Why Do People Think Scrum Framework for Project Management is a Good Idea?

Scrum.org defines the scrum team as “The fundamental unit of Scrum is a small team of people, a Scrum Team. The Scrum Team consists of one Scrum Master, one Product Owner, and Developers. Within a Scrum Team, there are no sub-teams or hierarchies. It is a cohesive unit of professionals focused on one objective at a time, the Product Goal.

As discussed by Middleton T., 2022 “The benefits of teamwork (as proven by science) – Work Life by Atlassian” there are more benefits when a group of people work as a team. People love to feel that they belong somewhere, they perform better when connected and given opportunities to take ownership of their actions. Moreover, when individuals are given space to think, innovate, solve problems, they become more effective in their roles, they may not stick to the job description as these opportunities will help bring out the best in them. People are eager to be appreciated, that is a fact, when done duly, they enjoy the work.

When you are operating in scrum framework, you collaborate more, you are open to new ideas, innovative and future proof products and services are continuously delivered, bringing satisfaction to all those who combine their efforts in building it. Members of the team are allowed to take ownership of their work, they take responsibility, they do not wait until someone else brings in a requirement to enhance the product they are building, as they are allowed to create the best product as per their ability and ideas. All team members are given equal chance to speak up, discuss, and there is no hierarchy followed in a scrum team as they all work collaboratively to achieve one goal, that is the Product Goal. Unlike in a traditional setup where a team is required to report to a Project Manager, here the opportunities are given to each member to perform at their best and everyone trusts and believes in their work.

If looked carefully, when you practice Scrum, you inevitably cover the satisfiers elaborated in well-known motivational theories.

• Highest need of self-actualization (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) is about how a person can be creative and achieving their full potential – Scrum has no boundaries if you want to be creative.
• Performance and achievement, recognition, the work itself (Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory) – With Scrum, you check your progress daily, within a maximum of 3 weeks a useful product is delivered.
• Need for Achievement, Need for Affiliation (McClelland’s Theory of Needs) – Scrum is practiced as a team, you achieve one common goal as a team and that is your product goal.
• Effort, Performance, Outcome (Vroom’s Theory of Expectancy) – Scrum lets you decide the effort and you are in full control of your output.
• Collaborative, trust-based relationship between managers and their team members (McGregor’s X and Y Theory) – Scrum is nothing but total collaboration as all team members works towards one common goal.

Thus, it is reasonable to suggest that “Scrum is a good idea for project management” when it allows all team members to be naturally motivated rather than a project manager trying to perform various team building activities and exercises to motivate a team to perform better.

References : Scrum.org /www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/the-importance-of-teamwork