SCRUM Maturity

SCRUM maturity is an interesting concept since its closely related to the complexity of what needs to be done and the number of people involved.   When one looks at small teams and new implementation of SCRUM, its important to get to a "beating rhythm" first before attempting more mature concepts like Scrum of Scrums or release road maps.

I like to call the beating rhythm or basic flow, the first step to success and getting it done in a predictable fashion. What I mean is that the team needs to get used to the concepts which are basic and implement these in a predictable fashion and get product out. As teams become better at it, this becomes faster and more reliable.

Basic concepts and tools for starting teams to flow is depicted in the table below:

Documents	Product Backlog (includes features and other log items) Sprint Backlog Burndown Chart
Ceremonies	Sprint Planning Daily meetings Sprint Review
Roles	Product Owner Scrum Master Team

The next level of maturity involves taking the natural flow and doing more complex upfront planning at various levels and moving the concept of Agile up the chain. Moving it up the chain, means making Agile part of the CxO suite and be able to make decisions quickly so that the entire team and company is able to make decisions quickly. This is all about making the product a winner in the market.

There are many companies out there using SCRUM and lots of technology built, but those companies that are able to respond to change quickly and marry the ability to change product to meet market needs are truly the ones creating a winning company with a winning product.

In order to do this the table above changes to add some additional aspects as follows:

Documents	Release Roadmap Product Backlog (includes features and other log items) Sprint Backlog Burndown Chart
Ceremonies	Multi-level planning across departments Daily meetings Sprint Review Scrum of Scrums ( including cross functional disciplines)
Roles	Chief Product Owner/Officer Product Owners Chief Scrum Master(“Uber” Scrum Master) Scrum Masters Team

Agile development at this level involves a high level of interaction between product owners and the chief product officer, as well as scrum masters and the chief scrum master.