Scrum in a Multiproject Environment

August 6, 2008 by Artem Marchenko

Today I presented the paper written by me and Pekka Abrahamsson. The paper tells about our experience in adopting Scrum in a multi-team multi-project environment within a large corporation and in a research intensive team. We focus on particular challenges to expect when adopting Scrum in such an environment, check the paper out if you are about to try Scrum in a multi-project situation - there is a concrete list of what to pay attention to. What I personally love most about the article is that since it has been officially approved by my daytime employer I can now freely talk in public about a part of my experience and don't need to hide behind "what a known telecommunication company could do".

Abstract

Agile methods continue to gain popularity. In particular, the Scrum method appears to be on the verge of becoming a de-facto standard in the industry, leading the so called Agile movement. While there are success stories and recommendations, there is little scientifically valid evidence of the challenges in the adoption of Agile methods in general, and Scrum in particular. Little, if anything, is empirically known about the application and adoption of Scrum in a multi-team and multi-project situation. The authors carried out an ethnographically informed longitudinal case study in industrial settings and closely followed how the Scrum method was adopted in a 20-person department, working in a simultaneous multi-project R&D environment. Altogether 10 challenges pertinent to the case of multi-team multi-project Scrum adoption were identified in the study. The authors contend that these results carry great relevance for other industrial teams. Future research avenues arising from the study are indicated.

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