This is a really interesting topic since Scrum has certain guardrails to make sure it is still compliant with its fundamentals in lean thinking and empiricism. There's a lot to discuss on this topic, but for starters these are some areas for tailoring which can be discussed in future posts:
- Sprint duration: While the standard Sprint duration in Scrum is typically two weeks, it can be tailored based on the team's context. Some teams may find shorter Sprints (e.g., one week) more suitable for faster feedback and adaptability, while others may prefer longer Sprints (e.g., three weeks) for larger, more complex work.
- Daily Scrum format: The Daily Scrum is a time-boxed event where team members synchronize their work. While the traditional format involves answering the three questions ("What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Any impediments?"), the team can adapt the format to suit their needs. For example, they may choose to focus more on collaborative problem-solving or discuss specific dependencies.
- Scaling Scrum: In larger organizations or complex projects, Scrum can be scaled to multiple teams. Frameworks like Scrum of Scrums, Nexus, or LeSS can be adopted to coordinate and align the work of multiple Scrum Teams while ensuring transparency and collaboration across teams.
- Artifact visualization: The Scrum artifacts, such as the Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog, can be tailored to align with the team's preferred visualization techniques. Some teams may choose to use physical boards, sticky notes, or electronic tools like Jira or Trello to manage and visualize their work.
- Definition of Done (DoD): The Definition of Done outlines the criteria that must be met for a product backlog item or increment to be considered complete. Tailoring the DoD allows teams to define specific quality standards, coding guidelines, or additional checks that are relevant to their software development process.
- Team composition: Scrum teams are typically self-organizing, cross-functional units. Depending on the project requirements and available resources, the team composition can be tailored. This could involve adjusting the number of team members, adding specialists or domain experts, or including external resources when necessary.
- Retrospective techniques: The Retrospective is a key Scrum event for continuous improvement. The team can experiment with different retrospective formats and techniques to promote engagement and generate valuable insights. Examples include the Sailboat, Start-Stop-Continue, or 5 Whys retrospective formats.
More on this later....