The Scrum Challenge

There is more to it than just rugby

A scrum is a method of restarting play in rugby that involves players packing closely together with their heads down and attempting to gain possession of the ball. Quite obviously, it calls for tremendous team work.

The term “scrum” was first borrowed by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka, from the game of rugby to stress the importance of team work in complex, agile product development in an HBR article co-authored by them.

We live in a VUCA world, that calls for firms to develop agility in thinking and execution of projects. Agile has hence become the way of life for many software and product firms. Scrum which is a simple framework for effective team collaboration on complex products, has hence seen widespread adoption. The below graphic represents Scrum in action as described by Scrum co-creators Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland.

As simple as it is, training team members around this methodology has been tricky with most of the training being too theoretical. The challenge that one of the software development companies hence posed to us was: Could we get team members to learn the basics of Scrum and Agile Methodology through a gamified learning experience?

The answer is a resounding: Yes, we can! Combining the power of experiential learning with our extensive experience of using the Lego Serious Play methodology, FocusU brought to life The Scrum Challenge.

The challenge simulates a real-life Scrum Simulation Environment that calls for teams to don their Agile hats and take up the different Scrum roles, that include:

• The Product Owner
• The Development Team
• The Scrum Master

The different Scrum teams engage with the various unique customer personas – that are custom created as per client briefs. As it happens in real-life, prescribed events are used in The Scrum Challenge to create regularity and to minimize the need for meetings not defined in Scrum. These include:

• Sprint
• Sprint Planning
• Daily Scrum
• Sprint Review
• Sprint Retrospective

The challenge for the teams is to design and deliver a complete product from scratch basis the unique user stories and requirements. The whole experience run in typical FocusU style of high energy and precise co-ordination, helps teams experience the power of the Agile Methodology in a safe, fun environment.

A few key parameters:

2 – 3 hours

Time Limit

Indoor

Where this can be run

Upto 100

Group sizes

Debrief can be customised

Customisation

Is this workshop right for my team?

The underlying philosophy of Scrum is the dual recognition that customers will change their minds about what they want or need and that there will be unpredictable challenges—for which a predictive or planned approach is not suited. Scrum focuses on how to maximize the team’s ability to deliver quickly, to respond to emerging requirements, and to adapt to evolving technologies and changes in market conditions.

This is true for all companies today. Hence while Scrum is being largely adopted today by software companies, its applicability easily stretches to companies in other industries too.
If you are looking at introducing a whole new way of thinking to your teams – FocusU invites you to explore The Scrum Challenge!