Support functions (Finance, HR, Sales) in Scrum
Hi All -
I work at a large organization that has a strong emphasis on Scrum, and recently attention has been drawn to how we can make support functions more agile. I was hoping anyone might be able to suggest resources on this topic, especially around budgeting to support projects of changing scope.
Thanks in advance!
I work at a large organization that has a strong emphasis on Scrum, and recently attention has been drawn to how we can make support functions more agile.
Who’s attention has been drawn to this? Where is the urgency to implement Scrum across the organization being communicated from?
I was hoping anyone might be able to suggest resources on this topic, especially around budgeting to support projects of changing scope.
Has there been any discussion yet around incremental funding, and of supporting products rather than projects? Would you describe the organization as being a product-focused one?
There are some ad hoc scrum teams active, but generally the attention has come from the top down - the organization is fairly keen on buzz words like "agile", in some instances without fully understanding what they mean.
But at the core, I think the topic of how support functions can be designed to enable and support Scrum is an interesting one that I can't find much written about.
The company is not product focused in a traditional sense, which also complicates things - I feel like I'm constantly trying to apply stretched metaphors to coopt concepts designed for software developers.
I think the topic of how support functions can be designed to enable and support Scrum is an interesting one
To what extent is Scrum currently being inhibited by those functions? Are Scrum Teams consistently able to deliver release-quality increments every Sprint, for example, or do they face impediments and dependencies?
A slightly different angle, should the support functions be pulled into existing scrum teams or should they focus on organizing themselves into scrum teams? Many "agile" organizations will choose to adopt practices in various portions of the organization. For example, could you create a cross functional team consisting of Sales and Marketing personnel to accomplish value added work instead of trying to embed those skills into a software development team?
I have known Agile Coaches that have helped divisions of Human Resources, Marketing, Facilities organize themselves into agile groups. If your company is keen on the buzz word "agile" but not product focused there are many ways for a company to become agile that would be better than Scrum. Having it come from the top down is great, but the "top" has to be willing to also practice agile.
One thing I will point out, the Agile Manifesto is actually the "Manifesto for Software Development". It was not created as an "Manifesto for Agile Corporations". Some of the principles can be applied elsewhere but not all. Scrum, Kanban, Lean all precede the Manifesto and were mostly grown from manufacturing companies. But they weren't mean to make a company "agile". They were meant to help companies be more efficient, cost effective and eliminate waste in their processes.
I would suggest that you research companies that provide Agile Coaching in your area and see if your company would be willing to invest in their help. People like @Ian make a living doing this kind of thing and will be a neutral party to your organization. That perspective can be the key to transformation as it can work outside of existing company politics and preconceived notions.