The Statement of Work is signed, the project is authorized, and you need an SAP Scrum Team to deliver new features and functionality, yesterday. Because timelines are tight, and the project is considered high-priority, high-risk, and high-value, your software delivery organization has determined the Team will utilize the Scrum framework to bring this Vision to reality.
The Team just doesn’t know it yet.
This Quick Start Guide will provide your SAP Scrum Team with a few simple steps to help you quickly assemble, orient, and position your people for optimal performance right out of the gates, regardless of their Scrum background:
- Establish Your Common Understanding of Scrum
Scrum can easily be misinterpreted, so take a moment to align with your shared understanding of the methodology before you take your first steps. Though your Team may not have implemented Scrum in the past, it is highly likely they have been exposed to the Agile lexicon at some point in their career, and have formed their own preconceptions over time. An investment in this conversation up front will help your Team avoid undue confusion and conflict, and it will also help you establish a solid foundation for more complex and fruitful collaboration in the future. To ensure you make the most of this opportunity, provide your Team with the necessary reference materials in advance, allowing them to get acquainted with the definition of Scrum, Scrum Theory, Team Composition, Roles, Events, and Artifacts before they are asked to share their insights on the matter.
Recommended: The Scrum Guide – The Definitive Guide to Scrum: The Rules of the Game, by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland
2. Review Your Scrum Implementation Plan
The Scrum Implementation Plan allows the Team to factor and conveys known organizational, technical, and contractual constraints when fitting their project with the Scrum methodology. The function served by the Review of the Scrum Implementation Plan is to provide early visibility of the initiative to key Stakeholders, helping them to understand their role in supporting the effort, and at which Events they may be asked to attend and participate. Since many of your Stakeholders may be new to Scrum, include a brief synopsis of the Scrum Framework, and how your Team intends to deploy it.
Introduce the Team with a roster, and ensure there is a clear distinction between members of the Scrum Team and Stakeholders, as this clarification will help distinguish whom will be committed during day-to-day operations, and whom will be engaged only for key Events such as Sprint Planning or the Sprint Review. A Meeting Matrix will further substantiate your cadence, detailing 5W (Who, What, When, Where, Why) specifics for each Event. Your Stakeholders will be interested in the Release timeline, so prepare a high-level Gantt Chart to bring visibility to target milestones, and to ensure alignment with the broader portfolio. Next, take a brief moment to share immediate next steps, as well as the current state of readiness, with a walkthrough of your active Sprint 0 Backlog. Lastly, provide your Stakeholders with key references, including access to a modern Agile Tool, which will allow them to monitor progress, and gather status in real-time.
3. Approve Your Scrum Team Charter
The Scrum Team Charter is essentially a Working Agreement created and approved by the Scrum Team to outline how they will function as a unit. In-line with the modus operandi of Scrum, the Charter is also intended to be light-weight, collaborative, and valuable. If your Team is new to Scrum, it is recommended to provide them with some guidance around which scenarios or topics are likely to be encountered during the lifecycle of the project, as they may have limited input based on limited experience. To provide such guidance, a common, re-usable format can help the Team to leverage and build upon prior lessons learned, and it can also save a lot of time.
To keep your Charter focused, consider including the following concepts:
- Team Values
- Problem or Vision Statement
- Definition of Ready (DoR)
- Definition of Done (DoD)
- Velocity / Capacity Planning
- Communication & Tools
In the event you are unable to allocate your people to weeks of formal SAP Scrum Training ahead of their first project, by taking these simple steps, you can reduce the amount of time and cost associated with on-boarding and orienting new Team Members. With an adequate foundational understanding consisting of both theoretical and practical application, your Team will be prepared to begin their journey of Agile transformation with confidence.
At Mindset, we’re accustomed to pulling together high performing teams on short notice, and we’d love to work with you on your next Agile SAP project.
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