Turning the Tide With Your Project
Turn Your Project Around with Expert Scrum Master Help!
Is your project facing challenges like missed deadlines or Team dysfunction? You’re not alone, and help is here.
As a Professional Scrum Master with a flair for Project Rescue, I specialize in using the Scrum framework to turn struggling projects around, whether they are already using Scrum and it’s not working, or determining if a transition to Scrum is a suitable path forward.
Let’s revitalize your project and ensure it meets your goals!
My Project Rescue has evolved to offer assistance and guidance to key decision-makers, including CEOs, project managers, and product owners, in exploring an effective strategy to navigate project complexities, even if they are unfamiliar with Scrum.
Is Your Project Sinking? You Need a Project Rescue Expert!
Let’s face it: projects fail. It’s a painful truth, and it happens more often than we’d like to admit.
Think of your project as a ship. If it’s taking on water, you don’t just keep bailing; you find the leak and fix it. That’s what a Project Rescue Expert does. It requires going beyond surface-level issues to diagnose and resolve the core problems sinking your project.
You’re not alone if you’re experiencing any of these:
- Missed deadlines: Sprints are slipping, and the end date seems like a distant dream.
- Scope creep: The project’s boundaries continue to expand, resulting in delays and budget overruns.
- Team confidence: Conflict, lack of confidence, collaboration, and low morale are rampant.
- Stakeholder dissatisfaction: Key stakeholders are losing confidence and questioning the project’s value.
- Lack of Visibility: You lack a clear understanding of the project’s current status.
- Sprint Goals consistently not met: The Team is failing to deliver valuable increments within each Sprint.
- Ineffective Daily Scrums: The daily meeting has become a status update only, or is not helping to remove impediments.
- Dysfunctional Sprint Reviews or Retrospectives: Key stakeholders do not participate in reviews, or retrospectives do not lead to meaningful improvements.
- Product Backlog issues: The backlog is poorly managed, not prioritized, or lacks clarity, which hinders the Team’s focus.
- Impediments not being resolved: Obstacles block the Team’s progress if not addressed in a timely manner.
These are all signs that your project is in trouble, and without swift action, it spirals into a full-blown disaster.
The Devastating Impact of Project Failure.
The consequences of a failing project are severe:
- Financial losses: Wasted resources, cost overruns, and lost revenue.
- Damaged reputation: Loss of credibility with stakeholders and clients.
- Missed opportunities: Inability to capitalize on market trends or deliver promised value.
- Team burnout: Demoralized and exhausted teams, leading to high turnover.
Beyond the tangible losses, consider the ripple effect. A project failure erodes Team morale, breeds cynicism, and even impacts your company’s ability to innovate in the future. It’s not just about this project; it’s about the health of your entire organization.
Here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to end this way.
Is Your Project Showing These Signs?
Before we dive into how to rescue a failing project, let’s take a quick pulse. Are you experiencing any of these common warning signs? Help us tailor this guide to your most pressing needs by answering the poll below.
Introducing Project Rescue with Scrum
As a Professional Scrum Master, I take a different approach. I focus on Project Rescue, which specializes in bringing troubled projects back from the brink using Scrum’s efficiencies. I have a proven track record of assisting and guiding organizations in recovering struggling projects and transforming struggling teams into high-performing and efficient product delivery teams.
My approach recognizes the Scrum Team as the core asset for delivering product value and focuses on facilitating their ability to overcome obstacles.
My expertise goes beyond basic Scrum Master activities. I diagnose and resolve the specific issues that derail Scrum projects, from Team confidence and ineffective processes to misaligned product ownership and stakeholder engagement.
Imagine having a GPS for your project. That’s what Scrum provides in a rescue scenario. It provides us with real-time data, allowing for course corrections and ensuring we’re always heading towards our destination. It’s not just about fixing problems; it’s about creating a sustainable, adaptable system.
I utilize the Scrum framework as a basis and extend it beyond the basics. I combine Scrum expertise with a pragmatic, results-oriented methodology focused on:
- Rapid assessment: Carefully identifying the root cause of the project’s need for rescue.
- Strategic intervention: Implement a targeted solution to address the root cause and related issues.
- Team revitalization: I restore trust, collaboration, communication, and morale within your Team, and foster a confident and safe environment for all involved.
- Stakeholder alignment: Fostering trust and ensuring everyone is aligned.
- Sustainable improvement: Establishing processes and practices efficiently and continuously.
- Monitoring and metrics: Monitoring and metrics involve tracking specific data points to improve Team efficiency and effectiveness within a Scrum framework. These metrics guide the Team’s understanding of their progress, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions to improve their performance.
Origin Of The Name Scrum
The Scrum methodology in project management, particularly in software development, draws its name and some of its core principles from the sport of rugby, where a scrum is a formation used to restart play. This connection highlights the emphasis on teamwork, collaboration, and a focus on moving the ball forward (or completing project work).
Enhancing Scrum Effectiveness: Avoiding Common Anti-Patterns
It’s crucial to understand that even with the best intentions, a Scrum Master sometimes contributes to project failure. We ask: What should a Scrum Master do? It’s essential to know what they should avoid.
What A Scrum Master Should Not Do
Overall, there is often a misunderstanding of the Scrum Master’s role. Rather than acting as a traditional manager, they facilitate Scrum practices and events, such as ceremonies (meetings), and assist and guide the Scrum Team in addressing impediments.
A Scrum Master encourages the Team to make decisions and solve challenges, focusing on creating an efficient environment instead of enforcing work metrics.
Below are some key anti-patterns that could derail the delivery of product value with Scrum.
- The Anti-Pattern: Focusing solely on process over people, neglecting Team dynamics and individual needs.
- The Solution: A skilled Scrum Master fosters a collaborative and supportive environment where the Team thrives.
- The Anti-Pattern: Failing to address impediments promptly, allowing obstacles to accumulate and hinder progress.
- The Solution: An effective Scrum Master proactively identifies and facilitates the removal of impediments, ensuring the Team focuses on delivering value.
- The Anti-Pattern: Micromanaging the Team, stifling self-organization, and self-management.
- The Solution: An efficient Scrum Master encourages the Team to take ownership of their work and make decisions, fostering confidence, autonomy, responsibility, and accountability.
- The Anti-Pattern: Ignoring stakeholder feedback and failing to manage expectations.
- The Solution: A proficient Scrum Master facilitates transparency, inspection, adaptation, open communication, and collaboration between the Team, stakeholders, and customers, ensuring alignment and responsiveness.
These are a few examples of how a Scrum Master’s approach could impact a project. By understanding these pitfalls and adopting the strategy outlined in this guide, Scrum evolves into an approach for efficient change and project recovery.
Why Scrum for Project Rescue?
Scrum, with its emphasis on iterative development, transparency, and continuous improvement, provides a robust framework for rescuing troubled projects.
Scrum isn’t just a process; it’s a mindset. In a rescue, we need to shift from a reactive to a proactive approach. Scrum’s iterative nature allows us to experiment, inspect, and adapt quickly. It’s like conducting micro-surgeries instead of significant operations, minimizing risk and maximizing the chances of success.
Here’s why:
- Transparency: Scrum’s artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) provide clear visibility into the project’s progress and challenges. In a failing Scrum project, the lack of transparency masks critical issues. Scrum’s artifacts, like the Sprint Backlog and Increment, provide the visibility needed to identify exactly where things are going wrong.
- Inspection and Adaptation: Scrum’s events (Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective) enable Teams to inspect their work and adapt their plans regularly. These events are vital for continuously inspecting the project’s progress and the effectiveness of the Scrum process itself. When these aren’t working, a rescue involves re-establishing their value and ensuring they lead to necessary adaptations.
- Collaboration: Scrum fosters teamwork and effective communication, which are crucial for overcoming project hurdles and obstacles. However, Scrum teams’ confidence often suffers from a lack of true collaboration. My rescue approach focuses on rebuilding trust and fostering confidence through effective communication within the Scrum Team and with stakeholders.
- Focus on Value: Scrum prioritizes delivering the most valuable features first, ensuring that even in a rescue scenario, the project delivers incremental value. Even in a Scrum rescue, prioritizing the Product Backlog to deliver the most valuable increments efficiently builds momentum and demonstrates continuous progress to stakeholders.
My Project Rescue Process
Here’s a glimpse into my approach to rescuing your project.
Think of this process as a journey, not just a series of steps. Each stage is about building trust, uncovering insights, and empowering your Team. It’s not just about fixing the project; it’s about transforming your Team into a self-sustaining, high-performing unit that handles future challenges efficiently.
- Initial Consultation: We discuss your project’s challenges, goals, and constraints.
- Project Assessment: We conduct a thorough evaluation of your project, including reviewing documentation, interviewing Team members, and observing processes. The assessment includes evaluating the current state of your Scrum implementation, the efficiency of your Scrum events, the health of your Product Backlog, and the dynamics of the Scrum Team.
- Recovery Plan Development: I create a customized recovery plan outlining the steps needed to get your project back on track. The plan includes specific actions to address the identified need for rescue in Scrum, such as re-establishing clear roles and responsibilities, refining the Scrum process, or improving Backlog management.
- Implementation and Coaching: I work closely with your Scrum Team, Product Owner, and stakeholders to implement the recovery plan, providing targeted Coaching on Scrum principles and practices to ensure effective adoption.
- Progress Monitoring and Adjustment: We track progress closely and make adjustments to the plan as needed.
- Facilitation: I foster an environment of trust and confidence, enabling your Team to maintain the health of your project efficiently.
Real-World Results
Acronyms:
- SOP: A Standard Operating Procedure is a detailed guideline that outlines the steps to perform specific tasks consistently and efficiently within an organization.
- DoD: A Definition of Done is a clear and agreed-upon set of criteria for determining whether a task or project is complete.
- MVP: A Minimum Viable Product is the simplest version of a product that delivers core functionality to early users for feedback and validation.
Rescue examples.
Confidence and Trust
I joined a Team where trust and confidence were lacking.
It strained everyone. The direction was unfocused, stakeholders wanted features, and the business requirements were unclear. Another inefficiency we identified was determining business requirements during development instead of upfront, and no one reviewed or applied static testing.
The meetings were long and tiresome and not focused on their intended purpose.
Standard Operating Procedures, the Definition of Done, and Minimum Viable Products did not exist, and the goals were unclear.
Stakeholders became involved in implementation matters, focusing on how to implement Increments instead of what was needed by when.
We ensured the focus was on the intended events and their purpose.
The Product Owner and Business Analyst completed the business requirements. The Team reviewed these and did the quality assurance in the cycles preceding the Team's need for development.
The Team and the stakeholders slowly and intentionally restored trust and confidence as Scrum was implemented, with the focus on the Scrum Teams as assets.
Unhealthy Business Relationships, Poor Product Quality
When I arrived with this Team, the relationship between the Team and business owners was at rock bottom, to the extent that business owners verified almost everything before giving the okay to send the outcomes to customers.
The Team worked continuously to deliver, and instead of balancing time and quality, they only focused on time.
It was easy to see why product quality suffered.
Each Team member followed the instructions and completed tasks within the given timelines. Slowly and intentionally, the focus shifted to balancing timelines with product quality.
The Team and stakeholders reaped the rewards.
Orphaned Product Without Correct Scope and Business Requirements
The product development Team consists of a product owner and a project manager, with a defined product scope, a three-month delivery timeline, and a budget. However, no one wanted to develop the product.
It took around two years to complete the steps mentioned.
When I arrived, it was clear within weeks that the vendor did not meet the requirements in a way that informed how the Team needed to develop the product.
As it turned out, the product did not have the required budget.
What it meant was that we spent the existing budget to determine the product scope.
IT and NON-IT
I have helped numerous organizations with rescuing projects across various industries, including:
- Software development.
- Take-ons.
- Education.
- Onboarding.
These aren’t just bullet points; they represent real people, real challenges, and real triumphs. For example, in software development, we didn’t just ‘rescue’ a project; I fostered an environment for the Team to rediscover their passion and deliver product value efficiently and consistently. In education, I didn’t just ‘onboard’ users; I created a seamless experience that fostered engagement and pride.
Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions section focused on Scrum!
These address common inquiries related to Scrum practices, principles, and implementation. They serve as both a reminder and a summary of key concepts from the rest of the content, covering what a Scrum Master should and should not do.
Whether you’re new to Scrum or looking to revisit essential aspects, these support your understanding of Agile project management with Scrum and the Scrum Master in mind.
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The Scrum Master is responsible for fostering Agility within a self-organizing and high-performance Team. They ensure that the Team understands and follows the Scrum Guide from Scrum.org and assist Team members in embracing the Agile methodology. The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator, coaching the Team and fostering a confident environment where the Scrum Team understands they are accountable for the Team’s efficiency.
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No, a Scrum Master does not micromanage. Instead, they encourage the Scrum Team to take ownership of their work. Their role is to facilitate the removal of impediments and transparent communication among Team members and stakeholders.
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A certified Scrum Master tailors strategies to fit the unique needs of their Scrum Team and works collaboratively with other members of the organization to ensure the delivery of product value. They may also act as an Agile coach, guiding not only the Scrum Team but the broader organization in understanding Agile principles.
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While there is some debate about this, an efficient Scrum Master understands that their role is not to micromanage. Instead, facilitates the Team in becoming self-managing. Attending the Daily Scrum allows them to coach the Team effectively, promote transparency, and enhance the value of Scrum.
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During a daily Scrum, the Scrum Master facilitates communication to ensure that all Team members understand their roles and responsibilities. They may offer technical knowledge while fostering a culture of commitment and collaboration.
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Yes, a Scrum Master also serves as an Agile coach. This role involves guiding the Scrum Team through agile transformations and supporting their confidence, ultimately enhancing the Team’s effectiveness and relationship with the product, stakeholders, and customers.
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A Scrum Master should not micromanage Team members, impose decisions or solutions on the Team, or take ownership of the Team’s tasks. They should avoid being the sole decision-maker and refrain from stifling transparency or accountability within the Team.
Instead, they should facilitate Team members, encourage collaboration, and foster an environment of trust, confidence, and self-management.
Don’t Let Your Project Fail–Take Action Now
If your project is in trouble, time is of the essence. The sooner you take action, the sooner you see efficient recovery results.
Don’t let your project become another statistic. Let me guide you in turning things around and delivering the product value you yearn for.
Where to Now to Turn Things Around?
- Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to chat. Let’s Get In Touch!
- Schedule a FREE Assessment to start the discussion about your specific questions or challenges regarding Scrum product delivery and how to address them efficiently.
- Download the free eBook preview: Strategies for Success.
- Or buy the eBook: Achieve Business Success with Efficient Project Management
- Visit my Scrum Master Service to learn more and see my options to rescue your Scrum product delivery efficiently.
Testimonials
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At the time of this writing, I have been working with Emmanuel for 3 years. He has served us as Scrum master during this time. He joined our company when there was quite a severe case of misunderstanding between the developers and business partners, with trust between the parties breaking down.
Over the first year, he worked tirelessly with us to refine our processes and embrace the principles of SCRUM. During this time, he soothed the relationship between all parties and built trust.
Over time, our entire team (business and developers) has become closely aligned and has a much better understanding of each other. He also assisted in refining our team practices and helped create confidence in our fellow team members.
It is a joy to work with Emmanuel, who is always honest, open, and, above all, friendly. He thrives on helping and supporting his colleagues, is always willing to listen, and offers sage advice. Emmanuel would be an asset to any team.
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I met Emmanuel during a multi-million IT development project in 2010.
We were developing a web application for clients who deposit large amounts of cash.
Emmanuel facilitated all the JAD sessions, and his passion and attention to detail were evident in each session.
He managed a multi-cultural, multinational team across the world, which was highly successful.
His calm and professional management style contributed to the project’s success. I will never forget him saying, after a heated discussion around requirements and timelines, “We kicked up a lot of dust,” and then very calmly bringing the audience back to the actual point. Even after we implemented the project, he continued providing support.
It was a pleasure working with Emmanuel during this project.
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Emmanuel and I have collaborated in the IT industry since 2011.
He is a natural leader and team builder, known for his communication skills and a positive attitude that motivates people of all ages and skill levels.
His expertise spans organizing and leading technical teams, educating team members, and actively participating in projects.
Over the years, he has successfully established teams both onshore and offshore in various work setups to deliver complex IT projects.
Additionally, he has created training centers to educate IT stakeholders on new technologies and architectural standards, covering everything from curriculum design to certification processes, ensuring staff graduates contribute effectively from day one.
Emmanuel has an open mind that embraces learning, growth, and change. I highly recommend Emmanuel for any position or endeavor that he may seek to pursue. He is self-motivated, competent, and dedicated, and would be a valuable asset in any endeavor.