalize the workflow. However, this does have a greater benefit of releasing higher quality deliverables in a shorter timeframe when done right.

Is Scrum Agile?

No, Agile is a separate entity. Scrum can be integrated into Agile, but Agile can work on its own with minimal issues as well. There are some similarities, like the intense focus on communication. You’ll also have to contend with complex tasks divided into simpler milestones to achieve. There are several different ways to approach an Agile project as it sits.

Scrum is an Agile approach through and through, but it lacks the foundation necessary to be a project management approach. As such, you can’t have Scrum without Agile. The overall structure of a Scrum team is going to be strikingly similar to Agile, aside from the new roles necessitated by Scrum.

Agile doesn’t have a Scrum Master, nor does it have the likes of a Product Owner. However, Scrum has been a popular choice for Agile projects, thanks in part to the environment it fosters. Daily standup meetings, post-mortems and retrospectives, and a pipeline of communication to the customer are what make Scrum stand apart from other Agile frameworks.

Common Pitfalls in Scrum

So, now that we’ve outlined a little of the details surrounding Scrum, where does it go wrong? The common pitfalls of Scrum come down to a fundamental misunderstanding of the foundational elements of the approach. As such, it certainly helps to understand the topic at hand when going about your Agile projects.

With any luck, you’ll avoid these teething pains. However, these are common pitfalls in Scrum for a reason. When you’re pivoting to use a new approach, there can always be a few bumps in the road. However, knowing how to remediate these issues is going to be what keeps those projects on track and ultimately makes sure you have happy customers at the end of the day.

As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” so don’t worry too much if you’re having issues with Scrum adoption from the start. What matters is making the most of the approach and getting back on track with your projects with a few of the simple pointers we’ll have alongside these common pain points.

Mistaking the Scrum Master for the Project Manager

One of the most common pitfalls in Scrum is an easy one to make. Scrum Masters and Project managers can appear to have similar functions at first glance. That said, the roles couldn’t be more different in their overall functionality within a team.

Project managers are the guiding force that delegates the work, guides the project, and ultimately tries to secure a finished deliverable in the hands of the customer. Scrum Masters effectively function more as coaches and Agile champions than they do as project leads.

As such, the easiest way to remediate this is to remind your teams of the role of the Scrum Master. Familiarize them with the concepts behind Agile and Scrum alike, and there shouldn’t be any hitches when it comes to getting projects off the ground.

Large Team Sizes

One of the biggest and most common pitfalls in Scrum comes down to team sizes. Functionally, Scrum doesn’t do well with larger teams. It becomes difficult to manage the output of the team, and it certainly becomes a chore when it comes to conducting daily standup meetings. This can be discouraging, especially if you’re used to the Agile workflow with sizable cross-functional teams.

Scrum functions best with smaller teams that can pivot and adapt to workflow changes as necessary. When the team grows beyond the confines of these parameters, it quickly becomes a lumbering entity that might not keep up with the necessary changes.

The best solution is the most obvious one: limit those team sizes. As for determining the ideal size for a Scrum team, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is quoted as abiding by the Two Pizza Rule. If you can’t feed the team with just two pizzas from the local takeout joint, the team is too big.

Daily Scrum Meetings Aren’t Agile

Daily Scrum meetings are a great way of getting a handle on the progress of a project. However, they might not be necessary right away when it comes to getting your Agile project up and running. With early adoption, this can be an unnecessary distraction that soaks up valuable resources and time in the process.

When you’re further along a project and in the swing of the Scrum philosophy, then these meetings can be a boon for getting a pulse on the progress of a project. At its core, though, these meetings are antithetical to Agile, at least in the early stages of adoption.

As such, if you want to avoid this common pitfall in Scrum, temper your expectations. Any change when adopting a new approach is going to be slow going. You can’t expect immediate progress when your teams aren’t seasoned in Scrum practices just yet. Save that for when you’ve got a few successful projects with the approach under your belt.

Lack of Documentation

I probably prattle on about documentation far too much when discussing these topics, but it is a vital process in the tech industry. Documentation is a crucial component to consider for any project, and one that can serve as a roadmap for the things done, and potentially pinpointing pain points as they arise.

A lack of documentation is going to leave things to chance. If you aren’t completely sure of what a team is doing, then what happens when something goes wrong? With the right support, you can remediate the issue in no time. That said, if the documentation is lacking, the solution is going to be a painstaking effort.

So, the solution to this is quite simple. Document your progress, the steps taken, and so forth. You can further hone down on what is essential to the documentation as you complete projects. It is time-consuming, and I won’t deny that. However, it’ll save your bacon more often than not.

Poorly Planned Sprints

Sprints are a core part of the Scrum approach. However, they can quickly go wrong, leading to a fair amount of frustration when poorly done. As such, you’ll want to avoid this common pitfall in Scrum adoption by planning properly.

Sprints effectively function as quick and dirty goals to work toward the ultimate goal of finishing the deliverable. However, where early pains arise is in vague objectives when looking at completing projects with any sort of ease.

How do you avoid this? Simple: you’ll want to run some test sprints where you identify key objectives and hammer out timeframes for completion. Once your team has the hang of it, you’re ready to start regularly planning out sprints and get back on track.

Focusing on the Tools and Processes

What is the core focus of Agile and Scrum? If you said tools and process, then I have news for you. Agile and Scrum are people-first approaches to managing a project. The tools and technology that drive the project are merely there to support the approaches in the first place.

Focusing entirely on the processes is going to lead to losing sight of what matters in a project. As such, it helps to take the focus off the latest and greatest way of doing things and focus more on what works for your team.

Further, it’ll help you make sure your team is performing as they should, rather than fretting over whether you’re using the right sort of tools.

The Deliverable Is Lost in the Shuffle

When talking about Agile and Scrum, we focus on the nimble nature of the teams behind these projects. This can lead to the misperception of Agile and Scrum as loose frameworks without a real defining goal in mind. However, this isn’t further from the truth. Yes, deadlines slip, but that is common in just about any project management framework you’ll come across.

This common pitfall in Scrum adoption is the result of not fully understanding the method behind the madness of Scrum and Agile alike. Take a little time to study the particulars of things, however, and you’ll see far better results.

Deadlines slip, sure, but you want to have that end goal in mind s you prepare to undertake any project.

Lack of Communication

The key to success for any developed Agile or Scrum project comes down to communication. Teams, leaders, and so forth, thrive on constant and clear communication. Transparency is one of the benefits of Agile and Scrum, which in turn results in accountability when looking at projects.

If you aren’t communicating, then that leaves things up in the air. So, what’s your method of recourse? Well, communicating is the first step. Without it, you run the risk of teams falling out of step with the timeline established by your project manager.

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

While we’ve covered the common pitfalls in Scrum, that isn’t all we’ve got on offer. You might want to take a closer look at our guide on Scrum vs. Kanban, which tests these Agile approaches to see which works best for you.

Additionally, you might want to consider using Six Sigma to drive your cybersecurity efforts. Data integrity and digital hygiene are growing in importance every day, you don’t want to be left in the lurch.

Conclusion

The common pitfalls in Scrum adoption are easy mistakes to avoid. If you’ve had successful years of Agile projects under your belt, these probably aren’t a concern. However, if you’re new to it, learning how to avoid these issues is going to make the transition period much easier.

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