When we dove into Scrum, we already had a bit of an advantage. This was because our partners from Digital Solutions, who are behind the backend part of StormmBook, had already been practicing Scrum for some time. So it wasn't very difficult to let the client know that from now on we're doing sprints, they will have to attend reviews to gain new input and that this requires them to hand in their requests in time to fit into the sprint.
The last sentence really says it all – the requests must be written well and in time for the sprint. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest added values of Scrum, at least from the perspective of what comes to us from the client. By putting the client into a bit of a “done deal” situation where we need a well-articulated request, which will first be shown to the team and only then finalized, among other things thanks to grooming and regular contact with the client, you make it clear that you care about the product. You show that the development team is fully engaged and that their goal is the same as the client's – a high quality product.
The sprints in our company are planned on a two-week basis and we try to have requests available that have gone through at least one grooming session. This gives us enough time to modify and improve the request from the Product Owner and the client, as well as to have the development team familiarize themselves with the issue before the planning, because it is directly followed by the beginning of the sprint.
This way we have managed to teach the client that it is necessary to have things ready in time. They have understood that it is best to go through the request in detail and have it evaluated by the team, and only then to plan it for the sprint. This takes patience and a client that knows the true meaning of all this and understands the value in it. We're extremely happy to have such clients and grateful that they trusted us and accepted that we changed the style of project management mid-project.
Now, I have at least briefly described the benefit from the client's side. Next, we could take a look at how the people here, in our company, feel about this change and how we are doing with Scrum overall. But for that you’ll have to wait for next time!
If you are interested in any details, do not hesitate to get in touch with me at machan@mobilesoft.eu or post a comment below this article.
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