Scrum is a light framework you can adjust to better suit your team. Sometimes, teams that use Scrum attempt to wrap their Scrum process around the existing (often traditional) process. As a team adapts to Scrum, internalising those principles and values will serve you best. The more you do it, the better you will get at it.
When adopting Scrum, some teams will focus on the events of the Scrum and decide that they won’t be useful for them. Sprint planning meetings cut short or don’t include the whole team, which leads to more work in Sprint Backlogs. Daily Scrum meetings go from status meetings to meetings where a status is determined. Sprint Review and Retrospective meetings are abbreviated. Events typically have official names, but don’t adhere to Scrum values. This is a bad idea as it will at best yield zero value from Scrum and at worst yield lower performance by utilising a pretend or hybrid approach.
This differs from company to company, but two major factors nearly always apply. Changing behaviour is difficult, especially under stress, which can cause people to revert to their old habits. Scrum is more than just scheduling the Scrum events. Everyone on the team must do their part to ensure the process is efficient.
Adopt Scrum approach first.
Your new working style will be reinforced with the practises. Don’t change Scrum until the team understands how the practises support the values and principles of Scrum.
Follow Scrum “by the book” (literally, the Scrum Guide or one of the many excellent books on Scrum) for three to five Sprints, at least. And make sure to schedule Sprint Retrospectives. Ensure frequent retrospectives so that everyone can have the chance to see the behaviours the Scrum framework promotes.
Scrum values means adapt out of the box to your heart’s content. Most teams require practise to truly understand the value of Scrum’s practises. Baseline to adapt from is preferable, but not required.
